Marooned (instrumental)

"Marooned" is an instrumental track on Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell;^[1] the track won a Grammy Award in 1995.

Writing and recording

The piece was written by David Gilmour and Richard Wright.^[1] It has sounds that describe the setting as an island (such as seagulls and waves crashing on the shore). It was composed while jamming aboard the Astoria in early 1993. The high-pitch guitar sounds on the track came from a Whammy pedal which makes the guitar sound an octave higher,^[2] also known as a pitch shifter. Also in the background can be heard the wailing guitar effects from the original recording of the Pink Floyd song "Echoes", which were redubbed onto this song by Gilmour for increased textural effect.

David Gilmour has mentioned that "pretty much" all of "Marooned" is improvised and that he "probably took three or four passes at it and took the best bits out of each".^[2]

Grammy

The track was given a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1995.^[3]

Live and other releases

This song has only been played live three times: On the two dates in Oslo, Norway (one of which is featured on the Pulse DVD) on the 1994 "The Division Bell" tour and at the "The Strat Pack" charity concert, for the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour played his "#0001" Stratocaster.^{[citation needed]}

An excerpt of the music is featured on Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.^[4]

Personnel

• David Gilmour – guitars
• Richard Wright – Kurzweil synthesizers, piano
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion

with:

• Jon Carin – additional keyboards
• Guy Pratt – bass

References