A New Machine

"A New Machine"
Song by Pink Floyd from the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	7 September 1987 (UK) 8 September 1987 (US)
Recorded	November 1986 – August 1987
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	2:24 together 1:46 Part 1 0:38 Part 2
Label	EMI (UK) Columbia (US)
Writer	David Gilmour
A Momentary Lapse of Reason track listing
10 tracks Side one "Signs of Life " "Learning to Fly" "The Dogs of War" "One Slip" "On the Turning Away" Side two "Yet Another Movie" / "Round and Around" "A New Machine (Part 1)" "Terminal Frost" "A New Machine (Part 2)" "Sorrow"

"A New Machine", parts 1 and 2 are songs from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason.^[1][2]

Lyrics and music

They serve as bookends to the instrumental track "Terminal Frost", and feature David Gilmour's voice, electrically distorted, through a vocoder and a rising synth note. The narrator seems to express weariness with a lifetime spent in the one body, waiting for the moment of death, but seeks consolation in the fact that this "waiting" will eventually end.

"A New Machine has a sound I've never heard anyone do. The noise gates, the Vocoders, opened up something new which to me seemed like a wonderful sound effect that no one had done before; it's innovation of a sort."

— David Gilmour, ^[3]

The two songs were the first Pink Floyd songs to be credited solely to David Gilmour since "Childhood's End", from their 1972 album Obscured by Clouds.

Personnel

• David Gilmour — vocals, vocoder, programming and synthesiser

with:

• Patrick Leonard — synthesiser

References

1. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
2. Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
3. Matt Resnicoff (August 1992). "Careful With That Axe David Gilmour Interview". Musician. Retrieved 2010-08-16.