I was purging my hard copies of rock factoid books when I came upon my Pink Floyd section. Saucerful of Secrets by Nicholas Schaffner seemed horribly outdated, but when I got to Nick Mason’s Inside Out, I took a pause and opened it.
The co-founding drummer’s book has a relatively fair account of the later years of Pink Floyd, taking in all but 2014’s The Endless River, yet it has no account of the song alluded to in the book title.
“Wearing the Inside Out,” from 1994’s Division Bell, marked a return of sorts for Pink Floyd. The song distinguishes itself by being the only song on this album in which David Gilmour doesn’t have a writing credit. It was also the first lead vocal by founding keyboardist Richard Wright since his turn on “Time” from 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Wright eventually left Pink Floyd, following the contentious sessions for 1979’s The Wall. His Division Bell comeback included co-writing five songs, while playing piano and Hammond B3, Piano, Fender Rhodes, and Wurlitzer. Wright’s analog-like Kurzweil synthesizer parts are also prominent on the album.
“Wearing the Inside Out” stands out on the Division Bell as Richard Wright expands their sonic pallet with a combination of chords and progressions not seen in Pink Floyd’s more recent work. Steve Porcaro of Toto comes to mind when I think of the song. The combination of chords and melody is not what expect from Pink Floyd, yet is wholly pleasing.
According to bassist Guy Pratt, “Wearing the Inside Out” started with the duo playing around in David Gilmour’s Astoria boathouse studio. Wright took the melody, which had a working title of “Evrika,” and further developed it before handing the demo off to lyricist Anthony Moore.
The full band treatment includes Dick Perry on tenor sax, acoustic drums by Nick Mason, and programming by Jon Carin, evoking both old and new Pink Floyd. Richard Wright’s lead vocals are strained and stark but perfectly fit Moore’s dark lyrics of loneliness and isolation.
Gilmour’s voice adds to the chorus, again reaching back the the band’s Dark Side of the Moon album, and is enhanced by the call and response vocals of Durga McBroom and Sam Moore. Wright and Gilmour’s solos also provide an additional level of musical gravitas.
Wright died in 2008, after a battle with lung cancer. Thankfully, Gilmour and Wright had already returned to “Wearing the Inside Out” on stage, in performances released on the Remember the Night and Live in Gdansk projects.
There are still unused Wright gems which were not included on Division Bell or the posthumously released Endless River album. Here’s to hoping they surface and add to the legacy of Richard Wright.
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