Top 10 Best Pink Floyd Songs

Step into the cosmic realm of Pink Floyd, a band that transcends time and space with their groundbreaking musical odyssey. These British visionaries have gifted us sonic masterpieces that ebb and flow between the ethereal and the viscerally intense. Through revolutionary soundscapes, spectral melodies, and philosophical musings, Pink Floyd has held entire generations in a hypnotic trance, all while inviting newcomers into their expansive universe.

Selecting the quintessential Pink Floyd tracks is like attempting to capture the essence of a vivid, ever-changing dreamscape. With a career that sails smoothly from their psychedelic inception to their larger-than-life mainstream successes, Pink Floyd stands as the epitome of musical alchemy. They've delved into the labyrinthine corridors of the human psyche, explored existential quandaries, and critiqued the political machine, all while wielding their instruments like wizards casting spells.
The Top Ten
1 Comfortably Numb

When I was a kid, this song came on the radio while my mom, stepfather, and I were driving home from a long drive. It was dark, and my parents were singing along, loving every second. I asked them to change it. I told them I didn't like it. I didn't like this song. "I don't like this song, I don't like being numb." In my mind, the mind of a child, the only numb I knew was from the dentist's office or that stuff they spray on your bee sting.

My mother turned around in her seat - I'll never forget it as long as I live - and told me, "Don't worry, baby, you'll change your mind when you get older."

This song has so many meanings to me. It holds so many memories for me. It can make me smile, make me cry, and make me feel like I'm going crazy. Definitely my number one.

2 Time

This song is breathtaking. A couple of days ago, I laid down on my bed and played this song. Right when the clocks started ticking and the drums came in, I honestly passed out. I woke up two hours later, shocked by what had just happened, not understanding how time had just flown by.

Every line is just so meaningful. Definitely my favorite Pink Floyd song of all time, if not one of my favorite songs of all time. Comfortably Numb and Another Brick in the Wall are great songs, but songs like Money, Breathe, and Hey You are at the top in my mind.

3 Wish You Were Here

How I wish... How I wish I was born in 1960 to live through the most impressive years of music. Such a perfect song, with beautiful vocals from the great David Gilmour. This is music you can listen to every day!

The joy, peace, and flat-out amazingness from Pink Floyd is almost too great to comprehend. But Wish You Were Here is the very best, and no song compares to its rock greatness. Every time I listen to this song, I think of nothing but pure emotions coming from the always great David Gilmour's voice. I want this song to play at my funeral. It's the greatest Pink Floyd song and the greatest song ever by the best band ever. Thank you, and always keep calm and carry on.

4 Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5

I expected Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here to be the top two, but in my opinion, they can't compete with Shine On You Crazy Diamond. This is the best work done by Pink Floyd. No song can match the lyrics, the music, the emotions, or the length.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond is better than Hey Jude by the Beatles, better than Hotel California by the Eagles, better than Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and better than Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Not everybody has a traumatic son, not everybody is lost in money and fame, not everybody is lost in dual personality, but everybody has lost a dear friend - a friend who was shining and is now lost.

This song is the best because everyone can lose themselves in their past and think about the time they spent with their best friend. Shine will always be shining, always be my favorite song, and always remind me to keep my best friend shining even when we are distant apart. It's eternal. It's the best, and I think it's the best of all Floyd songs and their contribution to the world.

5 Echoes

"Echoes" isn't just a song. It's an experience.

Every time I listen to this masterful piece of audio work, I begin to think about how, since the very beginning of life, we have all been doing nothing but bickering with each other over the smallest things. Instead of spending our limited lives bettering ourselves and making accomplishments that benefit all of humankind, we choose to spend our time being greedy, manipulative, and self-centered.

The somewhat funky instrumental section is a blast to listen to. You get to hear an equal amount of each musician's unbelievable skills as they duke it out for five minutes on their respective instruments.

After the instrumental section, the song slowly fades to a creepy, five-minute ambient section. It really does a good job of painting a picture of being lost and without help in the dark, vast ocean, living as a primitive, single-celled organism that is still slowly evolving.

As you evolve, the music comes back and starts to slowly build back up, as if you have found a beam of light and you start to swim towards it. Even as a human who now lives on land, you are still left without anyone to support your ideas of a cooperative, peaceful society. Your only choice is to remain still and contemplate your own thoughts.

This experience can be considered Pink Floyd's first true musical masterpiece. Sure, some previous songs like "Atom Heart Mother" and all of the Syd Barrett-led music may be pretty great, but they had glaring flaws of their own. "Echoes" was where everything really clicked. It's the stake in the ground that established Pink Floyd as a veteran music act. Not to mention, just two years after this, all of our ears would be blessed by the 43 minutes of music at its finest, known as "The Dark Side of the Moon."

If you have never listened to this masterpiece in its entirety before, don't wait until you're dead. Give it a try while you're young. Twenty-four minutes of your life... more

6 Dogs

My favorite song of all time. This isn't sunshine and rainbows. This song is dark, depressing, and at times it could even be considered brutal. It doesn't pretend like it's all going to be wholesome and happy if you live a life like the dogs in Animals do. You'll probably get ground down in the end, you'll probably be found dead on the phone, and you'll probably be dragged down by the stone.

The music is also fantastic. The solos are amazing, and the mixing and assembly of it all are some of their best. Everything in this song is top-tier. There are not many bands for which I would be willing to listen to a 17-minute-long song because it's easy for it to become boring or something to dread. But with Dogs, I actively look forward to listening to it.

7 Money

This is not the best Pink Floyd song, but I will always like it a lot because it was the song that got me into older music. I used to like pop music a lot. Then I heard about The Dark Side of the Moon and how awesome it was, so I bought it to see what it was like. Initially, I listened to small parts of the songs and decided that I didn't like it. I was going to delete it when I decided to listen to Money. I instantly loved it, listened to the whole album, and loved that as well.

Then, I started to buy other Pink Floyd albums and other bands' albums too. I realized that pop music wasn't very good. It was just mainstream stuff with no emotion. Now, I really like prog rock. I'm thankful for this song because, if I had never listened to it, I might have never learned about Pink Floyd and what real music is.

8 Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2

The particular reason I like the song is that when it plays on the radio, they play "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" right before it, which acts as a segue. We hear Roger's booming, furious bass to kick it off, right before we get into funk/disco for the next 4 or 5 minutes. The music video for this, from the movie "Pink Floyd - The Wall," makes the song all the better, with the Scottish teacher on the railroad tracks ("You! You! Yes, you! Stand still, laddie!") and the reasons as to why Pink (the main character) acts as he does.

This is actually my number one song of all the songs I like. It's awesome! With its strong drums, a well-known bass line, and distinctive guitar parts in the background, along with a smooth but edgy guitar solo, this was the best part I ever heard!

9 Hey You

This is just one of the greatest Pink Floyd songs of all time, from one of their best albums. It's quite melancholy and indeed very deep. The theme of the song is that Pink, the main character of The Wall, has constructed a metaphorical wall around himself, isolating him from his family and those who love him. He has been driven to the brink of insanity. He wishes to destroy the wall and come back to society, begging those outside to save him from this madness. Hauntingly beautiful is the best way, in my opinion, to describe this masterpiece.

10 Us and Them

The best song on "The Dark Side of the Moon," bar none! The compilation/fusion by Rick Wright of jazz and rock is sublime, and the organ sound is the best I have ever heard. These lyrics are the hardest-hitting, most emotional, and most meaningful on the album, and in general. Of course, not much needs to be said about the combination of sax and Hammond! Most "fans" like "Money," but true fans love "Us and Them."

This is the song that shows how underappreciated the fantastic Rick Wright was. His solo and the melodic tunes he plays in this song are the best of his entire career. The way his solo melds with the recordings is just genius. Not to mention the great layered lyrics that are to be expected from Roger Waters, and a brilliant vocal and musical performance from David Gilmour. What is there to hate about this masterpiece?

The Contenders
11 High Hopes

The best guitar song of all time. Listen once, and you will get addicted to this song. I listen to it 5-8 times per day. This is the best song of Pink Floyd. I rate it above Comfortably Numb, Echoes, Time, and Shine on You Crazy Diamond. I can't understand why this song is so underrated. The solo guitar in the last three minutes of this song is, I would say, the best of all time. You will find yourself lost in the guitar tunes of Pink Floyd and the vocals of David Gilmour. No song is better than this one. No song.

Truly speaking, as all my other friends here have already said, voting for a single Floyd song ahead of others is not possible. But still, I am voting for this song because of the breathtaking solo, beautiful lyrics, and the great voice of Gilmour, as usual. Most importantly, this song certainly deserves to be in the top 2 or 3. It's one of the best psychedelic songs ever made in history.

12 Brain Damage

I love this song. It reminds me of the powers that Roger Waters really has. This should be higher on the list, especially since Waters himself sings the song, along with "Eclipse." It's the best song alongside "Money," "Time," and "Us and Them."

This song should definitely be in their top three. Just give it a listen, because I can't name more than two songs better than this one from Pink Floyd.

The first time I listened to this song was with headphones on full volume, in the dark. A song has never hit home harder.

13 The Great Gig in the Sky

I used to prefer the long odysseys like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," "Echoes," or "Atom Heart Mother," but this thing is just inimitable! It's a perfect gem that I can only compare to the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" or the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." It may be the best song ever recorded! It's at least in my top three. Every fan of Pink Floyd should reconsider this song - and who wouldn't enjoy those perfect 4:44 minutes!

I love the song! The most amazing thing is the psychedelic effect that the masterpiece has on you. I wish the band were more recognized for the beauty of what they've done. They deserve more credit and more recognition. They are underrated. The Great Gig in the Sky is so beautiful - the piano, the beats, the vocals. It's such a great pleasure to listen to the song.

14 Have a Cigar

A song of sleaze and suspicion, it paints a very strong image in my mind of Roger, David, Syd, and others, all staring at a salesperson with distrust, fearful of the capitalization of the music industry. It's a warning to all, and I love it.

Wow. I don't understand how this isn't higher. One of my favorite songs from Pink Floyd. I just love that opening synth!

Captures the emotion (or lack thereof) behind the sleazy music industry to the point of perfection.

15 Pigs (Three Different Ones)

I really like this one. This is, without a doubt, one of Pink Floyd's most aggressive and bitter songs. Like Dogs, or the rest of Animals really, there's no sugarcoating. In fact, there's even less.

The first of the three pigs is a rich, greedy capitalist who just keeps using other people. The second is Margaret Thatcher, who was the Prime Minister at the time. The third and final pig is Mary Whitehouse, who was trying to censor sex, drugs, and rock and roll on TV.

When they talk about Mary, they even introduce her by her last name and call her by her first name later in the song. That's how blunt we're talking.

No sugarcoating. No censoring. Just stating their thoughts.

16 Welcome to the Machine

It has amazing sound effects. This song is so underrated. The lyrics are amazing, and the sound is awesome. When I first heard it, I was amazed and impressed. The sound effects mixed with the acoustic guitar are mind-blowing. It's a shame that people don't fully appreciate the quality of the song.

The vibe a song gives off can certainly affect how the listener judges the song. Everyone has different opinions about it. But with this song, I feel it's a feeling all of us have felt. Everyone who's heard this understands it. This song is in everyone's soul. It's familiar yet mysterious.

17 Mother

This song is one I have heard over forty times, and it becomes more powerful with every listen. It should be in the top 5.

Not only is this song just so perfect, but I also had an overprotective mom. Reading the lyrics makes me smile.

17th? This song should be in the Top 10! It's got a beautiful folky tune, great lyrics, and an excellent guitar solo.

18 Run Like Hell

Catchy, kickass, and just plain fun to listen to. The guitar rocks, the beat rocks, and especially the vocals from Waters. I've always liked his voice. It's rather unique.

My second favorite Pink Floyd song, but I voted for it because Comfortably Numb is already No. 1. Great song. Love the guitar sound.

I love other Pink Floyd songs, but this is my current favorite. It is very uplifting, and I love every bit of it.

19 One of These Days

It definitely takes more than one listen, but once you listen again and again and so on, you just might understand the musical brilliance of it. That's what makes them such a great progressive rock band.

This song is easily one of the greatest songs ever. It has amazing bass, guitar, and effects throughout its length and never fails to disappoint.

Why 20th? Why not 1st? This never gets boring. With Doctor Who noises and the Terminator threatening to kill you, Pink Floyd knew of the film before it was created!

20 Young Lust

Picking one Pink Floyd song as their best might just be the hardest thing I've had to do. By far, this is one of the best bands and one of my favorites. There are just so many amazing songs to choose from, but I think Young Lust has my favorite of the many amazing solos this band has created.

It appears in The Wall. It has a distinctive, raw hard rock sound that stands out among Pink Floyd's few pieces in that genre.

This goes hard as hell by Pink Floyd standards.

21 Eclipse

This is the most underrated song of Pink Floyd. Along with Brain Damage, these are the songs that define Pink Floyd.

This is the perfect song to listen to at the end of a trip or hike.

The lyrics are absolutely amazing! This is the best piece of poetry I've seen in any song.

22 The Trial

I absolutely love this song! The way it ends The Wall album, with visits from Pink's mother, old teacher, and old girlfriend, makes you remember it as the greatest album of all time.

This song needs to be ranked higher. Once you completely understand The Wall, this should become one of your favorite songs on the album.

The song blends genres excellently, has a fantastic melody, and has a completely unique sound. I really wish it were longer.

23 In the Flesh?

First, it's calm, but then with its strong beginning and lyrics, you realize this is no ordinary music. This is the most epic type of music ever created. Besides, it's so good that it is repeated twice in The Wall. Just plain awesome.

This is by far my favorite Pink Floyd song. I can't believe it is number 47. It deserves to be in the top 5 at least. The song starts with deliberate slow drumbeats. The thudding is then accompanied by a beautiful electric guitar that puts you in a trance. The music then practically stops when the amazing lyrics begin, which are made even more beautiful by the wonderful vocals. This song is brilliant.

24 Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1

I love its melodious guitar riff. It makes me obsessed with it. Even though it has only brief lyrics, it's never boring to listen to. Guys, please vote to climb this song to #10.

The bass at the end, along with the synthesizers, is one of Pink Floyd's signature infinite tones, as seen in songs like Comfortably Numb, Welcome to the Machine, and Hey You, among others.

It's so good. A nice opener to the trilogy of amazing songs that is Another Brick in the Wall.

25 Astronomy Domine

I really do not understand how the hell is this masterpiece so low on the list. And yeah I've also noticed that there's no Syd Barett song in the top ten. I really can't make head or tail of this. Astronomy domine is a song that surely takes one on a space trip.

Come on...
Only #26? This is the greatest masterpiece they have ever made. Syd Barrett at his finest. Although the stuff above is still good, nothing compares to how incredible and psychedelic this song is. Sad how it is only #26...

Why is this so low...
This is the greatest psychedelic song ever created. It is like a journey through space, and no one can accomplish something like this other than Syd Barrett.

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