| "One of These Days" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italian vinyl single | ||||
| Single byPink Floyd | ||||
| from the albumMeddle | ||||
| B-side | "Fearless" | |||
| Released | 29 November 1971 (1971-11-29) (US)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 15 March[2] – 22 July 1971[3] | |||
| Studio | AIR,Abbey Road, andMorgan (London) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | ||||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Pink Floyd | |||
| Pink Floyd singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio video | ||||
| "One of These Days" onYouTube | ||||
"One of These Days" (earlier or sometimes called "One of These Days, I’m Going to Cut You into Little Pieces") is the opening track fromPink Floyd's 1971 albumMeddle.[4][5] The composition isinstrumental except for the spoken line from drummerNick Mason, "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces." It featuresdouble-trackedbass guitars played byDavid Gilmour andRoger Waters.[5]
The predominant element of the piece is that of abass guitar played through a delay (Binson Echorec) unit, set to produce repeats in quarter-note triplets. The result of this setting is: that if the player plays simple quarter notes, the added echoes will produce a pattern ofquarter note – eighth note, quarter note – eighth note. Pink Floyd would again use this technique on the bass line for "Sheep". This riff was first created byDavid Gilmour on guitar with effects, thenRoger Waters had the idea of using bass instead of guitar, so they recorded the song on two different bass guitars.
Each bass part is hard panned into one channel of stereo, but one bass sound is quite muted and dull. According to Gilmour, this is because that particular instrument had old strings on it, and theroadie they had sent to get new strings for it wandered off to see his girlfriend instead.[6]
The piece is inB minor, occasionally alternating with an Amajor chord.
The distinctive keyboard accents on this track are composed of three components: AHammond organ forms the 'fade in', followed by a "Stab" composed of a second Hammond organ with percussion stop, overdubbed with an acoustic piano fed through aLeslie speaker, as was also used on "Echoes". For live versions, the 'fade in' part was played on aFarfisa organ.[citation needed]
The threatening lyric, a rare vocal contribution byNick Mason,[5] was recorded through aring modulator and slowed down to create an eerie effect. It was aimed atSir Jimmy Young, the thenBBC Radio 1 andRadio 2DJ who the band supposedly disliked because he tended to babble. During early 1970s concerts, they sometimes played a sound collage of clips from Young's radio show that was edited to sound completely nonsensical, thus figuratively "cutting him into little pieces".[7]
Possibly the most interesting thing about "One of These Days" is that it actually stars myself as vocalist, for the first time on any of our records that actually got to the public. It's a rather startling performance involving the use of a high voice and slowed down tape.
— Nick Mason,[8]
According toJohn Peel, Waters described "One of These Days" as a "poignant appraisal of the contemporary social situation".[9] Gilmour said it was the most collaborative piece ever produced by the group.[citation needed]
A film,French Windows, was made byIan Emes,[5][10] set to the piece and featuring people and gibbons dancing against various backgrounds. After being seen on television by the band, it was back-projected by Pink Floyd during live performances[5] and Emes was commissioned to make further films for the band.
The tune also quotesDelia Derbyshire's realisation ofRon Grainer'sDoctor Who theme music from the British science fiction television seriesDoctor Who.[11][12][unreliable source?] This quotation is most clear in live performances.[13]
Part of the song was used on the Soviet television program "Mezhdunarodnaya Panorama" ("International Panorama"). The playing of the track in the program is also discussed inVictor Pelevin's 1992 novelOmon Ra.
The bass riff influencedBrian Eno's song "Third Uncle" from the albumTaking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).[14]Depeche Mode cites "One of These Days" as a direct influence on their song "Clean" from their albumViolator (1990).[15]
Pink Floyd first performed the song live for aBBC Radio 1 session at theParis Cinema on 30 September 1971.[16] It was then a regular part of the group's setlist, beginning with a US tour promotingMeddle.[17] A performance at theAmphitheatre of Pompeii in October was featured on the filmPink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, where it was given its full title of "One of These Days I'm Going to Cut You into Little Pieces".[18] It was one of four pieces performed as an accompaniment toRoland Petit's ballet featuring the group's music.[19] From 1973 onwards, it became an encore.[20] The last performance with Waters was on 26 June 1974 at thePalais des Sports, Paris.[21]
The song was resurrected for the group's 1987–1989A Momentary Lapse of Reason & Another Lapse Tours, where it became the opening number of the second set.[22] For 1994'sThe Division Bell Tour, it featured as the last show in the first set.[23] This arrangement featured David Gilmour onlap steel guitar,Tim Renwick on rhythm guitar,Guy Pratt on bass,Richard Wright andJon Carin on keyboards, with Nick Mason andGary Wallis on drums and percussion.[5] Live performances from this era are included on theDelicate Sound of Thunder video (1989),CD, LP, and cassette (1988) and thePulse album (1995) (cassette & LP only) &video, DVD and blu-ray (1995/2006/2019 respectively).[5] It is absent from theiTunes version of thePulse album. A live version was also included on the B-side of the "High Hopes/Keep Talking" double A-side single (1994).[5]
On 25 June 2016, David Gilmour and his solo band performed the song during their set at the Plac Wolności inWrocław, Poland, the first time Gilmour had played it live in more than 20 years and the first time he'd ever made it part of a solo set list. Gilmour also performed the song during his concerts at theAmphitheatre of Pompeii on 7 and 8 July 2016. This performance was released as part of hisLive at Pompeii live album and was chosen to be the second single to promote the release. These concerts made "One of These Days" the only song played at Pink Floyd's 1971 performance and Gilmour's 2016 performance. Roger Waters played the piece in the first set of songs on his 2017Us + Them Tour. The song also features inNick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets live shows, again featuring Guy Pratt on bass. A recording is included on their 2020 live albumLive at the Roundhouse.
A live version was released in 2016 onThe Early Years 1965–1972, Volume 5: 1971: Reverber/ation, from aBBC Radio session on 30 September 1971.[24][25]
In a review for theMeddle album, Jean-Charles Costa ofRolling Stone described "One of These Days" as sticking to the usual Pink Floyd formula, but "each segment of the tune is so well done, and the whole thing coheres so perfectly that it comes across as a positive, high-energy opening."[26] Critic Mike Cormack describes the song as "a magnificent sonic wash, with the pulsating bass lines (played by both Waters and Gilmour, through the Binson Echorec), Gilmour’s slide guitar, the colorful organ work by Wright and his wonderful spaceybing! motif all cohering into wildly exciting waves of sound."[27]
Pink Floyd Meddle[edit]
Delicate Sound of Thunder andPulse[edit]
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii[edit]
| Solo Live at Pompeii (David Gilmour)[edit]
"Live at the Roundhouse (Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets)"[edit]
|
A promo video was used to promoteDelicate Sound of Thunder and got brief airing on MTV in 1989. It showed the band performing the track on stage atNassau Coliseum and shots of the inflatable pig that flew over the audience during the song in the show. The end of the clip blacks out instead ofsegueing into "Time" as on theDelicate Sound of Thunder video.
This next one is described by Roger Waters as a "poignant appraisal of the contemporary social situation," make what you will of that.
