Pink Floyd: Brain Damage Meaning

Brain Damage Lyrics

The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is on the grass
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
Got to keep the loonars on the path

The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the...

1. bagel

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   May 22nd 2010 !⃝

   Madness, alienation and lobotomy seem to be fashionable themes in this encouraging appeal to what is left of someone's freewill. In traditional lobotomies, the blade I'm told liberates the isolated madman from his frontal lobe. The intriguing aspect is that neither the individual's practical intellect nor his capacity to enjoy life is damaged in any way. I've heard that there is some autonomic motor decline but some degree of geriatrics is probably expected in making someone a legal dinosaur. It's interesting that someone noticed a single individual walking backwards in a stream of others trying to make their way. I hadn't noticed this in the video but it is rather fitting. From Christ to his any of legally encrypted children, society itself has demanded that the suffering of isolation and a variety of different but reverent medical crucifixions be the prequel to success as an individual. The grand if's that line the bridge of eclipse draw a prophetic and hopeful life in the grass as a victory for the spirit. This faithful empowered bugger might be jesus, darth vader or simply that anonymous ghost of immunity that claims fearlessly all that was abandoned to him, or her for that matter. I,m fairly sure thay petrify and offer alternatives to female outlaws as well. All hail the drooling vegetable.
2. anonymous

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   Mar 10th 2010 !⃝

   I dunno what they were thinking, but I got this meaning clear:
   
   The person first notices madness around him and shuns, abhors, condemns and is frightened of it.. But the more he tries to run away, the more it gets closer. See the transitions: on the grass -> in the hall -> in MY hall -> in my head, and the line showing his fear: "(they've) Got to keep the loonies on the path".. one side of him is afraid that he himself might become a lunatic, and the other side is curious to explore this possibility.. He keeps all the lunatic news in newspapers as far away from him as possible, however he can't stop himself from reading them b4 putting those away (everyday the paperboy brings more).
   
   Then his other (braver) side speaks up: "And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
   And if there is no room upon the hill
   And if your head explodes with dark forbodings too
   I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" telling him to stop being afraid and encouraging him to see what happens if he puts away his defenses against his own 'dark' thoughts.
   
   The person gradually finds that his defenses have stopped working, and 'stupid' thoughts are occuring in his head inspite of his best efforts to supress them ("You lock the door And throw away the key"). He also tries to explain that these thoughts are very much against his own will "There's someone in my head but it's not me."..
   
   Then the other side speaks up again.. Saying he is not alone "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" ..
3. harwi394

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   Apr 12th 2009 !⃝

   Take acid. Listen to this song. The meaning will reveal itself to you. It truly is a phenomenal experience.
4. anonymous

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   Mar 15th 2009 !⃝

   Id say the main meaning about this song was syd.
   
   "the lunatic is in my head"
   "you raise the blade, you make the change" obviously a labotomy referance
   "theres somebody in my head but its not me" - he was a paranoid schizophrenic known for hearing voices!
   "and if the band youre playing with start playting different tunes" -hed play a different tune on stage to the rest of the song
   
   but im pretty sure thered be other meanings too
5. anonymous

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   Mar 4th 2009 !⃝

   I think it's quite clearly sung from the perspective of the crazy person, trying to keep a grip on their sanity, keeping the loonies (or perhaps their own problems) on the path, in line, but they can't, the loonies on the grass suggesting a lack of control. The remembering daisy chains and laughs, maybe being a goal, keep the loonies in line, straighten your head out and return to those days, to the good times. And obviously, the line at the end "If the band you're in starts playing different tunes" is a typical sort of crazy line, obviously being about Syd's documented behaviour, playing something different, but from his perspective, he's not playing the wrong tune, they are. The idea that the crazy person is the one that's sane and vice versa.
6. anonymous

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   Feb 10th 2009 !⃝

   The song is about the breakthrough from the falseness and the unified society that humanity is forced to endure by the government and other higher forces to the reality and clarity that the true vision of the world is.
   As it says in Eclipse, there is no dark side of the moon, they are both dark. Higher authority and governing powers are the sun in this metaphor, they choose to light up only one side of the moon (or the earth in this symbolism) and its reality and only enforce its power on one side. It makes this one side look the way it wants and alters it as it pleases, to make it look the way they think it should.
   The dark side is the same as the lit one, it just lacks this authority. The laws are put around the edges, to keep people from crossing over to the dark side, where governments not only do not, but cannot enforce control. And in the event of an eclipse, the government power is gone, and people can see their side and see the other side as the same, theirs to do what they will with.
   To understand this, read the earlier explaination about the grassy park and the sign. I think that "the lunatic is on the grass" is talking about a guy who has finally cracked it, has gotten over to the dark side, and no one else understands this living without governing authority, and so calls him a lunatic. "There's someone in my head but it's not me" is talking about how the government has effected everyone's mind to thinking that the lit side is the only side of the moon and that the other should not be ventured to, and in fact, is nonexistent.
   This song is called "Brain Damage" because learning this truth hurts, it is metal trauma. As they say, ignorance is bliss. And like Plato states in his "Allegory of the Cave" (a great short story, I highly reccomend it), the truth is harder to accept than the lie, and it is very painful. If you are forced to hold your gaze long enough on the truth, you can no longer see the lie, but you will be hurt forever. His brain is now damaged, hence, the title of the song.
   Also, this is why the album is entitled "dark side of the moon", because it's all dark, all the same, it is just what others make it that alter it. If you see the truth, see the other side, go in to dark, you are actually enlightened. It is very paradoxical but very deep. I love this song, and this whole album.
7. BankWalker

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   Nov 16th 2008 !⃝

   I suggest you watch the DVD the making of Dark Side of the Moon.
   
   Roger Waters tells you specifically that he wrote the song for/about Syd.
8. shaolin37th

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   Sep 8th 2008 !⃝

   This brilliant song I consider the HEART of Dark Side of the Moon is in reference to the late great lost soul, Syd Barrett. Roger Waters himself has stated that the insanity-themed lyrics are based on former Pink Floyd founder and frontman Syd Barrett's mental instability, with the line "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon" indicating that Waters felt that he related to Barrett in terms of mental idiosyncrasies. The song's line "And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes..." speaks to Barrett's behaviour towards the end of his memborship with the band due to drug/mental problems. You see it's well documented that Syd would play a different song than the rest of the band while performing on stage due to his drug induced state.
   On a side note, organist and synthesist Richard Wright stated that Brain Damage was the album's "weakest link" do to the fact that it was "overly simple." Roger Waters effectively forced Wright out of the band due to his cocaine addiction during The Wall creation. Waters has played Brain Damage in every live performance or solo tour since 1984.
9. anonymous

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   Aug 30th 2008 !⃝

   Ok the song is self is called brain damage.....either they are talking about a person mentally insane...or Syd Berret when he went nuts for taking a shot glass of LSD with Jerry Garcia...look it up that's how he went crazy.....an as for the moron that was saying the wizard of oz an dark side of the moon sync an its crazy.....yes they do sync but its not that amazing....lets see wizard of oz came out in the mid 40's an the album came out in 72 or 73......THEY DID IT ON PURPOSE....Pink Floyd is amazing an syd was awesome an dark side of the moon is my fav album by them...besides meddle...peace love an acid
10. anonymous

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    Aug 5th 2008 !⃝

    This song is about aliens and BS that the governments been doing behind our back. "LUNARS" looners.
11. PAJOFLOYD

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    Jul 27th 2008 !⃝

    Of course its well known that Pink Floyd guys used plenty of hard drugs such as acid... It's normal thant that in every song you notice some links to drug use or drug damages...but guys which is fun with Pink Floyd is to see the interpretation DEEPER than drugs and Often you'll see that you can find 3-4-5 different meanings to their songs lyrics.
    
    Peace
12. element4lifex8

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    May 20th 2008 !⃝

    Well, I can't believe that no one added the fact that this song can be so closely related to using LSD too many times. When he talks about the lunatics in the hall, he specifically says that "the paper" holds their folded faces to the floor. Well, acid is commonly dropped on small pieces of paper called blotted paper, and sometimes referred to merely as paper. When he says that everyday the paper boy brings more, he could be referring to a dealer. But he could also be talking about the media and that the news in the papers is causing this brain damage, and bad news in the papers continues to show up everyday.
    
    Other interpretations have mentioned about the decline of America and so on due to the media. But when he also says, "There's someone in my head, but its not me." Well this sounds like brain damage commonly incurred by using LSD too many times, because using acid stimulates the same nerves in the brain that are commonly overproductive in the brains of people who have schizophrenia. Which is why a person who uses this drug too much could have the feeling that there's someone in their head that is not them, because of this second personality they have created by causeing a schism in their personality due to excessive drug use.
13. anonymous

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    Mar 26th 2008 !⃝

    Ok I've listened to this song a lot. I've watched the video a few times also enough to get an idea of whats up. In the music video It starts out in a mental Institution. The camera is placed at the angle of which the perception is from the " patient's" eyes. I'm thinking metaphorically here so bare with me. Also in the hall is a line of big Surgeons or Surgeon aids. Eventually at the end of the hall way is the Operation room with the flashing emergency sign. This would be easier to understand if the camera were to point backwards and see who/what was following behind. Now the hallway and perception metaphorically represents Seeing what is to come, you know it is going to come, but you do nothing to fight it. The big surgeons to the left and right would prevent you from wanting to fight the road ahead because they are probably bigger and stronger. The surgeons represent the people that stop us from doing what we want and keep them on the same path. You can consider them Government or just simply your conscious.
    
    Around the middle of the movie you start seeing people laughing. This of course represents people of the time going mad ( insane if you will) with power.
    
    At around the transition from brain damage to eclipse in the movie you see people walking down a sidewalk. Notice anything in it? The people are all walking in the same direction. All of them trying to fit in. So they don't stick out. Now there is a scene after that where if you look closely someone is walking backwards. I just noticed that and believe it has something to do with the people who don't want to blend in. The people who want to be their own person. Notice there's only one walking in the opposite direction. The Minority.
    Occasionally you see the eye which is just something to tell for seeing what is going on. The eclipse that pops up in the video is an example of when power gets limited. no mater how hard the power tries to make everyone do the same thing there is always an abnormality(i.e the eclipse)
    
    I had an explanation for the explosions but I forgot it. Sorry. Hope this helps
14. anonymous

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    Jan 10th 2008 !⃝

    You are all wrong. This song was written around the time of the acid marches in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Every one was tripping balls there and that is the lunatic on the grass. It how all the acid transformed people, and some went crazy.
15. anonymous

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    Apr 24th 2007 !⃝

    You are all over-analyzing this song, it's about Syd, and that's that.

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