If (Pink Floyd song)

"If"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album Atom Heart Mother
PublishedWorld Copyrights
Released2 October 1970 (UK)
10 October 1970 (US)
Recorded12 June – 21 July 1970[1]
StudioAbbey Road Studios, London
Genre
Length4:31
LabelHarvest
Songwriter(s)Roger Waters
Producer(s)Pink Floyd, Norman Smith (executive producer)

"If" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd on their 1970 album Atom Heart Mother.[2][3]

Writing

Written and sung by Roger Waters, like "Grantchester Meadows" before it, "If" carries on a pastoral and folky approach,[4][5] but instead deals with introspection.[6] The song is in the key of E major.

Live

The song was performed live at a John Peel session on 16 July 1970, at BBC's Paris Theatre, London. Waters performed it on several occasions,[5] during the 1984–85 'Pros and Cons' tour, and in support of Radio K.A.O.S. in 1987. For these performances, "If" was expanded with additional lyrics and chord sequences. The song was later played by Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024 in a medley with Atom Heart Mother.[7]

Reception

In a review for the Atom Heart Mother album on release, Alec Dubro of Rolling Stone gave "If" a negative review, calling the song "English folk at its deadly worst. It's soft and silly." Dubro said the same for "Fat Old Sun".[8] Rolling Stone would later praise the song in 2007, however, writing "Roger Waters' pastoral ballad on this flawed album was a moving examination of the terror of isolation; Floyd were finally rooting their astral travels in true songwriting."[9] Critic Mike Cormack notes that the song has "a quite radical lyric, neatly reversing the patriotic bombast and public-school derring-do of the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name for the recognition (and thus valuing) of fragility and otherness", and that the "reversal of the values of patriarchal, class-bound Britain towards something more inclusive is one of Waters’ most enduring strengths as a songwriter".[10] Stephen Deusner of Paste described "If" as one of Roger Waters' best compositions.[11] Irving Tan of Sputnik Music believes "If" contains "very introspective lyrics that end up making a memorable outing", but also believed the track was not as well-written as some of his later and earlier pieces.[12] Tan also believed the track was reminiscent of "Grantchester Meadows", another Waters-penned track from Ummagumma a year before.[12]

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Guesdon, Jean-MIchel (2017). Pink Floyd All The Songs. Running Press. ISBN 9780316439237.
  2. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
  3. ^ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
  4. ^ Manning, Toby (2006). "The Albums". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 162. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  5. ^ a b Schaffner, Nicholas (2005). "The Amazing Pudding". Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey (New ed.). London: Helter Skelter. p. 162. ISBN 1-905139-09-8.
  6. ^ Manning, Toby (2006). "Set the Controls". The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (1st ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 63. ISBN 1-84353-575-0.
  7. ^ Bailie, Geoff (19 April 2022). "Concert Review: Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets - Ulster Hall, Belfast - April 14th, 2022". The Prog Report. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. ^ Dubro, Alec (10 December 1970). "Atom Heart Mother". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  9. ^ Gilmore, Mikal; David Fricke (5 April 2007). "The Madness & Majesty of Pink Floyd". Rolling Stone. No. 1023. Straight Arrow Publishers. p. 79 – via ProQuest.
  10. ^ Cormack, Mike (2024). Everything Under The Sun: The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: History Press. ISBN 978-1803995359.
  11. ^ Deusner, Stephen (6 October 2011). "Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother ("Why Pink Floyd?" Reissue)". pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  12. ^ a b Tan, Irving (18 September 2010). "Review: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
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