The Pink Floyd Classic David Gilmour Won’t Be Playing on His Upcoming Tour

The best album he’s made since The Dark Side of the Moon.

That’s how David Gilmour described his new album Luck and Strange. Gilmour’s fifth solo album is out today (September 6) and the legendary guitarist shocked Pink Floyd fans with the statement while promoting his new album.

However, he eventually walked it back. He told Rolling Stone, “It’s a flip statement, really.” Then he added, “I mean, it’s not like Dark Side of the Moon is even my favorite album. I think I prefer Wish You Were Here.”

Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon arrived in 1973. Gilmour, now 78, said his new album is “the best thing I’ve done in more or less my living memory.” The Pink Floyd albums are so distant to him that, to him, they feel like the work of “someone else.”

Dark Side of the Band

When discussing his upcoming tour, Gilmour hinted at an embargo on Roger Waters’ songs. Though he’s since softened his stance.

“I think I will be doing one or two things from that time, but it just seems so long ago,” he said. “I know people love them, and I love playing them.” Gilmour said he’ll perform “Wish You Were Here” and “quite likely” play “Comfortably Numb.”

But there’s one Pink Floyd classic he will not be playing.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing ‘Money’—if that’s your reason for coming.” Following what appeared to be a detente between Gilmour and Waters in recent years, he remained vague on what’s changed between the former bandmates.

“It’s boring,” Gilmour said. “As I said before, he left our pop group when I was in my 30s, and I’m a pretty old chap now—and the relevance of it is not there. I don’t really know his work since. So I don’t have anything to say on the topic.”

“Money“

Waters wrote “Money” and created one of the most well-known bass riffs in music. The song’s famous intro is built on drummer Nick Mason’s loop of jangling coins and a cash register. Mason’s 7/4 groove moves Waters’ capitalist critique along as he considers his own financial spoils.

Money, get away
You get a good job with more pay and you’re okay
Money, it’s a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash

The Dark Side of the Moon is a colossal piece of rock history. It’s the best-selling album of the ’70s and the fourth best-seller in history. The album centers on a central theme developed by Waters.

In 2003, Gilmour explained to Rolling Stone how the concept developed, “Roger came in and said that instead of just one or two lyrics for individual songs that we had already been working on, he had got an idea that was going to run through the whole album.”

Waters talked about a throughline concept for the album. “Having Roger coming up with a cohesive idea of what the whole thing was going to be about was very good,” he said. Its central themes of greed, time, conflict, and death thread the album as a singular work.

New car, caviar, four-star, daydream
Think I’ll buy me a football team

Another Brick in the Wall

“Money” is a defining song for Pink Floyd and remains a fan favorite. Also, it features Gilmour on lead vocals and includes one of his most beloved guitar solos. It’s not a stretch to write that Pink Floyd fans might expect—if not demand—“Money” during Gilmour’s solo sets. But you can’t always get what you want.

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