| A Pillow of Winds | |
| Artist: | Pink Floyd |
| Album: | Meddle |
| Published: | Pink Floyd Music Publ |
| Released: | 5 November 1971 (UK) |
| Recorded: | 21 March – 27 August 1971[1] |
| Studio: | Morgan Studios, AIR Studios |
| Genre: | Psychedelic folk |
| Length: | 5:13 |
| Label: | Harvest |
| Producer: | Pink Floyd |
"A Pillow of Winds" is the second track from Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle.[2] [3]
This soft acoustic love song[4] may be quite uncharacteristic of the band's previous and future material. Guitarist David Gilmour composed the chord sequence using an open E tuning (EBEG#BE), played in a series of arpeggios, composed the melody and maybe part of the lyrics (along with Roger Waters).[4] This song also features slide guitar work by Gilmour, as well as a fretless bass[4] played by Waters. The song begins and ends in the key of E major, with a darker middle section (following the lyric "and the candle dies") in the parallel minor, E minor. Both the E major and E minor chords feature the ninth, making this song one of many Pink Floyd songs to feature a prominent E minor added ninth chord, "Em(add9)". Throughout most of the song, the bass line remains on E as a pedal point, creating a drone. A chord named "G#m/E" is more accurately called an E major seventh chord, "Emaj7", and a "Bm/E" is just as equally named an "E7sus2". In the instrumental interlude, however, the chords change completely to A minor and B minor chords, leaving the E bass drone for a time before returning to E major.[5]
According to Nick Mason, the song's title originates from a possible hand in the game of mahjong, with which the band had become enamoured while touring.[6]
In a review for the Meddle album, Jean-Charles Costa of Rolling Stone described "A Pillow of Winds", along with "San Tropez", as an "ozone ballad". He further described the two as "pleasant little acoustic numbers hovering over a bizarre back-drop of weird sounds".[7] Classic Rock Review described "A Pillow of Winds" as "a soft acoustic love song" that's reminiscent of previous albums Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother. They went on further, saying: "this second song could not be in more contrast to the first one".[8]