What are Pink Floyd’s greatest songs?

January 21, 2025, 5:04 p.m

Pink Floyd changed the face of rock music in the 1970s, unleashing the potential of the album and reshaping the concept of the stadium show. Radio X looks at the influential British band’s most streamed tracks.

Formed: London, England, 1965

Members: Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, Nick Mason

First single: Arnold Layne (April 1967)

Album discography: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967); A Saucerful Of Secrets (1968); More (1969); Ummagumma (1969); Atomic Heart Mother (1970); Meddle (1971); Veiled by Clouds (1972); The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973); Wish You Were Here (1975); Animals (1977); The Wall (1979); The Final Cut (1983); A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987); The Division Bell (1994); The Endless River (2014)

1. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2: release date November 30, 1979

   

   Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall Part Two (Official Music Video)

   
   
   

   The centerpiece of a trio of songs on the concept album The Wall, about Roger Waters’ themes of childhood, isolation and alienation. Part 2 features a choir of children from Islington Green School, which was not far from Floyd’s Britannia Row studio, and Nick Mason’s disco-tinged drumming prompted producer Bob Ezrin to consider the track for the band’s first UK single release since 1968’s Point Me To .Heaven.

   Ezrin’s instinct was right – the single, which was accompanied by a video featuring animation by artist Gerald Scarfe, went to number 1 on 11 December 1979 and stayed there for five weeks, making it the last chart-topper of the decade that defined Pink Floyd.

   Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 has been certified platinum by the BPI and has been streamed over 1.1 billion times across two official versions (one original, one a remaster). The official video has been viewed over 57 million times.

2. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here: release date 12 September 1975

   

   Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (PULSE Restored & Re-Edited)

   
   
   

   The title track from Floyd’s ninth studio album has become one of the band’s most popular songs in recent years, with over 794 million streams on Spotify and over 94 million YouTube views. The song and opens with the sound of a radio tuning away from the previous track (Have A Cigar), across to a station playing Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and on to Dave Gilmour playing the delicate 12-string acoustic guitar intro .

   Many believed the lyrics were about former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, but songwriter Roger Waters believed the lyrics were more about how he had to “keep asking myself to keep auditioning to the walk-on part of the war,” because that’s where I want to be.”

   Read more: Why Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here is their saddest song

3. Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb: release date November 30, 1979

   

   
   
   

   Beginning as a demo by David Gilmour, Roger Waters added lyrics recalling his experience taking sedatives for an illness during the band’s 1977 Animals tour.

   Released as a single in June 1980, Comfortably Numb failed to chart in the UK, but gained popularity in the 21st century after the Scissor Sisters took their cover version to the UK top 10 in January 2004.

   Since then, the original version has been certified Platinum, has amassed over 653 million streams on Spotify, and the audio has been played on YouTube over 123 million times.

4. Pink Floyd – Money: release date March 1, 1973

   

   Pink Floyd – Money (Official Music Video)

   
   
   

   Starting with a rhythmic sound loop of coins and cash registers, Money opens the second side of the multi-Platinum selling Dark Side Of The Moon album. Never released as a single in their native UK, an edit of the track was released in America where it peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

   Money has been streamed over 537 million times on Spotify and the official video has been viewed over 36 million times.

5. Pink Floyd – Time: release date March 1, 1973

   

   Pink Floyd – Time (Official Audio)

   
   
   

   Roger Waters’ meditation on growing old is one of the key tracks from Dark Side Of The Moon and is the last Pink Floyd composition to be credited to all four members: Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason. Since digital streaming became a major player in the music industry, Time has been certified silver with over 397 million Spotify plays and over 12 million YouTube views.

6. Pink Floyd – Breathe: release date March 1, 1973

   

   Pink Floyd – Breathe (In The Air) (2023 Remaster)

   
   
   

   Also known as Breathe (In The Air), this track is the first vocal track on Dark Side Of The Moon, taking off from the sound collage opener Speak To Me. The song has been streamed over 396 million times and the YouTube clip of the audio has been played over 4 million times.

7. Pink Floyd – The Great Gig In The Sky: release date March 1, 1973

   

   Pink Floyd – The Great Gig In The Sky (PULSE Restored & Re-Edited)

   
   
   

   Originally developed during live performances by keyboard player Richard Wright, this Dark Side Of The Moon track was enhanced with vocals from Clare Torry. The singer was only paid a flat rate of £30 at the time, but after considering legal action in 2004, she settled with Pink Floyd and now gets a co-composer credit on the song with Wright.

   The video, which shows Sam Brown performing vocals at the band’s show at Earls Court in October 1994, has been viewed over 14 million times. The track has been streamed on Spotify over 330 million times.

8. Pink Floyd – Hey You: release date November 30, 1979

   

   
   
   

   Opening side 3 of the double album The Wall, Hey You gained a wider audience as the b-side of the Comfortably Numb single in June 1980. In the context of the concept album’s story, it is the moment when the alienated rock star protagonist tries to connect with the outside world again.

   Hey Du has been certified silver by the BPI, has had over 285 million Spotify streams and over 58 million YouTube views.

9. Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond: release date September 12, 1975

   

   Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts IV)

   
   
   

   The cosmic opening of Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album has been streamed over 237 million times on Spotify, while the audio has been played on YouTube over 68 million times.

   The song was famously written about Syd Barrett, the original frontman and chief songwriter for Floyd, who left the group in 1968 after his mental and physical health deteriorated. Roger Waters claimed that David Gilmour’s four-note guitar motif summed up a “kind of indefinable, inescapable melancholy about Syd’s disappearance”.

10. Pink Floyd – High Hopes: release date: March 28, 1994

    

    Pink Floyd – High Hopes (Official Music Video HD)

    
    
    

    The final track from the second Gilmour/Mason era Floyd album, The Division bell, High Hopes ended the record on a nostalgic note referencing the group’s early days in Cambridge.

    The track was released as the second single from the LP in October 1994 and was accompanied by a video directed by Storm Thorgerson of the Hipgnosis design team, who had worked with Floyd since the 1960s.

    The clip has been viewed on YouTube over 123 million times. High Hopes reached number 26 in the UK charts and has been streamed over 95 million times.