If you really think about it, the first sign you are alive is a heartbeat. The husband leans in to the mother's belly at the doctor's office. He can hear the beating heart. It is the first indication that you are becoming you and will soon exist in this world once you leave the womb. So if you really think about it, it's fitting that "Echoes" from Pink Floyd's
Meddle opens the same way as a person does: with a heartbeat.
If you really think about it, both conceptually and musically,
Meddle is in some sense a second birth of Pink Floyd, declaring what would be their mission statement of intent for the entire upcoming decade. As Roger Waters had become the undisputed leader of the pack, here we have progressive rock personified. If you listen closely, you can hear all four members of Pink Floyd's beating hearts, as they were clearly aware of the fact that this was a second birth for the group. They played gallantly and explored the studio much like babies themselves are driven by curiosity and the will to discover. Discover what? If you really think about it, this album represents Pink Floyd's discovery of the world.
Think about it. While this is certainly good music for tripping sack and getting fried, the cosmic silliness of previous outings is all but gone. Roger Waters is a man who doesn't smile or laugh. He's thinking about Israel and important stuff. This is the true beginning of the Roger Waters we all know and love and hate and everything in between. A human who inspires such a range of conflicted emotions in both fans and detractors is a human who both understands and personifies the spectrum of humanity. Waters is Dirty Harry or Paul Kersey, achieving results through sometimes questionable methods. Sticking to his guns and not giving a crap about what people are saying, because the proof is in the pudding.
