Atom Heart Mother (suite)

"Atom Heart Mother"
Song

"Atom Heart Mother" is a six-part suite by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by the whole band and Ron Geesin. It appeared on their Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up a whole side of the record. It is Pink Floyd's longest un-split epic, clocking in at 23 minutes and 44 seconds, beating "Echoes" by 11 seconds, and the second longest Pink Floyd song ever recorded, after the nine parts of the suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".

According to Nick Mason, the drum and bass parts for the entire suite were recorded in one take, thus the wavering tempo in the song. The only main argument regarding the song is at what time each part starts.

Father's Shout (0:00.00 - 5:25.66)

Opening with a low keyboard note, a brass section swoops in, creating a dramatic effect. The brass and drums play for a minute or two, before the music calms down into a viola and electric bass and organ solo. This is followed by a reverberating slide guitar solo.

Breast Milky (5:25.66 - 10:12.33)

Picking up directly after the last note of the guitar solo, this is a five-minute choir piece, backed by Wright's organ and Mason's drums.

Mother Fore (10:12.33 - 15:32.08)

A simple band jam session, somewhat similar to the one on "Echoes" and to The Dark Side of the Moon's "Any Colour You Like". This also contains the second, and much bluesier guitar solo, which quietens into an interesting chanting piece by the choir. Some of the chanting sounds distantly like "Tea, toast, coffee, yeah" and "Sa sa sa sa sa sausage rrrrrrrroast beef", possibly alluding to the album closer "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast," though this is likely only a fanciful interpretation. The song then slowly builds to another brass and drums section.

Funky Dung (15:32.08 - 17:43.29)

The first of the two 'noise' pieces of the song, this is essentially a lot of high-pitched noises. A distorted voice (Alan Parsons, the recording engineer) says "Here is a loud announcement!" about 10 seconds before the next section starts. The basic melody of this particular section was a modification of a slightly earlier work from the band's Zabriskie Point sessions.

Mind Your Throats, Please (17:43.29 - 19:49.69)

This is another 'noise' piece, but uses various instruments fading in and out, many of which are recognizable from earlier in the suite. The same brass part that opens the piece is heard over this section, culminating with Parson's distorted voice shouting, "Silence in the studio!" before exploding into yet another brass and drums section, which then quietens into the next section. Also, this section features a Leslie speaker used on a piano, an effect that is also used in Echoes.

Remergence (19:49.69 - 23:43.00)

A reprise of the viola solo, followed by a double layered guitar section reminiscent of the first slide solo. This all leads into a climactic ending with everything playing, and the choir singing, ending with a very long note from the choir and brass.

Alternative timings

While the above times are regarded by many as the most accurate, there is some debate. Here is one alternative breakdown:

• Father's Shout (0:00) The opening statement of the brass theme.
• Breast Milky (2:52) The viola solo followed by the first guitar solo.
• Mother Fore (5:23) Where the choir makes its first entry.
• Funky Dung (10:19) The funky bass line and the second guitar solo.
• Mind Your Throats, Please (15:27) Beginning with the note cluster on the synthesizer and featuring lots of eerie synth noises, sound effects and brass samples, similar to The Beatles' "Revolution 9".
• Remergence (18:03/19:13??) The "re-emergence" of the original themes, either where the recorded "samples" of earlier sections start overlapping each other (18:03), or where the band itself comes back in (19:13)

EMI/MFSL Index

The EMI and MFSL versions of the disc have the following index markers:

• Father's Shout: 0:00
• Breast Milky: 05:20
• Mother Fore: 10:09
• Funky Dung: 15:26
• Mind Your Throats, Please: 17:44
• Remergence: 19:49

Another alternative timing is found at the Echoes FAQ.

Trivia

• The working title for this piece changed a few times during the composing and recording process. When the first main theme was composed, David Gilmour called it "Theme From an Imaginary Western". The first working title for the six-part piece was "Epic". Later it was changed to "The Amazing Pudding." (This was used as the title of an independently produced Pink Floyd fanzine which ran from the mid '80s to the early '90s.) In July 1970 it was called "Atom Heart Mother". The title was decided when Ron Geesin brought Roger Waters an edition of Evening Standard and told him that he would find the song title in the newspaper. Waters saw an article about a pregnant woman with a pacemaker powered by atoms. The headline was "Nuclear Drive for Woman's Heart", and Waters then decided to name the song "Atom Heart Mother"..
• The song was the last Pink Floyd composition which was credited as being co-written by someone outside the band until "The Trial" of The Wall, which Bob Ezrin cowrote with Waters (unless one counts Clare Torry's contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky", for which she has been retroactively given credit due to a settlement with Pink Floyd).
• Stanley Kubrick wanted to use this track for his film A Clockwork Orange, however the band denied him from using it.
• When Roger Waters heard David Gilmour playing the guitar parts for this track, he said that he thought it sounded like the theme song from the western film The Magnificent Seven.

Personnel

• David Gilmour - guitar, slide
• Roger Waters - bass, tape effects, tape collage
• Richard Wright - keyboards, orchestration
• Nick Mason - drums, percussion, tape edits, tape collage

also:

• Ron Geesin - orchestration and co-composition
• Abbey Road Session Pops Orchestra - brass and orchestral sections