ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an exploration of the tensions between sacred and profane love, and how these relate to the sense of euphoria promised by 'The Great Gig in the Sky'. Within human nature, the relationship between death and love is not necessarily distinct. Both can evoke and celebrate sensuality – the erotic its joyous, the thanatic its darkest manifestations. The chapter explores the paradox raised by the question: Why, is 'The Great Gig in the Sky' the most made-love-to track in the world when it is ostensibly concerned with mortality and the fear of dying? 'The Great Gig in the Sky' is pivotal to the album's exploration of life and death. In a society that had, by 1972, experienced two major wars, the controversy surrounding Vietnam, Watergate, and the controlling influence of multinational corporations, religious certainty was, at best, conjectural. The reprise of 'Breathe' that presages 'The Great Gig in the Sky' is, then, both structurally and emotionally contemplative.
