Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album A Saucerful of Secrets
Published	Magdalene Music
Released	29 June 1968 (UK) 27 July 1968 (US)
Recorded	7–8 August, October 1967, January 1968 Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Space rock,avant-garde
Length	5:27 (A Saucerful of Secrets version) 9:27 (Ummagumma live version)
Label	EMI Columbia (UK) Tower (US)
Writer(s)	Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Norman Smith
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd track listing 26 tracks Disc one "Astronomy Domine" "See Emily Play" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" "Echoes" "Hey You" "Marooned" "The Great Gig in the Sky" "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Money" "Keep Talking" "Sheep" "Sorrow" Disc two "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–VII)" "Time" "The Fletcher Memorial Home" "Comfortably Numb" "When the Tigers Broke Free" "One of These Days" "Us and Them" "Learning to Fly" "Arnold Layne" "Wish You Were Here" "Jugband Blues" "High Hopes" "Bike"

26 tracks

Disc one "Astronomy Domine" "See Emily Play" "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" "Echoes" "Hey You" "Marooned" "The Great Gig in the Sky" "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" "Money" "Keep Talking" "Sheep" "Sorrow" Disc two "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–VII)" "Time" "The Fletcher Memorial Home" "Comfortably Numb" "When the Tigers Broke Free" "One of These Days" "Us and Them" "Learning to Fly" "Arnold Layne" "Wish You Were Here" "Jugband Blues" "High Hopes" "Bike"

"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appeared on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features a drum part by Nick Mason played with timpani mallets. The track was planned for release as a single, with "Scream Thy Last Scream", on 8 September, before it was vetoed by the band's record company, EMI. The song was regularly performed between 1967 and 1973 and can be heard on the live disc of the 1969 album Ummagumma and seen in the 1972 movie Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii. It also appears on the 2001 compilation album Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. It is the only song recorded by Pink Floyd to feature material from all five band members, as there are several different guitar parts recorded by both David Gilmour and Syd Barrett.

According to an interview with Gilmour on the 2006 documentary Which One's Pink?, the studio version of the song contained minor guitar work both from Gilmour and Barrett, making "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" the only Pink Floyd song that features all five band members, though some listeners may not fully discern the guitar tracks as Gilmour's guitar is played through an amplifier that makes it blend in with Richard Wright's keyboards and organs, and Barrett's guitar effects first sound like groaning, then seagulls.

The song's recording commenced in August 1967, with overdubs recorded in October of that year and in January 1968. In an article reprinted in the Bruno McDonald book Pink Floyd – Through the Eyes of ..., Waters borrowed the lyrics from a book of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty (which was later identified as the book Poems of the late T'ang, translated by A.C. Graham).

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Wikipedia