"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" | |
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Song by Pink Floyd | |
from the album Ummagumma | |
Published | Lupus Music Ltd. |
Released | 25 October 1969 (UK) 10 November 1969 (US) |
Recorded | 2 May 1969 |
Genre | |
Length | 4:59 |
Label | Harvest Records |
Songwriter(s) | Roger Waters |
Producer(s) | Norman Smith |
"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" is a track written and performed by Roger Waters from the 1969 Pink Floyd double album, Ummagumma.[3][4][5]
The track consists of several minutes of noises resembling rodents and birds simulated by Waters' voice and other techniques,[6] such as tapping the microphone played at different speeds, followed by Waters providing a few stanzas of spoken word in an exaggerated Scottish burr.[7][8]
The Picts were the indigenous people of what is now Scotland who merged with the Scots. There is a hidden message in the song at about 4:32. If played at half speed, Waters can be heard to say, "That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't it?"[9] Also, at the very end of the rant, Waters is heard to say, "Thank you."
A small sample of these effects can also be heard at about 4:48 on Waters' other track on Ummagumma, "Grantchester Meadows".
"It's not actually anything, it's a bit of concrete poetry. Those were sounds that I made, the voice and the hand slapping were all human generated – no musical instruments."
The title of the Man or Astro-man? song "Many Pieces of Large Fuzzy Mammals Gathered Together at a Rave and Schmoozing with a Brick" is based on this song.
A quotation in the Karl Edward Wagner novel Bloodstone (1975) pays tribute to the song: "several species of small furry animals gathered together in cave and grooving with a pict."