Throwback Thursday: Pink Floyd ~ “Fearless”(1971)
Fearlessly, the idiot faced the crowd, smiling.
This one started with a rabbit hole.
I was watching Billy Strings clips and landed on him covering “Fearless” ~ a deep cut from Pink Floyd’s Meddle (1971). Slower, softer than what most people associate with Floyd, but no less powerful.
This track has a unique pull on me. I never had it high on my list of Pink Floyd songs until I read an interview with Elijah Wood (yeah ~ Frodo) back around 2005, where he mentioned his itunes playlist that included this track and a few others. Normally, I don’t put a ton of stock in celebrity music tastes or playlists, but I used to see him at a lot of the same shows… so I revisited the song.
…and in its own way, it’s continued to climb my list of favorite Pink Floyd songs ever since.
What makes Fearless cool is that it’s not overt like some of Pink Floyd’s later work.
It’s about struggle ~ but it’s calming.
Individualism ~ but there’s solidarity.
Even when you walk your own path, you’re not truly alone.
It’s a song about resilience.
Quiet resistance.
Taking on challenges… in your own way.
Moving forward even when nobody’s watching.
You say the hill’s too steep to climb…
But then you climb it anyway…
Then the cherry on top: the end of the original track fades into a live recording of the Liverpool Kop chanting “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
It’s not just a football chant ~ it’s a beautiful moment of hope and humanity.
And it hits even harder with Liverpool winning the Premier League Championship this year.
Go down in your own way
And every day is the right day
And as you rise above the fear lines in his brow
You look down, hear the sound of the faces in the crowd.
*Not the version used for the song.
