After the departure of Waters in 1985 and a tense period of well-published wrangling over rights to the group name, Gilmour began to put together a new Pink Floyd album in 1987 using the American producer of The Wall, Bob Ezrin, and working on songs with a squad of assistants, including Phil Manzanera. Like its predecessor, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason eventually turned out to be a solo album in all but name.
David Gilmour: "Both Nick and Rick were catatonic in terms of their playing ability at the beginning. Neither of them played on this at all really. In my view, they'd been destroyed by Roger. Nick played a few tom-toms on one track, but for the rest I had to get in other drummers. Rick played some tiny little parts. For a lot of it, I played the keyboards and pretended it was him. The record was basically made by me, and other people and God knows what. I didn't think it was the best Pink Floyd album ever made, but I gave it the best damn shot I could."
Nick Mason: "Dave was under a lot of pressure to come up with songs and he looked for help where he could find it. It was fun recording on the boat (Gilmour's floating studio at Hampton-on-Thames) but then we went to America and hired all these sessions musicians who could knock things off quickly. At the time it seemed like a reasonable route to go but that was quite alarming for me."
Rick Wright: "I wasn't a member of the band. By now they didn't know me. We hadn't played together for years. I was paid a wage on the sessions. I did get royalties on the album. Not as many as Dave and Nick though."
Musicians
David Gilmour Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards and Sequencers
Nick Mason Electric and Acoustic Drums, Sound Effects
Rick Wright Piano, Vocals, Kurzweil, Hammond Organ
Bob Ezrin Keyboards, Percussion and Sequencers
Tony Levin Bass Guitar, Stick
Jim Keltner Drums
Steve Forman Percussion
Jon Carin Keyboards
Tom Scott Alto and Soprano Saxophone
Scott Page Tenor Saxophone
Carmine Appice Drums
Pat Leonard Synthesizers
Bill Payne Hammond Organ
Michael Landau Guitar
John Halliwell Saxophone
Darlene Koldenhaven,
Carmen Twillie,
Phyllis St.James,
Donnie Gerrard Backing Vocals

1. Signs of life [Gilmour, Ezrin]

"When the child like view of the world went, nothing replaced it...nothing replaced it...nothing replaced it..."

"I do not like being asked to.....I do not like being asked to...I do not like being asked to...."

"Other people replaced it"
"Someone who knows"

instrumental.

2. Learning to Fly [Gilmour, Moore, Ezrin, Carin]

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted Just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to guide my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

Friction lock - set.
Mixture - rich
Propellors - fully forward
Flaps - set - 10 degrees
Engine guages and suction - check
Mixture set to maximum percent - recheck
Flight instruments...
Altimeters - check both
[garbled word] - on
Navigation lights - on
Strobes - on
[to tower ] Confirm 3-8-Echo ready for departure
[tower: ] Hello again, this is now 129.4
[to tower ] 129.4. It's to go.
[tower: ] You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots.
[to tower ] 3-8-Echo
Easy on the brakes. Take it easy. Its gonna roll this time. Just hand the power gradually, and it...

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, A state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

3. The dogs of war [Gilmour, Moore]

Dogs of war and men of hate
With no cause, we don't discriminate
Discovery is to be disowned
Our currency is flesh and bone
Hell opened up and put on sale
Gather 'round and haggle
For hard cash, we will lie and deceive
Even our masters don't know the web we weave

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

Invisible transfers, long distance calls,
Hollow laughter in marble halls
Steps have been taken, a silent uproar
Has unleashed the dogs of war
You can't stop what has begun
Signed, sealed, they deliver oblivion
We all have a dark side, to say the least
And dealing in death is the nature of the beast

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

The dogs of war don't negotiate
The dogs of war won't capitulate,
They will take and you will give,
And you must die so that they may live
You can knock at any door,
But wherever you go, you know they've been there before
Well winners can lose and things can get strained
But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.

One world, it's a battleground
One world, and we will smash it down
One world ... One world

4. One slip [Gilmour, Manzanera]

A restless eye across a weary room
A glazed look and I was on the road to ruin
The music played and played as we whirled without end
No hint, no word her honour to defend

I will, I will she sighed to my request
And then she tossed her mane while my resolve was put to the test
Then drowned in desire, our souls on fire
I lead the way to the funeral pyre
And without a thought of the consequence
I gave in to my decadence

One slip, and down the hole we fall
It seems to take no time at all
A momentary lapse of reason
That binds a life for life
A small regret, you won't forget,
There'll be no sleep in here tonight

Was it love, or was it the idea of being in love?
Or was it the hand of fate, that seemed to fit just like a glove?
The moment slipped by and soon the seeds were sown
The year grew late and neither one wanted to remain alone

One slip, and down the hole we fall
It seems to take no time at all
A momentary lapse of reason
That binds a life for life
A small regret, you will never forget,
There'll be no sleep in here tonight

5. On the turning away [Gilmour, Moore]

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"

It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerised as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away ?

6. Yet another movie [Gilmour, Leonard]

One sound, one single sound
One kiss, one single kiss
A face outside the window pane
However did it come to this?

A man who ran, a child who cried
A girl who heard, a voice that lied
The sun that burned a fiery red
The vision of an empty bed

The use of force, he was so tough
She'll soon submit, she's had enough
The march of fate, the broken will
Someone is lying very still

He has laughed and he has cried
He has fought and he has died
He's just the same as all the rest
He's not the worst, he's not the best

And still this ceaseless murmuring
The babbling that I brook
The seas of faces, eyes upraised
The empty screen, the vacant look

A man in black on a snow white horse,
A pointless life has run its course,
The red rimmed eyes, the tears still run
As he fades into the setting sun

[Man: ] You're going on that plane to take you where you belong.
[Woman: ] But no, I have...
[Man: ] You have got to listen to me. Do you have any idea what you have to look forward to if you stay here? Nine chances out of 10 we both end up in a concentration camp and that....
[Woman: ] You're only saying these things to make me go.
[Man: ] I'm saying it 'cause it's true. Inside us, we both know we belong in different......maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.
[Woman: ] But what about us? But what about us? But what about us?

7. Round and around [Gilmour]

instrumental.

8. A new machine - Part I [Gilmour]

I have always been here
I have always looked out from behind the eyes
It feels like more than a lifetime
Feels like more than a lifetime

Sometimes I get tired of the waiting
Sometimes I get tired of being in here
Is this the way it has always been?
Could it ever have been different?

Do you ever get tired of the waiting?
Do you ever get tired of being in there?
Don't worry, nobody lives forever,
Nobody lives forever

9. Terminal frost [Gilmour]

instrumental.

10. A new machine - Part II [Gilmour]

I will always be in here
I will always look out from behind these eyes
It's only a lifetime
It's only a lifetime
It's only a lifetime

11. Sorrow [Gilmour]

The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land
Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,
But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking

He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
He's chained forever to a world that's departed
It's not enough, it's not enough

His blood has frozen & curdled with fright
His knees have trembled & given way in the night
His hand has weakened at the moment of truth
His step has faltered

One world, one soul
Time pass, the river rolls

It's not enough it's not enough
His hand has faltered
.... .... ......

And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
And silent replies that swirl invitation
Flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
A grim intimation of what is to be

There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
And silence that speaks so much louder that words,
Of promises broken