Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Pink Floyd, 1975. Solo by David Gilmour.

The four-note motif and the long introduction make a slow-burn epic.

Gilmour's long opening solo in Part I, followed by the four-note theme and bluesy leads in the next parts, forms one of the most patient builds in rock. He begins on the neck pickup with a clean, compressed, reverb-soaked tone, moves to phased and Leslie textures for the four-note phrase, then switches to overdriven bridge-pickup lines as the band arrives. Much of the phrasing stays in G minor, built from long sustained notes and bends rather than fast runs. Later, in Part VI, he switches to lap steel for a soaring passage that climbs to a high B-flat. Listen for the four-note motif when it first appears; it is simple enough to hum, and the whole piece seems to grow out of those four notes.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd is ranked #60 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by David Gilmour and the song was released in 1975. It appears on 9 lists, placing as high as #10 (NME).

The story of Shine On You Crazy Diamond

"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is Pink Floyd's nine-part tribute to Syd Barrett, the band's founding singer and guitarist, who left in 1968 as drug use and mental illness made working with him impossible. The remaining members still admired his talent and felt uneasy about how his time in the group had ended, and Roger Waters wrote a lyric that mourns and celebrates him in equal measure.

The suite grew from a mournful four-note guitar phrase of David Gilmour's, later nicknamed "Syd's theme". The band first played it live in France in 1974 and originally planned a single side-long piece, like "Echoes". In the studio they instead split it into two halves that open and close Wish You Were Here, a choice that mirrors the fractured personality they had seen in Barrett.

Sessions at Abbey Road from January to July 1975 were slow and awkward. A newly installed mixing desk caused bleed on the drum tracks, and a routing mistake later ruined another take, forcing the band to rerecord the backing track more than once. Recording to 16-track tape also meant long passages had to be played straight through without stopping. Richard Wright later noted how much pressure that put on the rhythm section.

On 5 June 1975 an overweight, shaven-headed Barrett wandered into the studio unannounced; at first nobody recognised him, and Waters was reportedly reduced to tears. The album appeared on 12 September 1975, and a restored single-track version of all nine parts was finally issued for its 50th anniversary in 2025. That new version, prepared by producer James Guthrie, runs about 25 minutes and finally presents the work as the single, unbroken suite the band had first imagined.

The solo

David Gilmour's long opening solo in Part I, followed by the four-note theme and further blues-based leads in Parts II and III, ranks among the most celebrated guitar passages in rock. Guitar World's gear analysis identifies a black 1969 Fender Stratocaster with a 1963 rosewood neck, played through a modified Hiwatt DR103 into a WEM 4x12 cabinet, with a Leslie 147 rotating speaker, a Colorsound Power Boost and an MXR Phase 90. Gilmour begins on the neck pickup with a clean, compressed, reverb-soaked tone, then moves to phased and Leslie textures for the famous four-note phrase, before switching to overdriven bridge-pickup lines as the band builds. Much of the phrasing stays in G minor with bluesy bends and long sustained notes. In Part VI he switches to lap steel, tuned to open G with the top string raised a tone, soaring up to a high B-flat.

Legacy

The piece is regularly cited as one of the finest progressive rock compositions; PopMatters placed it among the 25 best prog songs ever, and Goldmine named it one of the genre's unlikeliest hits. Gilmour has kept the opening movements in his solo shows for decades, while Roger Waters has also performed large parts of it on tour. In 2018 BBC Radio 4's Soul Music devoted an episode to the song, and it remains the emotional centrepiece of Pink Floyd's story about Barrett.

Top 10 facts about Shine On You Crazy Diamond

The piece was first played live on Pink Floyd's 1974 French tour, under the simple title "Shine On".
Wikipedia
Syd Barrett turned up unannounced at Abbey Road on 5 June 1975 and was so changed physically that the band did not recognise him at first.
Wikipedia
The recurring four-note guitar motif, B-flat, F, G, E, is informally known as "Syd's theme".
Wikipedia
A new mixing console at Abbey Road caused drum bleed, and an echo-routing error spoiled another take, so the backing track had to be recorded again.
Wikipedia
The wine-glass drones heard at the start come from a January 1971 recording for an abandoned experimental project called "Nothings".
Wikipedia
Gilmour's Part VI lap-steel solos use open G tuning with the high D string raised to E.
Wikipedia
Guitar World identifies Gilmour's rig as a black 1969 Stratocaster, Hiwatt DR103 head, Leslie 147, Colorsound Power Boost and MXR Phase 90.
Guitar World
Part VIII was originally about eight minutes long before being cut down to around three.
Wikipedia
Part IX closes with a brief quote of Barrett's song "See Emily Play".
Wikipedia
For the album's 50th anniversary in 2025, James Guthrie remixed all nine parts into one continuous track, the first official release of the piece as a single suite.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) Parts I-V from the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, without Part III's solo.
Knebworth (1990) Final performance of that era, featuring saxophonist Candy Dulfer.
Pulse (1994) Division Bell tour version combining Parts I-V and VII, released in 1995.
David Gilmour in Concert (2002) Semi-acoustic reading of most of the suite from Gilmour's solo shows.
David Gilmour: Live at Pompeii (2017) Gilmour's solo release featuring Parts I-II and IV-V in simplified, guitar-led arrangements.

Notable covers

The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican (2011) Comic parody closing the folk-parody band's second album.
Kendra Morris (2012) Soulful New York singer's reinterpretation released alongside her album Banshee.
Geoff Tate, Steve Hackett, Billy Sheehan and others (2021) All-star version on the tribute album Still Wish You Were Here.

In our lists

Deep Cuts — #27
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #14
The 25 Greatest Prog Guitar Solos — #3
The 1970s — #23
Epic-Length Solos — #13
Best of David Gilmour — #3
Played on a Stratocaster — #21

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Shine On You Crazy Diamond?

David Gilmour played the solo on Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond (1975).

What guitar was used on the Shine On You Crazy Diamond solo?

A fender stratocaster through a Hiwatt amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Shine On You Crazy Diamond rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#60 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 9 of them.

Who is Shine On You Crazy Diamond about?

It is about Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's founder, who left the band in 1968 amid mental health problems.

What guitar did David Gilmour use on Shine On You Crazy Diamond?

His black Fender Stratocaster, run through Hiwatt amplification with a Leslie speaker, Colorsound Power Boost and MXR Phase 90; he also played lap steel in Part VI.

How long is Shine On You Crazy Diamond?

All nine parts total about 26 minutes; Parts I-V run 13:33 and Parts VI-IX 12:24.

Did Syd Barrett visit the studio during Wish You Were Here?

Yes. He turned up at Abbey Road on 5 June 1975, unrecognisable to the band at first.

Who wrote Shine On You Crazy Diamond?

The music is credited to David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Richard Wright, with lyrics by Waters.