Template:Dsotm "Breathe"[1] is the second track[2] from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon.
Composition
The song is slow-paced and rich in texture, deploying David Gilmour's skilled multitrack performances of slide guitar and lead vocals in gentle, warm timbres. Its lyrics, composed by Roger Waters, beseech the listener to pause in their seemingly-endless labours and take notice of more meaningful pursuits in life. Approximately three minutes in length, it is the first song on the album with lyrics and is preceded by wordless screaming at the end of "Speak to Me." Since this song segues directly into "Breathe" via the use of a sustained backwards piano chord, they are usually played together on the radio and the two songs are conjoined on some CD versions of the album.
Alternative and Live versions
- The P*U*L*S*E CD and DVD features a live version of the song with a run time of 2:33.
- The song was played at the Live 8 concert and features on the DVD. For that performance Breathe and Breathe reprise were combined to form a medley. Although Pink Floyd themselves had never done this before, Sea of Green had previously covered the song in this manner on their 2001 album Time to Fly.
- The solo Roger Waters DVD and CD, In the Flesh: Live, features a version of the song sung by Doyle Bramhall and Jon Carin.