On this day 50 years ago, Pink Floyd dropped Dark Side of the Moon and to this day it has a big impact on people who listen to the album. But many people don’t know the secrets of the behind the scenes in the making album, including Paul McCartney cut from the album, Roger Waters being the sole lyricist, and more.
Roger Waters, Pink Floyd’s bassist, was officially the sole lyricist of this album and wanted this album to be like nothing they had done previously. In a documentary from 1972 called Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, Waters says “The only thing that is important is whether it moves you or not.” Pink Floyd found unique ways to make their Dark Side of the Moon an unforgettable album including having features of interviews in their songs. In an article back in 2018 with Rolling Stone, Roger Waters came up with the idea to have multiple people record interviews and incorporate them into their final mix of the album. During this process, Paul McCartney was given a chance to be a part of the interview process, but was later deleted from the due to him performing too much. His music was still managed to be a feature on the album. While writing the album, the band drew inspiration from Booker T and the MG’s for their song “Money.” Walters reveals he had the inspiration from Booker T’s Green Onion album and had previously been a fan and even did some covers.
Dark Side of the Moon has had a tremendous impact on not only those from the 70’s, but also a younger demographic who are inspired to listen to rock and roll music. This album had tireless effort into making sure it was THE album for Pink Floyd to release, and others would describe this album as “perfect from start to finish” and truly is a great experience to listen to.
5 Takeaways from Listening to ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ High for the First Time
Some people did puzzles. Some people got really into doing TikTok dances. Some people baked bread. For me, the lockdown days of the pandemic found me getting baked for the first time ever.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “How does someone wait until their mid-thirties to explore the world of cannabis?” The answer is quite simple: In my late teens, I tried weed and it made me super-paranoid. As a result, I kept a safe distance from it for well over a decade and just rolled with alcohol if I was looking to unwind.
Cut to 2020, and like most people, I had a lot of time on my hands. Besides working from home (thankfully) and streaming TV shows and movies, I started reading more news and not just the normal music news I’d ingest in order to keep up with the latest goings-on in the rock world.
One day, I fell down an internet rabbit hole about delta-8 THC, the latest craze in the cannabis world. In a nutshell, delta-8 THC is derived from the hemp plant. It is a milder version of delta-9 THC that is derived from marijuana and is the compound with psychoactive properties that cause users to feel “high.” One of the big differences between both THC compounds, besides the cannabis variant from which they’re derived, is that delta-8 was found to be less likely to induce anxiety. The biggest difference, however, was that delta-8 fell into a unique gray area that caused it to technically be federally legal thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Per NBC News, “That legislation legalized hemp, which is defined as a cannabis plant that contains 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less — levels considered too low to have a psychoactive effect. However, the bill does not address delta-8 THC levels, an omission that makes it legal for vendors to sell the compound, often as edibles, vape cartridges and tinctures, with no oversight.”
As of April 2022, the following states have passed legislation to make delta-8 illegal: Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Utah, and Washington. As a resident of Michigan, delta-8 is legal but now falls under the same regulations as state-legal marijuana following legislation signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July 2021.
Once I read a lot of reports from reliable sources and consulted friends who were more familiar with the world of cannabis than me, I decided to try a delta-8 gummy edible. To my delight, the “high” was mild, very pleasant and I did not experience the paranoia that had scared the hell out of me in my late teens. It also helped me get a quality night’s sleep, and unlike unwinding with alcohol, I had no hangover-like symptoms.
The next step, of course, was obvious: Listen to iconic stoner albums while high! Naturally, the first one I reached for was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album I loved but never listened to while stoned.
So, what was it like to listen to Dark Side of the Moon high for the first time at age 35? Here were my five takeaways:
