Awesome. Blazing. Crazy. Dementia-inducing. Electrifying. "Floyd!" Mindblowing. Psychedelic. Serene.
Just some views of folks around town on Pink Floyd. Floyd - the very group that ruled in the Seventies, had people on a high in the Eighties and today has given rise, in Mumbai, to two distinct groups of fans - one which truly loves Floyd, and the other which likes Floyd only because the oh-so-cool dudes freak out on it. A classic example of peer pressure, you'd think. Well, think again.
The first group (let's call it Cluster One) knows Floyd as A Saucerful of Secrets - secrets about life: (why not to) dope, friends, politics, or just being comfortably numb. Cluster Two knew Floyd as Another Brick in the Wall (part II to be precise). Until, of course, they got introduced to Cluster One and apparently saw them as beyond the Dark Side of the Moon. Not that Cluster Two chaps are animals, but surely they could take some more effort to get to know Floyd a little bit properly.
Let us sharp-shoot on this - you ask them, "So how do you find Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Part IV ?" and they reply, "Awesome". Awesome enough, when Floyd just did Part I, II, amd III of the number.
Cluster One is amused by such stuff. But one must give Cluster One some credit for getting people into the Floyd psyche. Call it spaced out if you like. But Floyd is distinctive, definitive. Maybe it's all jargon on first listening. But there is definitely an underlying depth.
Cluster Two misses out on the latter. Jargon is cool for them. "Just chill out and listen to Floyd." Sure. But play Dire Straits and tell them it's Floyd, and they'll still be chilling out throughout, while Brothers in Arms is played beginning to end.
Cluster Two may come across as a hilarious lot. But at least they are somewhat into Floyd. Some do graduate on to become part of Cluster One. Like I did. I remember saying "Floyd's Smoke On The Water is amazing, boy, just terrific!". Later, of course, one told oneself, "Hey you, it was just a momentary lapse of reason."
Back to the point. Cluster Two is just curious, not entirely controlled by peer thought-processes. Curiosity killed the cat, but won't kill Cluster Two. No harm then, if they walk into Cafe Mondegar's [A downtown cafe in Bombay] and punch 2106 on the jukebox (2106 plays Comfortably Numb). Initially, there may not even have been any Cluster One. Possibly, it all started off as Cluster Two. But, what the heck, Floyd is still being heard, appreciated heard again, and all over again. Why dismiss off Cluster Two? Let them delve into Floyd, freak out, or in their own words, "chill out", and in the words of most people, "become spaced out".
One isn't marketing Floyd. One is just protecting Cluster Two because one was a part of them once upon a time. One isn't writing this because one is Obscured by Clouds. But the fact remains that Pink Floyd is in a class of its own. Maybe it's not your type. But Pink Floyd is Pink Floyd. Not just another brick in the wall.
