Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Chapter 932 Chapter 931 "The Great Gig In The Sky"

Novell's words were a wake-up call!

They may exert pressure, but cooperation is also cooperation. Asking for exorbitant prices and settling for less is in a businessman's nature. By doing so, they helped Rolling Stone and also profited themselves. Why wouldn't they do such a thing?
If you ask them if they're afraid the music will turn on them, they'll be fine.

That's absolutely impossible! These few individuals combined represent half of the musical instrument industry. If you add Yamaha, they've basically taken 9% of the advertisers. With them putting pressure on us together, how could music dare to turn against us?
If we offend everyone, where will they find advertisers?

As for joining forces with Yamaha, it's not difficult. Huayan's keyboard on stage is from Yamaha. They can agree to blackmail the magazine together and also befriend Rolling Stone. Who wouldn't want that?

Previously, the Rolling Stones and The Edgewave were primarily able to influence the domestic Chinese market. Now, after touring Europe, their sales power across the entire European region is quite significant. For example, just considering the two versions of "Wish You Were Here," guitarists who want a perfect replica will definitely buy and study the instruments used by the Rolling Stones.

From this perspective, Ovation definitely has a huge advantage, since if Bianlang wanted to achieve 100% accuracy, he should have used the Martin D-35.

This Martin D-35, along with Fender's The Black Strat and White Fender Stratocaster #0001, are the three most important guitars in the history of Lonely Perry and even the entire Pink Floyd ensemble.

The Black Strat, which accompanied Lonely Man the longest, fetched a high price of $397.5 million at auction.

Therefore, throughout Pink Floyd's entire career on Earth, he had virtually no interaction with Ovation. If Fender and Martin's bosses knew the truth, I wonder if they'd jump up and challenge Lonelli to a duel right now!

At that moment, the stage lights suddenly went out again, and when the three spotlights came on, the person they illuminated was not Dili, and the audience gasped in surprise once more!
This time, Hua Yan appeared in the spotlight once again.

Seeing the close-up shot of the keyboardist, Novell was already thinking about how to team up with people from Yamaha.

The moment the soothing and profound piano music began, the atmosphere shifted from a rock concert to a classical music recital. All the cheers and applause that had been filling the air fell silent the instant the music started.

Bian Lang stood behind Guo Sichu like a protector, guitar slung over his shoulder, silently watching the song's progress.

The piano prelude, reminiscent of classical music, lasted for 15 seconds, followed by a highly distorted electric guitar melody that sounded like ethereal music from another realm, while simultaneously illuminating two spotlights.

Under the interplay of light and shadow created by the spotlights, Dili sat calmly behind the piano platform, like a reclusive immortal, completely absorbed in his performance.

The music fans in the audience were like a group of believers who had finally seen a true immortal, and they were all devoutly appreciating the performance of this hidden immortal.

However, what most music fans are thinking is, "Wow! How can the sound be so good?"

The guitarists, however, were already wondering, "Damn, how was that tone achieved?" Those who were connected were already thinking of asking Olaf for the parameters and equipment list after the event.

In fact, even the performer himself was completely baffled: "How can Bian Lang achieve such precise control over the parameters and equipment adaptation of each timbre?"

Once you get it right the first time, you almost never need to readjust it again, and the resulting tone will make you feel that there is absolutely no room for modification or improvement.

Just by looking at the expressions of more than half the fans in the audience, who were practically flying with their eyes closed, you can tell what's going on. If this were in China, some fans might find the long intro boring and uninteresting.

However, at this level of intro, Bian Lang believes that as long as music fans are not those who have been brainwashed by pop music to the point of having no appreciation ability or independent judgment, everyone else will be happy to continue listening.

Little did they know, Pink Floyd, as the original "biggest name" band on Bilibili, had countless analytical videos available. Among them were dedicated analyses of the timbre of each of Lonely Man's songs.

The contents are detailed down to the model of the musical instruments and various pedals, including how to tune them, all explained clearly and explicitly.

As a die-hard Pink Floyd fan, Bian Lang naturally spent his own money to buy all the equipment to verify their authenticity. He wouldn't say he could remember them all, but he certainly wouldn't forget the equipment and parameters for the main tracks.

As the saying goes online, poor students have a lot of stationery. Even if you can't perfectly replicate Lonely Grandpa's voice, you should at least have the basic equipment to match!

So Dili really enjoyed being fed, and increasingly felt he couldn't live without Bianlang. Sometimes he even had the feeling that without Bianlang, he wouldn't even know how to play the piano anymore.

He felt that this prelude performance should be ranked among the top three in his musical career, and of course, the other two pieces were also given to him by Bian Lang.

Just 16 bars later, several reporters from music magazine in the audience began to sigh and lament: "If this performance doesn't make it into the magazine's guitarist rankings, I feel that the magazine's authority will really be questioned!"

However, they only thought it to themselves and never said it aloud. It wasn't that they were afraid of what outsiders would think if they overheard, but mainly that they didn't want to disturb the proceedings.

Watching the close-up of the guitarist, Dili uses a slide to create curved notes on the ukulele, stirring the emotions of the music lovers.

After a descending glissando sets the stage, the drumbeats are like drumsticks hitting water, creating splashes that are not only rhythmic but also expressive...

At the same time, the spotlights on the stage turned red, illuminating Guo Sichu's figure in an instant: "Ah...ah..." Her explosive singing immediately brought the music fans back to their senses, which had been slightly distracted.

Although there are no specific lyrics, it truly transcends language barriers, allowing people all over the world to experience the pure beauty of music!
"How did Wave create such a powerful work of life?" This was the most direct feeling of countless musicians present regarding this song!
Just before the spotlight came on, Bian Lang whispered to Guo Sichu once again what he had reminded her of countless times: "Think more about the fear of death!"

So Guo Sichu's first cry gave people the feeling of the most vital struggle when death was imminent!
Actually, many music lovers on Earth also expressed that they didn't understand the song or couldn't empathize with it. In particular, many music fans who are not comfortable with using chanting to replace lyrics may be able to accept instrumental music or pure chanting.

However, I just can't accept songs with complex arrangements that are elevated through pure chanting!
When faced with this problem, perhaps we should try to understand it in a more intuitive way...

First, to truly appreciate "The Great Gig In The Sky," one should place it within the context of its album "The Dark Side of the Moon," or within the historical background of its creation. Placing the song within the original album allows for a more precise understanding, closer to the creator's thoughts, especially within such a conceptually rich and enduring classic album.

But if we were to take this single out of the album and its background, could it be understood in isolation?
The answer is definitely yes!

The most important aspect of music that can be called classic or even great is its transcendence—transcending time, transcending the individual, and even transcending itself.

Bian Lang once saw a very interesting analysis, which was based on the interpretation of "The Great Gig in the Sky" by the famous Earth director Alfonso Cuarón.

The director used a short movie trailer to visually illustrate the song.

The film "Roma" depicts the life stories of two women: a low-class maid who is abandoned by her boyfriend after becoming pregnant in a relationship. She goes to find him but is beaten and sent back. In the end, she has to have an abortion and continues to live a strong life.
A middle-class woman, who had a happy family with four children, had her husband cheat on her under the pretext of a business trip. Her relationship with her husband broke down instantly, and the mother was left to raise her four children alone in an uncertain future.

Director Alfonso Cuarón used "The Great Gig In The Sky" as the soundtrack for the film's trailer.
The first 55 seconds of this trailer are an adaptation of the beginning of "The Great Gig In The Sky," while the chord progressions, melodies, and other themes largely follow the original song. From the 55 seconds to the end, it is basically a direct take on "The Great Gig In The Sky."

A close look at the trailer reveals that its content is seemingly divided into three parts by the music.

0-55s，56s-1′42s，1′43s-2′，那这三段到底代表什么？
Many people may not have seen "Roma," but these three parts actually correspond to the plot's elements of sweetness, conflict, and tranquility.

Sweetness is the love between the maid and her boyfriend, a happy scene in a middle-class family; conflict occurs when the maid becomes pregnant, is abandoned, and has an abortion, leading to the breakdown of the middle-class family; tranquility marks the beginning of the film and the return to life after all the storms.

Listen to "The Great Gig In The Sky" again while watching the trailer, and see if your understanding changes.

With very few changes, the trailer for "Roma" is almost entirely the same as "The Great Gig In The Sky".

The answer to what "The Great Gig in the Sky" expresses, or at least what it expresses in Alfonso Cuarón's mind, is already quite obvious.

"The Great Gig in the Sky" is a destruction, an ordeal, a struggle, a tidal wave crashing through life. It is a process where suffering begins in tranquility, cries out in pain, and returns to deathly silence after the ordeal.

It begins in tranquility, in happiness, in calm and undisturbed conditions.

But it came with ferocity, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, a bolt from the blue, or towering waves. After the storm, what remains are people who have endured hardship, struggled, and escaped death; what remains are their helplessness and resilience after their desolation and sorrow; the essential nature of life that they must still face and return to tranquility.

If you've ever wondered why the female voice in the middle sounds so horrible, so heart-wrenching, and so undulating, why it carries such despair, as if it were a release and lament from a primal human state.

"Rome" is one answer to "The Great Gig in the Sky".

Of course, there are other ways to interpret "The Great Gig in the Sky".

So, is Alfonso Cuarón's understanding of "The Great" correct? Or can we also understand it from different perspectives?

To prove this point, someone on Earth also followed Alfonso Cuarón's example and presented another answer through video.

"The Great Gig In The Sky" is a song with rich and extreme themes, and it's not easy to find suitable movies and videos for it. In the end, that guy found the trailer for "Requiem for a Dream" and extracted a section of "The Great Gig In The Sky" as the background music.

Even without re-editing to match the rhythm, you might find that the song and the trailer are very well matched.

Harry and Marian are in love and dream of opening a clothing store and having a bright future. However, they are both addicted to drugs and plan to make their first fortune by selling them.

Harry's mother is a complete television addict whose biggest dream is to appear on TV. Despite her advanced age, she takes diet pills to achieve this. Due to the narcotic components in the pills, she gradually becomes addicted. Harry's friend Dillon is also an addict who joins the underworld to make big money. They strive for their dreams, but each time they sink deeper into the cycle of drug addiction.

Harry's arm was amputated due to an infection from injecting drugs; Marian sold her body and self-respect for drugs; Harry's mother eventually ended up in a mental hospital and suffered greatly; Dillon was imprisoned.

When vision blurs and dreams call from afar, how should a lost soul soothe itself?

"Requiem for a Dream" is a very well-known anti-drug film that is ranked in the top 250 on Douban. It provides a superb description of the feelings and life circumstances after drug use.

This sharply edited trailer uses metaphorical montage to cross-cut the plot with many related elements such as sex, blood flow, and pills. The high-speed cuts and distorted images convey the chaos and magic that drugs bring to the user's mind, giving us a strong sensory stimulation and an unbearable mental impact.

Madness bordering on hysteria, despair reaching the point of having no way forward—"The Great Gig In The Sky" seems to perfectly capture the essence of this film.

In "Requiem for a Dream," "The Great Gig In The Sky" represents the inner madness and life's hardships of a drug addict.

In the comments section of the original Earth Cloud Village track "The Great Gig In The Sky," many listeners interpreted the song as a depiction of sex.

Indeed, it seems that a perfect and exhilarating sexual experience is just like that, just like the female lead singer of the song, who went from calm to hysteria and then back to soothing and soft breathing.

At this moment, Bian Lang was standing to the side and behind Guo Sichu. While listening to her alluring voice, he was also wondering from what angles the music fans of Aquamarine would interpret the song "The Great Gig In The Sky".

What are the experiences and resilience of strong women in the face of life's hardships?
Or is it the hysteria of drug addicts' inner world and lives?
Or is it a vivid portrayal of a one-time experience?

(End of this chapter)