Pink Floyd Worksheet

WORKSHEET    The following questions were arranged to serve several purposes. It can be a guide for students moving through the site, provide a record of pages visited, and facilitate grading. It will be to your benefit to check off the pages you have read, even though you may not be answering these questions at the time. There is a general section, for questions that refer to music or Pink Floyd in a general way, and questions that refer to specific techniques used on particular songs or albums.
   To take the course for credit, the student must first sign the contract and have it signed by a parent or guardian. The next step is to print out the worksheet, and insert it into your course notebook. It will be beneficial to refer to the worksheet often as you work your way through the album reviews and the listening requirements. You should consult the Listening List, which shows tracks from the span of the Pink Floyd recording life, and should help the student see the development of Pink Floyd music over the years. (If current litigation over the use of on-line music is ever resolved, it is possible that a future version of this site will include all the tracks on the listening list, in MP3 format.) [There is no financial gain being derived by PCHS or any individual in connection with this website. It exists purely for educational purposes.]
    In order to receive a grade of "A", the student must submit their completed notebook to Mr. Woody. Begin by printing out the main page, this worksheet, the glossary, the Characteristics page, and the Debates page. These will help you create an easy reference when you are working on your questions. Each question tells how many points it is worth. Questions with an asterisk (*) beside them are required. The student is striving for a total of 1000 points, so you should add up the point values as you go along. Assuming that you submit 1000 points worth of answers, they must also be completed at our usual 93% rate in order to constitute an "A". (That's 930) Any percentage lower than that will be applied to our usual grading scale. You should know that my standards for the level of your thinking process are pretty high, so if you're not sure of the extent to which you should go in order to receive full credit for your work, ASK! You may, of course, choose to submit more than 1000 points worth of work. There will also be bonus points for alerting me to any errors of spelling or grammar you discover in the site.
    Items with the symbol [L] next to them will require you to listen to specific pieces of music on the Listening List. An [A] indicates an activity, which will take a little more time and effort on your part to complete. Remember, those with an asterisk (*) are required to be done in order to meet the full purpose of the course.

GENERAL QUESTIONS (Answer Value)
*[1] (10) Is your notebook complete? [Includes all your notes and drawings, etc. as well as copies of the Main Page, Worksheet, Glossary, Characteristics, and Debates.]
*[2] (300 possible) [L] I will give you 3 points for each page of the website you visit (there are 23 in all, and you can check them off at the bottom of this page, and 3 points for each song on the Listening List that you listen to. (Obviously, this part will have to be on the honor system. Since there are 77 songs on the listening list, it might be easiest for you to print out that page, and check off the ones you listen to as you go along.)
*[3] (4) From what two famous musicians is the name "Pink Floyd" derived?
*[4] (40) There are 5 main "characters" who make up what is known as Pink Floyd. For each of the 5 guys, tell me (a) his name, (b) his main instruments, (c) his role within the group, and (d) a song he wrote that displays not only his talents, but is also descriptive of his personal style.
*[5] (25) Using the "Ages of Floyd" section on the main page, and your experiences listening to the music, write a descriptive essay that describes and summarizes the changes that took place in the group's style and presentation in each age.
*[6] (10) What are the 10 most important new concepts you learned about music from the Glossary?
*[7] (30) Look at the topics on the Debates page. Discuss how you feel about each of these questions, and how your opinion is effected by your study of Pink Floyd.
[8] (5) In looking at the Characteristics page, are there any other identifying qualities of Pink Floyd music that I might have missed? Give evidence from their recordings to back up any characteristics you wish to add.
*[9] (20) [A] Find and record a piece of music by another band that has several of the characteristics of Pink Floyd. Write a description of how it fits those characteristics, and suppose whether that person or group may have been influenced by Pink Floyd.
*[10] (2) What are the two types of ambient sounds that Pink Floyd uses most often in their music?
*[11] (5) Give a good definition of the term "concept album". What are your personal feelings about them? If you wrote a concept album, what would it be about?
*[12] (3) List three musical pieces by Pink Floyd that have dreamscapes in them.
*[13] (2) What puts the "slide" in slide guitars?
[14] (10) [A] [L] Find a concept album by a band other than Pink Floyd. Write a review about the music on that album, and how it advances the overall thought. Compare it to any of the Pink Floyd concept albums.
*[15] (20) Of all the album and song reviews within this website, think of the one with which you disagree most vehemently. Write a short essay debating why my assessment is incorrect. Include quotes, and depth of analysis based on your learning about the group and its music.
[16] (20) [A] Make a tape or CD recording of some interesting ambient sounds from your daily life. Look for the hidden "meaning" in these sounds. Apply them to a song that reflects some element of your life. Let me hear the finished result.
[17] (5) Many of the Pink Floyd musical works are of extended length because of the complex ideas they convey. I often find that few students seem to be able to attend to the full length of such pieces of music. Maybe you can give me some insight into why this is so.
[18] (2) What characteristic do Pink Floyd and the Marx Brothers have in common?
*[19] (2) What was the last song on a Pink Floyd album with Syd Barrett's involvement?
*[20] (2) There are two places on this website where Alice Cooper is mentioned. In what context do these occur?
[21] (2) At what club in England did the early Pink Floyd Sound try many of their experiments?
*[22] (2) What is the first song by Roger Waters to appear on a Pink Floyd album?
[23] (3) Name the 3 movies mentioned on this website with which Pink Floyd was associated.
[24] (2) What is the name of the famous cow whose image was used in a variety of Pink Floyd photographs?
*[25] (2) According to the website, what seems to be the first true Pink Floyd piece?
[26] (2) What "unusual" person showed up at the studio when Pink Floyd was recording WISH YOU WERE HERE?
[27] (2) What punk rock group exerted a great deal of energy disrespecting Pink Floyd's artistry? (Perhaps because they had none of their own.)
*[28] (5) How many #1 albums did Pink Floyd have, and what were their titles?
[29] (2) what pink floyd album uses no capital letters?
*[30] (2) In what two places on this website is Adolf Hitler mentioned in connection with a Pink Floyd concept?
*[31] (2) Which piece of Pink Floyd music did I say is most likely to become "elevator music"?
[32] (20) There are many people listed on this website as "my friends", most of whom are my former students. Make a list of them.
*[33] (2) Which album did I declare should be entitled: THE BEST OF THE PINK FLOYD IMITATORS?
[34] (10) How might a group like Pink Floyd go about recording albums for a technology that didn't even exist at the time the recording was made? If many of the special musical effects they created came about from tinkering with their instruments, what will modern musicians tinker with? (i.e. How do you "tinker" with synthesized music?)

[35] (10) Make a list of the songs on the listening list in which Pink Floyd uses the image of a dog. How many different ways can these images be interpreted? How many of them might refer specifically to Roger?
[36] (10) Make a list of the songs on the listening list in which Pink Floyd uses the image "stone". Do they all refer to the same concept?
[37] (10) Make a list of words in the Pink Floyd "lexicon" (other than the 2 above) that are used repeatedly in many of their songs. See how many different ways those terms have been used, and speculate on how the meanings changed over the years.
[38] (10) [A] Research the life of another musician who, like Syd Barrett, forayed into drugs in search of inspiration for his music, but became hopelessly lost.
[39] (3) [A] Who is Spike Jones, and how does he relate to Pink Floyd?

PRE-"PIPER" QUESTIONS (Answer Value) {Either 40 or 42 are required, but not both}{Ditto with 44 & 45}
*[40] (20) [L] Compare Arnold Layne to the characteristics of the Pink Floyd sound that are listed on the Characteristics page. What evidence can you find in that tune of the qualities that would later come to define Pink Floyd?
[41] (3) [A] Of what crime(s) might Arnold Layne have been guilty?
*[42] (20) [L] Compare See Emily Play to the characteristics of the Pink Floyd sound that are listed on the Characteristics page. What evidence can you find in that tune of the qualities that would later come to define Pink Floyd?
[43] (4) [A] What might a psychiatrist diagnose as Emily's problems?
*[44] (10) [L] Compare and contrast the live and studio versions of Careful With That Axe, Eugene.
*[45] (20) [A][L] As you listen to Careful With That Axe, Eugene use a blank sheet of paper to record your visual and verbal thoughts. Doodle, draw, or write down images that pop into your head, and see what recurring themes you come up with. (It is probably best to do this the first time you listen to the song, as later listenings will be "colored" by your experience.)

"PIPER" QUESTIONS (Answer Value)
[46] (7) [A] In what context does Kenneth Grahame use the phrase "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" in Wind in the Willows? How do you think it applies here? Do any modern artists use such childhood images in their songs?
[47] (12) [A] [L] Listen to another song from 1967, and tell how it is similar to and different from one of the songs on this album. Choose a song that has some similarities; it wouldn't be fair to compare Lucifer Sam with the #1 song of that year, To Sir With Love.
[48] (5) [A] [L] Describe how any one song on SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is similar in some way (or several) with a song on this album.
*[49] (20) [A] Randomly choose a letter of the alphabet. Turn to that letter in the dictionary, and pick out 30 "interesting" words (if possible, see if you can fit them into a theme). Now, think of words that rhyme with 15 of the ones you've chosen (if you didn't use a theme with the first group, try using one with this group). Restructure these words into a poem (don't worry if it doesn't seem to make much sense). Now, compare your poem to the one that makes up the words to Astronomy Domine. Does this put any ideas into your head?
[50] (5) [L] What similarities and differences do you find between the live and studio versions of Astronomy Domine?
[51] (8) [L] As you listen to Pow R Toc H, use a blank sheet of paper to record your visual and verbal thoughts. Doodle, draw, or write down images that pop into your head, and see what recurring themes you come up with.
[52] (5) [L] Find a way to connect Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk with any other song written later by Roger Waters.
[53] (15) [L][A] Listen to Interstellar Overdrive three times, each time recording your impressions and observations. Listen once with all the balance on the Left ear, once with all the balance on the Right ear, and once with the balance set evenly. Having done all of this, do your observations lend credence to theory that the song is simply two "jam" tracks played simultaneously?
[54] (10) [L] Draw a musical "map" that shows the pattern followed by Interstellar Overdrive.
[55] (5) Who, or what, (specifically) is Grimble Gromble? (In other words, find out where Syd found him.)
[56] (5) Look at the 5 things Syd says he has "got" in the song Bike. Is there any connecting theme among them? Do they have anything to do with his girlfriend in the song? What special emphasis might we put on the last three sentences?

"SAUCERFUL" QUESTIONS (Answer Value)
*[57] (15) [L] Identify the characteristics of the Pink Floyd sound that are evident in Let There Be More Light.
[58] (6) [L][A] Identify the obscure people, places, events, and things mentioned in Let There Be More Light.
[59] (5) [L][A] How does William Burrows use the phrase "Set the controls for the heart of the sun"? Does the song connect in any way with the literature? Is the song some sort of homage to Burrows?

"MORE" QUESTIONS (Answer Value)
[60] (5) [L] Use what you know about the characteristics of "Punk" music to compare to The Nile Song. By those qualities, would this piece qualify as "punk"?
[61] (5) [L] What, do you think, the Nile River has to do with anything in the The Nile Song or the movie "More"?
[62] (10)[A] [L] As you listen to the More Theme, use a blank sheet of paper to record your visual and verbal thoughts. Doodle, draw, or write down images that pop into your head, and see what recurring themes you come up with.
[63] (5) [L] Compare and contrast The Nile Song with Ibiza Bar.
[64] (4) [L] What ideas might the band have learned from Pow R Toc H that they applied to Cirrus Minor?
[65] (3) [L] What, do you believe, is the "inner meaning" of the words to Cirrus Minor?
[66] (3) [L] What does the fictional "character" in the song Ibiza Bar ask for? What does he most want out of "life"?

"ATOM HEART" QUESTIONS (Answer Value) {Only 67 or 68 is required. Not both}
*[67] (10) [A] [L] As you listen to Atom Heart Mother, think about the inherent problems in trying to fit an orchestra into a rock and roll framework. Jot down your ideas.
*[68] (20) [A] [L] As you listen to Atom Heart Mother, use a piece of blank paper to doodle pictures or jot down words and images that come into your mind. Think about the themes that might be present.
[69] (15) [A] Imagine that you had written the lyrics to If. Take the first part of each line ("If I were a _____"), then rewrite the second half to express your own personality and beliefs.
[70] (5) [L] In the song If, what do you think was Roger's purpose in using the repetition of lyrical and musical phrases?
[71] (8) [A] [L] In Fat Old Sun, Dave sings about the feeling he gets at the end of the day. Find another song in which an artist records his images of sundown, and compare them to Dave's. How do they compare to yours?
[72] (20) [A] [L] Research the work of another rock band who tried to incorporate their music into an orchestral presentation. (This does not include those cheesy THE PHILHARMONIC PLAYS NINE INCH NAILS HITS collections.) How successful were they? What difficulties did they seem to run into? Were the results more or less listenable than Pink Floyd's?
[73] (3) What is the origin of the title of this album?
[74] (5) [A] Who is Don Ellis, and how might he be connected to the ideas in this album?

"MEDDLE" QUESTIONS
*[75] (20) [A] [L] Find another 16-Track recording done in 1971. Compare the use of the multiple tracks on that recording with anything on this album. Discuss whether Pink Floyd was as advanced in their use of this technology as everyone seems to think.
[76] (5) [L] Would it be possible to play One of These Days without the use of echo electronics? If you know nothing about the technique required to play bass guitar, ask someone who does.
[77] (5) [L] Is Pillow of Winds underrated, or just a rather unimportant song?
[78] (10) [A][L] Find the lyrics to the song You'll Never Walk Alone. Compare them to the lyrics in Fearless. What are the similarities? Why do you think Pink Floyd chose this particular ambient sound for this song?
*[79] (20) [A][L] Take a blank sheet of paper to draw or write on as you listen to Echoes. Draw images that pop into your mind, or write, free-association style, the words that you think of as you listen.
[80] (8) Look carefully at the lyrics to Echoes. I often feel that there are three distinct images being described here. Reflect upon the meanings you find in these lyrics. (No fair using what I wrote at the bottom of the MEDDLE review.)
[81] (10) Debate my interpretation of the lyrics to Echoes. (Now you'll have to look at the bottom of that page.)

"DARK SIDE" QUESTIONS {At least 3 are required from this album}
[82] (10) [L] Evaluate my friend Dan Ondrusek's contention that Time has one of the most important sets of lyrics in Rock music history.
[83] (20) [A] [L] Draw or jot down images and ideas that go through your mind as you listen to The Great Gig in the Sky. What is the literal meaning of this song title?
[84] (15) [A] [L] Find any other Rock song like Money, the majority of which is in something other than 4/4 or Cut time. To what effect did that band use the unusual time signature? Why do so few bands try this technique?
[85] (15) [A] [L] What statements about war and poverty do the lyrics to Us and Them really make? Why do you suppose the band used such unusual music to carry this idea? Compare this to Edwin Starr's recording of War.
[86] (10) [L] As you listen to the song Any Colour You Like, see if you can advance any theories about where the title came from.
[87] (10) [A] Make a list of all the inappropriately-used Psychological terms in the song Brain Damage (there's one now!). Why do people so often use professional jargon incorrectly? What effect does it have in the case of this song?
[88] (10) Compare and contrast the way repetition is used in Eclipse with the way it is used in Dogs. What similarities and differences do you find?
[89] (20) [A] [L] See if you can figure out the chord patterns to the songs on this album. Which patterns are most frequently repeated? How does this tie the album together? Does it make it boring? Does it set a certain ambiance?
[90] (20) [A] Evaluate the applicability of the Wizard of Oz connection with this album by playing it along with the movie. There are numerous websites that discuss the point at which you must start the music in order to find the connections. Try not to be influenced by the opinions of those writers. Is there any possibility that there is anything more than coincidence at work?
[91] (20) [A] Find another recording in which a band explores the concept of insanity. How are their interpretations different than those of Pink Floyd? Whose musical "picture" is more accurate or effecting?
[92] (10) [A] [L] Listen to any recording by the Alan Parsons Project. Can you find any elements of similarity between that recording and the work he did on this album?

"WISH YOU WERE HERE" QUESTIONS {At least two from this album are required.}
[93] (20) [A] [L] Make a musical "map" that shows where the parts of Shine On, You Crazy Diamond begin, and the musical "idea" that is communicated in each part.
[94] (20) [A] Make a list of the lyric phrases in Shine On, You Crazy Diamond that refer to Syd Barrett, and tell what each one of them means.
[95] (15) According to the lyrics of Welcome to the Machine, how do people view what it's like to be a rock star? Compare this to the lyrics of Have a Cigar, which are supposed to be sung by a recording company executive. How does the reality differ from the romantic image? Is it really like being in a machine? Would you like to be a part of that machine?
[96] (15) Make a +/- list of images evoked by the lyrics of Wish You Were Here. Looking at them altogether, what themes do you recognize?

"ANIMALS" QUESTIONS
[97] (10) [L] As you listen to the two parts of Pigs on the Wing, sandwiched as they are around the vituperative songs in the middle of the album, do the intentions take on different aspects from what the lyrics try to convey?
*[98] (15) Make a list of the negative cliches that Roger uses pertaining to Dogs. How does he apply those images to businessmen? Add to this a list of negative images he evokes of businessmen. How do those images change when we view them as dogs instead of human beings?
[99] (5) I get the feeling that the first four lines of the third section of Dogs are intended to be spoken by the dog, instead of about him. If I'm right, how does that change the overall intent of the song?
[100] (5) What do the Pigs (3 Different Ones) have in common? How are they different?
[101] (3) What is the meaning behind the phrase "you're nearly a treat, but you're really a cry."?
[102] (10) [A] Find some reliable information on the actual history of Mary Whitehouse.
[103] (5) Make a list of the cliches about Sheep that Roger uses. How does he apply these to human beings? Why does he allow them to step out of character at the end?
[104] (10) [A] Compare the way Roger anthropomorphosizes the 3 animals on this album with the way George Orwell does in his book Animal Farm.

"THE WALL" QUESTIONS
*[105] (15) [L] What lyric changes did Roger Waters make between In the Flesh? and In the Flesh! ? What effect do those changes cause? What do those changes indicate about the meaning of the punctuation change? Is there any significant change in the music to go along with those lyric changes?
*[106] (10) [L] As you listen to Outside the Wall, does it evoke any feelings for you of a time when you have experienced this frustration? In other words, have you ever tried very hard to help someone who kept you at a distance by shutting you out beyond their protective wall? Have you ever shut someone else out in this fashion? Did you consider how they might have felt about being excluded in this way?
*[107] (20) [L] As you listen to the songs on the Listening List that fit Theme #3, think about the way the musical phrase appears. How does this musical phrase create a certain feeling? Write out how the theme sounds.
[108] (10) [L] As you listen to the songs that fit Theme #3, look at the events that have caused the character to build his "wall". Relate how, in your life, you have either avoided or been effected by the same forces he describes as being at work destroying his life.
[109] (5) How many different people is Roger speaking to in Hey, You, and who are they?
[110] (10) In Nobody Home "Pink" tries to impress us with all the things he's got. Make a list of what these things are, and what they represent. Then evaluate what he really has. Why do you think he is trying to impress us? What would he really like to have?
[111] (10) [L] What analogies can you draw about how being in a touring Rock and Roll band is somewhat like going to war? As you listen to Bring the Boys Back Home, do you think Roger was thinking of any of the same analogies?

"FINAL CUT" QUESTIONS
[112] (5) [L] In what ways are the post war dream and your possible pasts like songs from THE WALL?
[113] (5) What really was the post-war dream? Have we realized any of it? Have we realized the most important parts of it?
[114] (5) [L] What impressions of veterans does Roger give by his lyrics and musical images in the songs one of the few, and the hero's return?
[115] (5) What exactly did the gunner dream? In what ways do you share the gunners dream?
*[116] (20) [L] As you listen to the final cut imagine that Roger is really saying goodbye to his bandmates. Given the images in this song, what sort of person is Roger Waters exactly? What might the final cut have been?
[117] (10) What analogies can you draw about how being in a touring Rock and Roll band is somewhat like going to war? As you listen to songs from this album, do you think Roger was thinking of any of the same analogies?

"MOMENTARY LAPSE" QUESTIONS {One of these is required.}
[118] (10) Make a list of the various ways the word "Fly" might be interpreted. Then, as you listen to Learning to Fly, see how many of those are used.
[119] (10) [L] As you listen to Dogs of War see if you can make an objective list of reasons why this song is regularly voted the "worst Pink Floyd song ever".
[120] (10) Is there any hidden message in On The Turning Away? What is the message? Based on the feelings he expresses here, are you in "danger" of turning away?
[121] (15) [A] Write out the storyline of the film described in Yet Another Movie. Can you think of any film that contains many of these elements? How does it tie in with Round and Around?
[122] (10) What is the character in Sorrow sorrowful about? Have you ever felt that sort of sorrow? Why does he use the phrase "sweet smell" to describe sorrow?

"DIVISION BELL" QUESTIONS
[123] (10) [A] [L] As you listen to Cluster 1, use a blank sheet of paper to record your visual or verbal images. What do you think the song "means"? How does this song compare with others for which you have done this sort of exercise?
*[124] (15) Compare What Do You Want From Me? to the two parts of In the Flesh!/? What was Dave's message to his audience and to Roger by composing this piece? How are Dave's images different from Roger's?
*[125] (10) What is the literal meaning of the phrase "poles apart"? To what does that phrase allude? In the song Poles Apart how does Dave explore his relationship with Roger? What message is he sending to us?
[126] (10) If, in fact, DIVISION BELL represents Dave and the band's attempt to be Coming Back to Life, how does this song advance their goal? Is it convincing that they've accomplished what they set out to do? What is symbolized by "staring straight into the shining sun"?
[127] (10) [A] Why might the band have chosen Stephen Hawking to speak the narration of Keep Talking? Might some people consider this to be exploitation? Research Mr. Kurzweil and the company he created. How does he figure into this story?
*[128] (30) [L] What do you think of the way in which the division bell is used in High Hopes? What effect does it have to hear the bell ringing in a certain rhythm, then have the song come in on the off-beat? What other Pink Floyd songs use similar effects? What in the world do the lyrics have to do with the title? What are/were they hoping for? Was there any reason to believe from the lyrics that this would be the last Pink Floyd song ever?

**Pages on this Website**
The Main Page	Review of "Piper at the Gates of Dawn"	Review of "Dark Side of the Moon"
The Worksheet	Review of "Saucerful of Secrets"	Review of "Wish You Were Here"
The Glossary	Review of "More"	Review of "Animals"
Characteristics of Pink Floyd	Review of "Ummagumma"	Review of "The Wall"
Debates Raised by Pink Floyd	Review of "Atom Heart Mother"	Review of "the final cut"
Listening List	Review of "Relics"	Review of "Momentary Lapse..."
Lyrics	Review of "Meddle"	Review of "Division Bell"
The Contract		The Main Page

*** All information on this website was collected by the author, and all ideas and opinions are copyright to him. Though any individual is welcome to use the content of this site (especially in an educational way), proper credit should be given to the author.***