Roger Waters - Set the Controls For The Heart of the Sun

[roterluton]

We should thank Waters for In The Flesh and Gilmour for Remember That Night, best live performances in the last 10 years

[mosti08]

Roger we need you in egypt please!

[enzo2enzo2enzo]

what a song.... it is way ahead of its time, lyrically and musically... Pink floyd are the masters of progressive music. visionaries and are at a standard different to any other band

[prsjoe]

I recently was hospitalized , undergoing high dose chemotherapy . One night , I had a very realistic dream that I was sitting on the edge of the bed and at the contols of a spaceship driving it straight into the heart of the sun . I will never again listen to this song and not be transported to that moment .

[achedd]

there was no way he had a mistake at the end of his solo there that was the most bad ass mistake i've ever heard if it was one

[moodybluesbaby67]

WOW...I've heard many different versions of this song, but I must say this one and the Live at Pompeii are the best two I've heard so far!

[piperathegates2112]

Definitely the best version of this tune I've heard. Love the sax and guitar solos!

[labyonnette]

Cant agree with 315hb. I too HAD alot of respect for Snowy White, he was my idol and most skillfull player, no one could touch him. Im contacted his fan club and asked for a signed photo of him to stick on the wall of our rockband youth club for kids with learning difficulties. The answer I got back was "I dont have any". hasnt he got a camera mobile and email. Lost all respect for this man who I had supported ALL my life. How mean can someone get.

[Theijuiel]

Snowy did play for Pink Floyd during the Wall tour in the 80's. He was Gilmour's surrogate guitar player.

[Theijuiel]

Snowy did play for Pink Floyd during the Wall tour in the 80's.

[MrMdiogenes]

pure brilliance

[kingwilliamorange]

This is THE BEST version of this song, period.

[spektrum1983]

I love my old classmates, why don't you work with them anymore Roger Waters?

[ozkrfuckers]

someone have a acid?? haha

[sticklift]

I think I am tripping acid.............and I haven't dropped in 20 years!

[Nansouri]

I feel like my heart will blow when I hear this song.

[Nansouri]

Miss the Sun of those days.

[Brando2600]

Instant Classic

[mikak3607]

this was the first time i saw snowy using his pickup selector, i thought it was stuck in the middle position :D

[ibanezdude2006]

Roger just comes off as a huge arrogant asswipe who hasn't written a decent song since 1979. Amused to Death? More like Bored to death.

[austin27332]

@ibanezdude2006 Then why are you here???

[daveveerman]

@ibanezdude2006 Indeed, because I have analysed it and seen it as well on large projections in Hollywood, Arnhem, and Landgraaf. In the end he intentionally messes with the distortion channcel! (The moving up and down of that little thing (don't know the english word) on his guitar. Props to Snowy!

[MrJerryHendrix]

The end of the solo is obviously intentional. Stop arguing he is a master.

[austin27332]

Snowy's guitar solo is not one bit messed up even at the end, It was intentional. His guitar solo is mind boggling on this song.

[austin27332]

The 5 people who disliked this song should be shot. lol... This is the best performance of this song, I've ever heard. Much better than Pompeii and UmmaGumma. Roger Waters is and always will be Pink Floyd. The end. :)

[labyonnette]

you could be right his ending didnt quite come off, whether it was a mistake or designed, doesnt really matter because his skill is beyond criticism. As for Roger Ive never seen him better than this or heard lyrics that most of us can only dream about. Long live Roger, long live snowy, long live Doyle and long live Roger, each of whom have stamped thier mark on guitar playing

[foudou7]

this is not even the 1/4 of the floyd performance

[louager]

I can only encourage everyone to buy. In The Flesh tour DVD is a masterpiece

[yacanleaveyourHATEon]

best lyrics to a song ever

[freepeoplenow]

I love this song. He has played it very different over the years. In 1985, he played it extremely well at Nassau. However, with Clapton in Sweden it was very mellow. I have alternated between which one I liked the most to listen to. I like them both, but the Nassau 1985 is insanly psychedelic. I'm happy he brought it back because it was missing from Kaos, my first Roger tour. I have heard and seen versions which were very mellow. One of them I saw in 2008 was very psychedelic. Much like this.

[xxJimster94xx]

i hope they play this on the wall show im gonna go c

[betukoso]

@xxJimster94xx no he wont... its the wall show, he will play only the tracks of the wall

[austin27332]

@betukoso lol yep your right I went to see the Wall Tour in September and he played the album in it's entirety and nothing more.

[austin27332]

Who the fuck could not like this song. They got to be smoking crack.

[berend1959]

the liquid dia's are really sixties....... great song

[freddiebarry93]

this version is pretty cool but i like the ummagumma and pompeii versions much better

[PROTENON]

Nice but Live at Pompeii version is much trippier.

[rockaires]

Masterpiece by George Roger Waters!

[DutchHeartMonger1]

Snowy's solo here goes just right through you, touching every fiber. Simply amazing, insaneningly amazing!!!!

[bluevasilis]

This a classy execution of a very old PF song.I still remember an old bw clip with Waters singing it.Just from another era.

[gordbard]

UMMA - GUMMAAAAAAAA!!

[DewInAnthem]

Imagine if you will back in 1984, Eric Clapton playing lead guitar on Set the Controls. Roger opened the concert with this one and it just set the table for the rest of the night. It is before Clapton got famous again for the ballads i.e. It's in the Way that You Use it. You catch my drift....

[2509valerie]

it all makes perfect sense. Roger Waters is gewoon de perfectie. Hij is wat Floyd groot heeft gemaakt, en jammer dat de rest niet mee wilde

[berend1959]

@2509valerie Rick. Nick, Roger, David en Sid zijn allemaal even belangrijk geweest voor het tijdspad van hun muziek geen uitzonderingen volgens mij. Groet Ben al 40 jaar Floyd fan

[chocolategorjan]

Prekrasno

[anamgify]

Wow I feld traveling to KATMANDU !!! Does anybody remember that booK ?? hope so ! RW Allways brings to me greats moments

[mariojader]

WOW!!!!

[RedWolfOnAWire]

Best version of this song I have ever heard thus far.

[SydPring]

Oh man. Nothing compares to a RW/Pink Floyd concert...... I like that there's no opening act and just him/them for 2 and a half hours.... I know that opening acts are a good thing for up-and-coming artists..... But When we're talking about a RW/Pink Floyd concert, nobody would remember the opening act after one of these epic shows!!!!

[MrTenkoura]

Link for UMMAGUMA version ?

[ricvonzipper]

Not as good as the live version from UMMAGUMMA, but still fucking awesome.

[MegaUmaguma]

made me so crazy.roger is not a human he is from another planet...how he made all of that music

[damianofonti]

io questo concerto l'ho visto a Roma, non ho parole, forse il piu' bel live della mia vita.

[kingpinlwf]

@damianofonti...i dont know what you wrote but ill drink to that brother!

[karlozxs316]

las imagenes, k aparecen en el fondo del escenario son nostalgicas para kienes extrañamos lo k fue la banda original.. pink floyd, la canción en si tiene muchos arreglos de lo k fuese la original me gusta mucho como es interpretada!!!

[raffaelladaino]

love..... this song makes me crazy

[jalepeno54]

lets give the sax player some cred here too, simply musical perfection

[Homeseaker]

I was extremely surprised hearing this version. It's just amazing, fantastic, incredible etc. Thank You a lot for uploading.

[EnigmaFuzZ]

Damn ! Snowy White is such a master ! He played the best solo possible ! Simply mind blowing !

[austin27332]

@EnigmaFuzZ yeah your right bud, This song is stunning. Simply amazing. Wow. 

[snoognz]

It feaked me out seeing him play live thinking that most of the songs were released way before I was born and he made them sound even better then the originals even though forty odd years had passed. He played with so much passion as though he was playing them for the first time. He is amazing live and I urge everyone to try and go to his upcoming tour in the next few years you won't regret it.

[postaldudengm1]

just fuckin beautiful

[thomas30a]

There are pictures of Arnold Layne music clip, behind them ^^

[fuzzdemon]

Ive been trying to get that tone on my effects unit but I cant quite nail it.

[SinkingGuitar]

@fuzzdemon .... reply might be a bit late, i too have a similar problem.... i am also assuming your a guitar player like myself.... i do believe it is originally played on bass, ran through a series of waters units...... but i could be wrong...

[fuzzdemon]

Sorry mate I mean snowy whites les paul tone not Waters.

[315hb]

I don't know if Snowy had a moment of trouble there at the end of his solo, but he executed that perfectly. He really is one of the most underrated guitarists out there. He kind of looks a lot like David Gilmour during The Wall Live era, circa 1980 -'81. Supposedly, he and "DG" have played together on stage even after Roger Waters left Pink Floyd which is cool. It's respect among musicians. That's the way it should be anyway. This song could very well be the best sounding live performance ever!

[7byseven]

You mean the bit at 4:53? He probably improvised that bit. Either way its a tricky one to play this, its no wonder he looks like hes concentrating so much.

[315hb]

He played that solo perfectly, but it looked like at 5:08 he was looking to fade out using his tone or volume knob but lost track for a moment, and he quickly decided to use the pickup selector switch for a tremolo effect... I thought it sounded great!

[7byseven]

Maybe, he actually turned the volume down very quickly on the neck pickup and then used the toggle switch to create that cutting in and out effect, with the bridge pickup still full volume. Ive literally just been playing this and realised that.

[nick1137]

pretty impressive to fade out a song live

[NoSocialSkillz]

sax and guitar are really good.

[motmetal]

the most hypnotic song i've ever listened. and this live version of Roger Waters has been bit different. With saxaphone and entraining guitar solo, it has been more melodic. It is really good but it become distant from original album version.

[abom3ani]

Snowy really underated...he's 1 of the greatest ..he knows how 2 make it looks easy.. i can tell that this s his gold top gibson from 1000 guitars...KEEP GOIN SNOWY..

[MarchingFloyd]

Greatest live performance ever?

Yes.

[gonnabhuge]

With Waters, the feeling is always there. I think it's an above par performance considering age, time gone by, and lack of key band members.

[alekaki7]

I don't know my friend... the girls, the guitar solo, the saxophones... make it a bit "cheesy"... and it's not what this song is about at all...:(

it's a good version but this song deserves above "good" or "above par"... ;)

anyway that's my point of view! :D

peace

[alekaki7]

In my humble opinion... and I consider Pink Floyd to be the biggest band ever existed... this live performance stands so small before the original version, as well as the performance at Live at Pompeii... the feeling isn't there... :/

[MarchingFloyd]

A very desert-esc feel to this song. I love it.

A barrier breaking song, and one of my all time favourites.

[rockaires]

Work of a Master.

[raffialexanian]

Indeed!!

[metalheadz44]

ABSOLUTE MAGIC! makes me wanna travel through space and time to an other universe....

[DrGonzoOBoogie]

great video

[HolySmokersFM]

RICHARD GERE!!!!!!!!!!

[Leto1988]

i've always thought the same :)

[Bjacobs64]

I guess that's pretty close. It has a huge sense of mystery to it. The music. "Set the controls," implies a space craft. The heart of the sun is so dense it is impossible to fully imagine. Also the sun is a masculine symbol as the moon is feminine. The heart of the sun implies masculine emotion which is mysterious to us american men by and large. And setting controls to completely lose control. It is more a mantra than a meaningful creation i think

[PoorDispatch]

If the spacecraft is traveling at 1,700 miles per hour towards the Sun, what is its speed relative towards the center of our galaxy?

[balkan2k]

That would really depend on which direction the spacecraft would be approaching the sun :-p

[nemesis11c]

I know the technique that Snowy uses at the end of the solo, with basically "tapping" the coils in the humbuckers to make that stuttering sound, but what is the actual technique called? I was under the impression it was called, literally "coil tapping", but that refers to bypass wiring the circuit, so if anyone can enlighten me, id really appreciate it. Thanks. And this concert in person was beyond amazing.

[Techno4yourhead]

Nah, he's turned the volume off on the neck pick up and is using the pick up selector to switch between pick ups, which cuts the sound in and out.

Search for Know Your Enemy by RATM to see a good example of that. :)

[Bjacobs64]

Absolute unreachable, untouchable extreme. The mysterious goal that lies behind the romantic drive to reach beyond ourselves, our world.

[PoorDispatch]

And based on that, this song describes humanity's desire to touch the untouchable, to reach for what is out of reach?

[ghonzalo]

set the controls for the heart of the sun is exactly what the great pink floyd did with their incredible career (including syd's personal icarus fall)

[Bjacobs64]

"Woe is the shadow that ripens the wine."

[PoorDispatch]

Bjacobs, care to analyze that?

[Bjacobs64]

Sure. Wine is the drink of fullness of celebration of pleasure. He's thinking in opposites. That there are two sides or more to everything that is important. The wine is ripened or brought to fullness by the pain (woe) that increases our desire.  I think the word shadow is a kind of link between woe and wine. It is a different form or a transition from idea (Woe) to visual light (lack of light-shadow) to physical (wine). Make sense?

I found it beautiful.

[PoorDispatch]

And what does the "heart of the sun" symbolize to you?

[MaddMan95]

God, that solo was absolutely hypnotic! Snowy White rules!

[bareb71]

I can in no way dissagree... ;-) but the way i see it, theres 2 soli on this track... and they are both divine...:-)

[dsotm71]

very powerful and one my favorite.

/ PEACE

[SydPoe]

"Now, a journey back into the bisnes of time" jaja, a huevo.

[teece34]

saw him do this in melbourne 2008 unbelivable, wished for some acid

[HenryWinehard]

acid sucks, don' EVER try it kids..

[Tets]

Lies. LSD is pretty much the maximum amount of fun you can possibly have.

[HenryWinehard]

See you in the metal house.

[DonConstantinos]

LSD turns your mind into garbage...

[Tets]

When overused. to be honest, alcohol will do far worse things to your brain with equivalent use.

[Tets]

I was able to see a brilliant cover band play this at vibes while I was on acid, which was great but I know the real thing would be better.

[yogaman1919]

a buddy of mine from work saw a cover band called The Machine, sans acid. according to him they did a damn good job of it. said that they sounded right up there with the real deal.

[PLAYMOBIL2008]

SWOWY ON THAT SOLO, TAKE US IN A ARABIAN ENVIRONIMENT.... PERFECT, HIPNOTIC AND MISTERIOUS... GOOD

From: vadilson - belo horizonte = BRAZIL

[chopsuey187]

oh come on enjoy music, who cares bout the set up!

[rockaires]

Piece of Art from a true genius.

[mabidw]

i could do without the kenny g solo

[triunp]

Snowy white on half speed is 10 times better than Bramhall...

[hurtlilgirl]

Yeah, Ok - sure. Snowy's great but his experience with the Floyd doesn't invalidate what Doyle's doing here.

[triunp]

When I hear Jon Carin Sing "Dogs"...and Chester Kamen in Glastonbury singuing Confortably Numb or Money...the most I listen to them, the most I think Bramhall got nothing to do in there...

[emonerd826]

that solo is so fucking awesome

[LiamsCovers]

snowy white on that solo, wow his tone is so good, perfect les paul sound there

[MrUubu]

great song. cette version est à chier!!!!!!

[abcmatrix]

rw+ peter pan are magic riddle.

[pinkfloydmaroc]

great song

[deansusky]

Roger the greatest writer sound maker pure genius thank god he came in our generation

[rockaires]

So true, deansusky.

[studbolt77]

no affense but please try not leaving comments assuming you know there set up this is roger waters he is a genuis and when it comes to instruments he could build better equiptment then you could ever buy and most the items on stage are custom so stop with the wammy pedal set to the 5th deminsion bullspit you dont know

[xylaphonemaster]

Either way, a clear Tom Morello (one of the leading exponents of whammy) influence could be heard in that chap with the Les Paul's playing, and it did sound like a whammy, and if that gets the same results sonicly speaking, then you've got to wonder how "wrong" an assessment it is. If somebody did want to replicate that tone and succeeded with different equipment, then more power to them I say.

[Chumleh]

I doubt that's a whammy. It's more likely a piece of rack gear; an Eventide or TC Electronic.

[Ultrasteve1969]

eh. ... like to old version better

[andrzej298]

Snowy White plays here a great solo.

[agis75]

poli kalo

[ElBrunoCScherer]

Great performance, please what is the name of this dvd?

[adamfinspain]

"Roger Waters in the flesh" try to get a copy, it really is superb.

[ElBrunoCScherer]

Thanks friend!

[Blindside93]

4:57 to 5:14 is actually insane

[Toasterman7642]

"Pinched from a book of chinese poetry."

-Roger Waters on 'Set the Controls' lyrics

[m4rc01959]

Roger è semplicemente un grande artista.

[topsiterings]

this is one of the gratest pink floyd songs ever, nice version of Snow and Roger...

[WhoKnowsPL]

on what effect snowy play this solo ? it is whammy ??

[Joshidiah]

no idea, but its brillian.

I wish every single mass in church looks like this...

[badjesus666]

Sounds like a harmonized 5th to me... maybe a digitech whammy pedal set at a 5th interval.

[ShootaFodder]

Could be a something like the BOSS PS-5 set to 5th Interval. Sounds like some kind of Harmony pedal at least :P

[shroomiez11]

if u dont like this song u dont like pink floyd

peace

[SHNetnis]

Nice solo but all song is boring and i dont like it...

[GianlucaRho94]

the best solo of the world!

[philotaboo]

"Love is the shadow that ripens the wine"; does anybody here know Rumi, the Persian poet? he used exactly the same phrase in one of his poems, 700 years ago. what do you call it but "metempsychosis of art"?

[qadmos]

Or you could more prosaically say that since Homer's time, everything has already been written :)

[philotaboo]

depends on your literacy! if you'd been able to find the roots of an artistic fragment, it wouldn't be "prosaically" at all!

[Miszalke1]

I didn't know that Roger employed the verses of Rumi's poems, but I heard that some words from this song are from ancient or mediaeval Chinese lirycs.

P.S. My English is not good enough :)

[philotaboo]

well, am not sure that he had been inspired by Rumi in this song, some time the true artists (like Roger, like Rumi) get the same destination by different paths, i guess.

[Spectroman10]

Waters = Pink Floyd

Gilmour with Waters = Pink Floyd

Gilmour alone with Rick and Nick = Pink Floyd's Worst album = Momentary Lapse of Reason

[elmanuele]

Roger Water and Syd Barrett and no gilmour = a really weird pink floyd but hey its not bad!

[manskitto123]

that was a great album , if i were you id try and listen to signs of life thats straight up pink floyd off that album

[WhiteLightning07]

I'm fucking sick of people talking shit about one member of Floyd or another (ie 'fuck Gilmour, Waters is the shit.) That's fucking ignorance...Pink Floyd would never have been what it was if not for all five members. Sure, some played a bigger part at times, but they all contributed and you never would have had the awesomeness that Pink Floyd is without all of them working together, which is why it went downhill after Waters left. Not to say he was Floyd, but it was never the same without him

[deepfreeze11]

bad version of the song nobody can replace gilmour or mason or wright :((((

[CHDan09]

true but also nobody can replace Roger Waters which gilmour tried to do but o well.

[Adamgtheg]

I love this version but im also a big fan of the original . . . I love the sax in it, makes it come to life a bit better. Waters is a genius, as are all the Pink Floyd members!

[ferrari934]

over the mountain watching the watcher

[LizardHutchence]

Excelente version, el coro femenino contrasta bien....

[sabianrox1]

is graham using a gong bass drum here?

[BrokenChair88]

IF only it were longer...

[BrokenChair88]

Pink Floyd wrote "Dogs".

[LeifJohan]

wrong!

Roger wrote Dogs!

Thats why Pink Floyd didnt play that popular song after Roger left the group!

[BrokenChair88]

Wrong!

Roger Waters, and David Gilmoure wrote "Dogs"!

That's why Pink Floyd weren't as good when Waters took control. Pink Floyd were the best when they worked together!

And actually, Roger Waters, and David Gilmoure were members of Pink Floyd, and they both wrote it together, so Pink Floyd did write "Dogs". Rick also has a solo on it after the "dying of cancer" line.

[mediocrefunkybeat]

Wrong! Roger Waters and David Gilmour wrote 'Dogs'.

[drodenbar]

you cant spell gilmour

[roadrashrobby53]

youre an asshole... roger waters took all the credit... he didnt write the song, although he may have written the lyrics. If you seriously think that waters wrote the guitar solos and decided how rick wright(RIP) played the keyboards, you're an absolute retard

[7byseven]

I believe waters did tell gilmour to keep the guitar to a minimum for the Animals album and rightly so. I love those empty long tracks with mostly wright on keyboard, makes the guitar solo's even more excellent. I feel Floyd have been somewhat lost since Waters left. ive not bought anything since AMLOR and that wasnt very interesting.

[MANTRUE69]

Pink Floyd wrote "Sheep"

[thepiper2112]

Awesome solo by Snowy!

[zootiehead]

Love what they did with it.

[Chumleh]

Its goo, but its not Set the Controls... that they preformed thirty years earlier.

[LostGentlemen]

why shud it be?!

[WhiteLightning07]

And you can't honestly say that Snowy White's guitar solo is a poor addition...Dude's a badass. I keep hoping that Roger will play the original, complete version of Pigs on the Wing (the one with Snowy White's solo in it) but all three times I've seen him he hasn't done it which is disappointing.

[Ninyae1]

Great version!!!

[guaronio]

Beautiful solo by Snowy White. He looked just plain in the rest of the concert.

[jrim72]

reelly great needs gong but still good

[justiniscoolohyea]

holy shit love the solo