THE DRAKE SIDE OF THE MOON

By Adrian More


Celebrating The Dark Side of the Moon’s 30th anniversary is alright with me – glossing over its faults isn’t. Here’s one of them.

A part of the track "Brain Damage", credited to Roger Waters, plagiarized a part of Nick Drake’s "Poor Boy" from the album Bryter Layter published in 1970 – 3 years before The Dark Side.

The 2nd half of each verse on Brain Damage (for instance the part with the lyrics "remembering games and daisy chains and laughs/got to keep the loonies on the path") has the same chord
sequence (albeit in a different key) and nearly same vocal melody as the Poor Boy part with the lyrics "Nobody knows/how cold it grows/and nobody sees/how shaky my knees".

In brief, 36% of Brain Damage’s music is not Pink Floyd – it’s Nick Drake.

And Drake’s Poor Boy’s influence on The Dark Side of the Moon reaches far beyond the Brain Damage chords and melody.

A vital part of Dark Side’s arrangement –the funky saxophone + soulful sexy black backup vocals – stems directly from Nick Drake’s Poor Boy. Pink Floyd even employed among others Doris Troy, who’d already sung on Drake’s song (unless it’s a case of homonymy).

Hence it is much more likely than not that Pink Floyd were well acquainted with Drake’s song Poor Boy when they produced The Dark Side.

And it is widely acknowledged that sax & sex (the hot backup vocals) made up 2 of the crucial components to Dark Side’s huge appeal.


But Drake never got his credits as coauthor of Brain Damage & arrangement source.

The Dark Side of the Moon turned Pink Floyd into world stars. While Nick Drake was dying alone and forgotten.

"Money it’s a crime/Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie".




2003 Adrian More