Pink Floyd - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun - (Live in 800 Year Old Church) 1971

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun at The Abbaye de Royaumont, Royaumont, France 1971 Cinq Grand Sur La Deux TV Broadcast 12 July, 1971

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun appeared on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features a drum part by Nick Mason played with timpani mallets.

According to an interview with Gilmour in the 2006 documentary Which One's Pink?, the studio version of the song contained minor guitar work both from Gilmour and Barrett, making "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" the only Pink Floyd song that features all five band members, though some listeners may not fully discern the guitar tracks as they largely blend in with Richard Wright's keyboards and organs.

Lyrics

Little by little the night turns around
Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn
Lotuses lean on each other in yearning
Under the eaves the swallow is resting

Set the controls for the heart of the sun

Over the mountain watching the watcher
Breaking the darkness waking the grapevine
One inch of love is one inch of shadow
Love is the shadow that ripens the wine
Set the controls for the heart of the sun

The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun

Witness the man who raves at the wall
Making the shape of his question to heaven
Whether the sun will fall in the evening
Will he remember the lesson of giving?
Set the controls for the heart of the sun

Songwriters: Roger Waters