How Pink Floyd Used Odd Metering, Organic Loops and Travelling Bass Line to Create the Iconic Song ‘Money’

In a follow-up to his analysis of the Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numb”, the fast talking doodler 12Tone takes on “Money”, an equally interesting song by the same band. He starts off with the cash register as an organic loop before launching into the unusual structure of seven beats, rather than six or eight. He also notes that during these measures, the bass and guitar were a bit out of synch with each other.

This sense of displacement adds to the tension of the song, until the time signature changes and resolves. The way the melody travels with the bassline shows how complex this song is, yet it is still quite accessible.

In the canon of progressive rock, few songs are more iconic than Money. Often considered one of the best bass riffs of all time, Money masterfully blends advanced techniques like odd meter, organic loops, and metric displacement with more traditional ideas, making something that’s exciting to listen to without sounding like they’re trying to be weird. It’s a really well-crafted song.