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title: "Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air:  “Echoes” by Pink Floyd"
---

# Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air:  “Echoes” by Pink Floyd

[Pink Floyd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd) was an English rock band formed in London in 1965.  In 1970 the band released “[Echoes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echoes_(Pink_Floyd_song))”, a composition that includes “instrumental passages, sound effects and musical improvisation”.

 The [lyrics](http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/echoes-meddle-lyrics.html) of Echoes, written by band member Roger Waters, commence with an albatross hanging “motionless upon the air”, although the words that follow seem to refer more to under the ocean than above it.

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/W/Wandering/wandering_albatross_pink_stain2_john_chardine.jpg)

 Wandering Albatross, photograph by John Chardine

 **Lyrics of Echoes by Pink Floyd**

 Overhead the albatross  
 Hangs motionless upon the air  
 And deep beneath the rolling waves  
 In labyrinths of coral caves  
 An echo of a distant time  
 Comes willowing across the sand  
 And everything is green and submarine.

 And no one called us to the land  
 And no one knows the where's or why's.  
 Something stirs and something tries  
 Starts to climb toward the light.

 Strangers passing in the street  
 By chance two separate glances meet  
 And I am you and what I see is me.  
 And do I take you by the hand  
 And lead you through the land  
 And help me understand  
 The best I can.

 And no one called us to the land  
 And no one crosses there alive.  
 No one speaks and no one tries  
 No one flies around the sun....

 Almost everyday you fall  
 Upon my waking eyes,  
 Inviting and inciting me  
 To rise.  
 And through the window in the wall  
 Come streaming in on sunlight wings  
 A million bright ambassadors of morning.

 And no one sings me lullabyes  
 And no one makes me close my eyes  
 So I throw the windows wide  
 And call to you across the sky....

 [Click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJtw7SP0oN4) to listen to Echoes.

 Pink Floyd achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music.  “Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and musically influential groups in the history of popular music.”

 [Click here](http://www.acap.aq/en/news/news-archive/57-2012-news-archive/66-seabirds-featured-in-music-fleetwood-mac-and-albatross) to listen to the instrumental “Albatross” by Peter Green of the band [Fleetwood Mac](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Mac), first performed in 1969 – only one year earlier than Echoes but a very different composition.  Compare them and see what you think.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 October 2014*