What are Pink Floyd's biggest songs?

21 January 2025, 17:04

Pink Floyd changed the face of rock music in the 1970s, unlocking the potential of the album and re-shaping the concept of the stadium show. Radio X looks at the influential British band's most-streamed tracks.

By Radio X

@RadioX

Formed: London, England, 1965

Members: Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Nick Mason

First single: Arnold Layne (April 1967)

Album discography: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967); A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968); More (1969); Ummagumma (1969); Atom Heart Mother (1970); Meddle (1971); Obscured By Clouds (1972); The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973); Wish You Were Here (1975); Animals (1977); The Wall (1979); The Final Cut (1983); A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987); The Division Bell (1994); The Endless River (2014)

1. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2: release date 30th November 1979

   

   Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two (Official Music Video)

   The centrepiece of a trio of songs on the concept album The Wall, concerning Roger Waters' themes of childhood, isolation and alienation. Part 2 features a choir of children from Islington Green School, which was located not far from Floyd's Britannia Row studio and Nick Mason's disco-influenced drum beat led producer Bob Ezrin to consider the track for the band's first UK single release since 1968's Point Me To The Sky.

   Ezrin's instinct was right - the single, which was accompanied by a video that featured animation from artist Gerald Scarfe, went to Number 1 on 11th December 1979 and remained there for five weeks, making it the last chart-topper of the decade that defined Pink Floyd.

   Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 has been certified Platinum by the BPI and has been streamed over 1.1 billion times across two official versions (one original, one a remaster). The official video has been watched over 57 million times.

2. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here: release date 12th September 1975

   

   Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (PULSE Restored & Re-Edited)

   The title track from Floyd's ninth studio album has become one of the band's most popular songs in recent years, with over 794 million streams on Spotify and over 94 million YouTube views. The song and opens with the sound of a radio tuning away from the previous track (Have A Cigar), across a station playing Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony and on to Dave Gilmour playing the delicate 12-string acoustic guitar intro.

   Many felt that the lyric was about former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, but songwriter Roger Waters felt that the words were more about how he needed to "go on demanding of myself that I keep auditioning for the walk-on part in the war, ‘cause that’s where I want to be."

   Read more: Why Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here is their saddest song

3. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb: release date 30th November 1979

   

   Comfortably Numb

   Beginning as a demo by David Gilmour, Roger Waters added a lyric that recalled his experience of taking tranquilisers for an illness during the band's Animals tour in 1977.

   Released as a single in June 1980, Comfortably Numb failed to chart in the UK but gained popularity in the 21st Century after the Scissor Sisters took their cover version into the British Top 10 in January 2004.

   Since then, the original version has been certified Platinum, has racked up over 653 million streams on Spotify and the audio has been played on YouTube over 123 million times.

4. Pink Floyd - Money: release date 1st March 1973

   

   Pink Floyd - Money (Official Music Video)

   Kicking off with a rhythmic sound loop of coins and cash registers, Money opens the second side of the multi-Platinum selling Dark Side Of The Moon album. Never issued as a single in their native Britain, an edit of the track was released in America, where it made Number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

   Money has been streamed over 537 million times on Spotify and the official video has been watched over 36 million times.

5. Pink Floyd - Time: release date 1st March 1973

   

   Pink Floyd – Time (Official Audio)

   Roger Waters' meditation on getting old is one of the key tracks from Dark Side Of The Moon and is the final Pink Floyd composition to be credited to all four members: Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason. Since digital streaming became a major player in the music business, Time has been certified Silver, with over 397 million Spotify plays and over 12 million YouTube views.

6. Pink Floyd - Breathe: release date 1st March 1973

   

   Pink Floyd - Breathe (In The Air) (2023 Remaster)

   Also known as Breathe (In The Air), this track is the first vocal track on Dark Side Of The Moon, segueing from the sound collage opener Speak To Me. The song has been streamed over 396 million times and the YouTube clip of the audio has been played over 4 million times.

7. Pink Floyd - The Great Gig In The Sky: release date 1st March 1973

   

   Pink Floyd - The Great Gig In The Sky (PULSE Restored & Re-Edited)

   Originally developed during live performances by keyboardist Richard Wright, this Dark Side Of The Moon track was augmented by vocals from Clare Torry. The singer was only given a flat rate of £30 at the time, but after considering legal action in 2004, she settled with Pink Floyd and now gets a co-composer credit on the song alongside Wright.

   The video, which features Sam Brown performing the vocal at the band's show in Earls Court in October 1994, has been viewed over 14 million times. The track has been streamed on Spotify over 330 million times.

8. Pink Floyd - Hey You: release date 30th November 1979

   

   Hey You

   Opening Side 3 of the double album The Wall, Hey You gained a wider audience as the b-side of the Comfortably Numb single in June 1980. In the context of the concept album's story, it's the moment where the alienated rock star protagonist tries to get back in touch with the outside world.

   Hey You has been certified Silver by the BPI, has had over 285 million Spotify streams and over 58 million YouTube views.

9. Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond: release date 12th September 1975

   

   Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)

   The cosmic opening of Floyd's Wish You Were Here album has been streamed over 237 million times on Spotify, while the audio has been played on YouTube over 68 million times.

   The song was famously written about Syd Barrett, the original frontman and chief songwriter of the Floyd, who left the group in 1968 after his mental and physical health deteriorated. Roger Waters claimed that David Gilmour’s four-note guitar motif summed up a “sort of indefinable, inevitable melancholy about the disappearance of Syd”.

10. Pink Floyd - High Hopes: release date: 28th March 1994

    

    Pink Floyd - High Hopes (Official Music Video HD)

    The final track from the second of the Gilmour/Mason era Floyd albums, The Division bell, High Hopes ended the record on a nostalgic note, referencing the group's early days in Cambridge.

    The track was released as the second single from the LP in October 1994 and was accompanied by a video directed by Storm Thorgerson of the Hipgnosis design team, who'd been working with Floyd since the 1960s.

    The clip has been watched on YouTube over 123 million times. High Hopes made Number 26 in the UK charts, and has been streamed over 95 million times.