Echoes (Pink Floyd song)
1971 song written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason; performed and recorded by Pink Floyd
"Echoes" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, and the sixth and last track on their 1971 album Meddle. It is 23+1⁄2 minutes long and takes up the entire second side of the original LP. The track evolved from a variety of different musical themes and ideas, including instrumental passages and studio effects, resulting in the side-long piece. The music, credited to the band, was written by Richard Wright and David Gilmour, while Roger Waters' lyrics addressed themes of human communication and empathy, to which he returned in later work.
The song was performed live regularly by Pink Floyd from 1971 to 1975, including a performance in the film Live at Pompeii (1972). It was used for the opening shows on the 1987 A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour but subsequently dropped. Gilmour revived "Echoes" for his 2006 On an Island Tour, which featured Wright, but retired the piece after Wright's death in 2008. Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets has since played the song as part of its Echoes Tour. The studio recording was used in the film Crystal Voyager (1973) while an edited version is included on the band's greatest hits album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001).
"Echoes" has been regarded by critics as an important song that transitions between Pink Floyd's early experimental material as a cult band and later mainstream success. Several publications have remarked it as one of the best songs by the group.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Echoes (Pink Floyd song)” as 1971 song written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason; performed and recorded by Pink Floyd. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1971 song written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason; performed and recorded by Pink Floyd. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q507727. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1975, 1972 and 1987.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Echoes (Pink Floyd song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Echoes (Pink Floyd song) primary sources, Echoes (Pink Floyd song) archive and Echoes research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Echoes (Pink Floyd song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.