Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” has been on the Bestselling Album charts for 990 weeks – 19 years – during the past 50 years. During 2024, “on a slow week,” between 8,000 and 9,000 copies were sold. One in every 14 Americans under the age of 50 owns, or has owned, a copy of that album.

The only lyrics to “The Great Gig in the Sky” are the spoken lines at the beginning of the song:

“…And I am not frightened of dying, you know. Any time will do, I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it. You’ve gotta go sometime.”

The next voice you hear is Clare Torry.

#davidgilmour tells us that while working on the album, Pink Floyd wanted a female voice, so they asked Abbey Road recording studio to locate a female vocalist to sing over the track. The studio asked session singer Clare Torry to come.

Torry came in to the studio on a Sunday evening in January, 1973. When she arrived, the band explained the concept of the album and played a chord sequence. They told her they wanted some singing on it, but they weren’t sure what they wanted.

Torry started off using words, but the band said that they didn’t like how it sounded. So the only thing Torry could think of was not to think like a vocalist but make herself sound like an instrument. The band loved it.

Despite the album’s success, Tori was only paid only 30 pounds (about $75 in 1973) for her work on the album. She sued the band for royalties in 2004, and the two parties settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. She is now rightfully credited as a co-author of the song.