Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict
| "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Pink Floyd | |
| from the album Ummagumma | |
| Published | Lupus Music Ltd. |
| Released | 25 October 1969 (UK) 10 November 1969 (US) |
| Recorded | 2 May 1969 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:59 |
| Label | Harvest Records |
| Songwriter | Roger Waters |
| Producer | Norman Smith |
"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" is a track written and performed by Roger Waters from the 1969 Pink Floyd double album, Ummagumma.[3][4][5]
Sounds and recording
[edit | edit source]The track consists of several minutes of noises resembling rodents and birds simulated by voices,[6] utilizing techniques such as tapping the microphone played at different speeds, followed by Waters providing a few stanzas of spoken word in an exaggerated Scottish burr.[7][8] This poem was improvised in the studio.[9]
The Picts were the indigenous people of what is now Scotland who merged with the Scots.
There is a hidden message in the song at about 4:32. If played at 16 rpm, Waters can be heard saying, "That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't it?"[10][9]
A small sample of these effects appears at about 4:48 on Waters' other track on Ummagumma, "Grantchester Meadows".
"It's not actually anything, it's a bit of concrete poetry. Those were sounds that I made, the voice and the hand slapping were all human generated – no musical instruments."
— Roger Waters, interview with the University of Regina's The Carillon, October 1970[11]
In popular culture
[edit | edit source]The title of the Man or Astro-man? song "Many Pieces of Large Fuzzy Mammals Gathered Together at a Rave and Schmoozing with a Brick" is based on this song.
A quotation in the Karl Edward Wagner novel Bloodstone (1975) pays tribute to the song: "several species of small furry animals gathered together in cave and grooving with a pict."
Personnel
[edit | edit source]Personnel per Paul Stump.[9]
- Roger Waters – voices, tape effects
- David Gilmour - high-pitched voice
References
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- ^ Blake, Mark: Pigs Might Fly - The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, p. 136, 2007, Aurum
- ^ Povey, Glen: The Complete Pink Floyd - The Ultimate Reference, p. 133, 2016, Carlton
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- ^ University of Regina Carillon Interview, Pink-Floyd.org.
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