"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was released on Pink Floyd's ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here, in the fall of 1975. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was the massive multi-part epic which both began (Parts I-V) and ended (Parts VI-IX) the album. This video combines both tracks to complete the entire 26 minute song. The audio is sourced from 192KHz/24 bit needle drop from James Guthrie's 2017 vinyl remaster and the video is presented in 4k UHD. This is a long video and you'll need to find time to watch it, so I suggest you get your favorite beverage (or whatever ;-), get in your comfy chair, turn on your preferred source (no tiny smartphones, please ;-) put on the headphones or turn up your system (no tinny computer speakers, please :-) and enjoy the full range audio (well, as best as KZfaq currently provides at least)...but it can sound pretty nice on a decent system. If you like the video, please like, comment and share, so it's doesn't sink directly to the bottom of the rankings for the song...counting on you guys to help!
I made a video for this song many years ago, and it has been one that I've long wanted to update because though I remember thinking at the time it was unique enough to present, but in the years since it's just become another in the long list of things I've made that I'm now unhappy to have representing the songs I love enough to make videos for. I've dreaded the thought of going back into it, and contemplated whether the effort was worth it, cause the old ones still get all the views, while any updates just slowly fade away cause no one's watching.
Since I was approaching the 10 year anniversary of my MetalGuruMessiah Channel on KZfaq, I thought I should do something sorta special, since when I started the channel I had no idea I'd still be at it 10 years later. It seemed like a good time to revisit Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Getting it finished wasn't a walk in the park....ended up having to chop it into sections, render each, and then combine and sync them all together. Since it's so long, and I was working with several different mini-videos, I ended up losing track of what sequences I'd used where and regretfully I found that I'd not even included some of the new things I'd made that I really liked. When I made the original one years ago, I actually was able to throw everything into one video so it was easier to see everything at once, but working with the higher resolution stuff here, it would require too much processing power for the program to handle without numerous glitches when rendering (already it was an issue and multiple renders were necessary to find one that didn't have errors). In the end I realized that the only way to properly make a video of this length would be to make a spreadsheet to track what was used where...but this would have required even more effort and beyond the scope of what is still just a fan video made for free and for which no compensation would be received...other than the possible enjoyment and appreciation of some fans of either the song and/or my videos.
So, in celebration of MetalGuruMessiah Channels first decade on KZfaq, in appreciation of especially my longtime fans who have supported me all through all these years, as my Christmas present this year, AND finally, as my parting gift to everyone as we draw to a close one of the most depressing and difficult years ever....here's Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-IX)" a song that I can still vividly remember first hearing for the first time over 40 years ago at a party at a ranch house in the middle of a thunderstorm, with lightning flashes outside the windows, the memory of that night lives on, and then and now, this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.
Roger Water's best describes the song and Syd when he stated; "I'm very sad about Syd. Of course he was important and the band would never have fucking started without him because he was writing all the material. It couldn't have happened without him but on the other hand it couldn't have gone on with him. "Shine On" is not really about Syd-he's just a symbol for all the extremes of absence some people have to indulge in because it's the only way they can cope with how fucking sad it is, modern life, to withdraw completely. I found that terribly sad."
So the song isn't really about Syd, and Roger's explanation is so much better as it takes the song to a wholly deeper place, but this video is really more focused on the Syd metaphor as it fits into Roger's vision of the song...original band member Syd Barret and his decline into drugs and, I guess it's fair to say, madness.
Special thanks to the artists who made this video possible:
inwardscream.deviantart.com/
Clips from various sources including "The Story of Syd Barrett"
I'd be happy to credit other images if I can find sources...if your art was used, please let me know so I can attribute.
[Lyrics]
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