Polly Samson | |
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 Samson in 2020 | |
| Born | 29 April 1962 London, England |
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| Children | 4 |
| Website | pollysamson |
Polly Samson (born 29 April 1962) is an English novelist, lyricist and journalist. She is married to musician and Pink Floyd's guitarist David Gilmour and has written the lyrics to many of Gilmour's songs, including some on Pink Floyd's last two albums.
Samson's father was Lance Samson (died 4 February 2013 [1] ), a newspaper editor [1] and diplomatic correspondent for the Morning Star. [2] Her mother was a writer of Chinese descent, Esther Cheo Ying, who wrote a memoir, Black Country to Red China, about her time serving as a Major in Mao Zedong's Red Army. [3] Samson's mother's second husband was the British journalist Alan Winnington. [4]
Following a troubled childhood, Samson joined the publishing industry, through which she met the writer Heathcote Williams with whom she became romantically involved during the publication of his book-length poem Whale Nation (1988). Samson was responsible for publicising what became a best-selling volume, despite its author's reluctance to promote his own work. [5] With Williams she had her first son, Charlie. [6] Following his birth, Samson became homeless and was taken in for a period by the journalist Cassandra Jardine. [7]
After splitting from Williams, Samson met the Pink Floyd singer and guitarist David Gilmour, whom she married in 1994 during Pink Floyd's Division Bell tour. [8] Her son Charlie was adopted by Gilmour [8] and they have three other children: Joe, Gabriel, and Romany. [3]
Samson has written short stories for BBC Radio 4 and has had a collection published Lying in Bed (Virago 1999) and a novel, Out of the Picture (Virago 2000), [6] as well as contributing pieces and stories to many other books and publications including Gas and Air (Bloomsbury 2003), Girls Night In (Harper Collins 2000), A Day in the Life (Black Swan 2003), and The Just When Stories (Beautiful Books 2010). Samson's collection of stories, Perfect Lives, was published in November 2010 by Virago Press. Her novel The Kindness was published in 2015. [9]
Samson is credited as a co-writer on seven of The Division Bell 's 11 tracks, [10] and, with the retrospective credit given to Clare Torry for her vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky", [10] she is one of only two female co-writers of any Pink Floyd songs. She also wrote lyrics for Gilmour's 2006 album, On an Island , [10] and made a guest appearance on piano and vocals. [10] She contributed lyrics to "Louder than Words", the only track on Pink Floyd's 2014 release, The Endless River , to contain any sung lyrics. [11] Samson has also contributed lyrics to half of the tracks on Gilmour's latest album, Rattle That Lock (2015), some of which were inspired by Paradise Lost , an epic poem by John Milton.
In 2018, Samson was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. [12]
Samson's novel, A Theatre For Dreamers , was published on 2 April 2020 by Bloomsbury Circus. [13] The novel entered the Sunday Times Bestsellers Chart at number two. [14]
On February 6, 2023, Samson tweeted to her husband's former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters: "Sadly you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.” [15] Her husband followed up by writing: "Every word demonstrably true." [16]
George Roger Waters is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the songwriter, Syd Barrett, in 1968, Waters became Pink Floyd's lyricist, co-lead vocalist and conceptual leader until his departure in 1985.
David Jon Gilmour is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink Floyd had become one of the highest-selling and most acclaimed acts in music history. Following the departure of Roger Waters in 1985, Pink Floyd continued under Gilmour's leadership and released three more studio albums.
The Division Bell is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 4 April by Columbia Records in the United States.
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, The Wall (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with "Hey You" as the B-side.
David Gilmour in Concert is a DVD of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concert that took place at the Royal Festival Hall, London in June 2001, as part of the Robert Wyatt-curated Meltdown festival. It also features footage filmed during three concerts at the same venue in January 2002. The track selection includes several Pink Floyd songs, in addition to Gilmour's solo works. Guest appearances are made by Floyd colleague Richard Wright, as well as Robert Wyatt and Bob Geldof. It includes the first performance of "Smile", a track that would appear almost five years later on Gilmour's third solo album, On an Island. Gilmour also plays two Syd Barrett songs.
"Time" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. It is included as the fourth track on their eighth album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and was released as a single in the United States. With lyrics written by bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour shares lead vocals with keyboardist Richard Wright.
"Mother" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appeared on their 1979 album The Wall.
"Run Like Hell" is a song by English progressive band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on the album The Wall. It was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian singles chart and #18 in Sweden, but it only reached #53 in the U.S. A 12" single of "Run Like Hell," "Don't Leave Me Now" and "Another Brick in the Wall " peaked at #57 on the Disco Top 100 chart in the U.S. To date, it is the last original composition written by both Gilmour and Waters, the last of such under the Pink Floyd banner, and is the last composition ever recorded by all four members of the classic 70s-era Floyd lineup together, within their traditional instrumental roles of Waters on bass, Gilmour on guitars, Nick Mason on drums, and Richard Wright on keyboards, on the same song.
"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. It is the closing track on their fourteenth studio album, The Division Bell (1994); it was released as the second single from the album on 17 October 1994. An accompanying music video was made for the song and was directed by Storm Thorgerson.
"Take It Back" is a song by the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released as the seventh track on their 1994 album The Division Bell. It was also released as a single on 16 May 1994, the first from the album, and Pink Floyd's first for seven years. The single peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart, the fourth highest in the band's history, below 1979 number 1 hit "Another Brick In The Wall" and 1967 top 20 hits "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne." The music for the song was written by guitarist David Gilmour and album co-producer Bob Ezrin, with lyrics by Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson and Nick Laird-Clowes.
"Poles Apart" is a song by Pink Floyd from the band's 1994 album, The Division Bell.
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.
"Lost for Words" is a song recorded by English rock band Pink Floyd, focused on forgiveness, written by guitarist and lead singer David Gilmour and his spouse Polly Samson for the band's 14th studio album, The Division Bell. It appears as the penultimate track on the album. The lyrics, mostly penned by Samson, are a bitterly sarcastic reflection on Gilmour's then-strained relationship with former bandmate Roger Waters. The song was released to US rock radio the week of the album's release, succeeding "Keep Talking", the previous promotional release, released the week before. The song reached #53 in the Canadian singles chart.
"Take a Breath" is a song written and recorded by David Gilmour, the former lead guitarist of the British rock band Pink Floyd. The song is included as the fourth track from his third studio album, On an Island.
The Endless River is the fifteenth and final studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under the leadership of guitarist David Gilmour after the departure of bassist Roger Waters in 1985, and the first following the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008, who appears posthumously.
"Louder than Words" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Polly Samson. The song, featuring lyrics written by Samson to accompany a composition by Gilmour, was recorded by the band as the closing track of their fifteenth studio and final album, The Endless River. The track features a posthumous appearance by former keyboardist and founder member of Pink Floyd, Richard Wright, and an appearance by electronic string quartet Escala. "Louder than Words" is the only song on the album with lyrics, which were sung by Gilmour.
The Rattle That Lock Tour was a concert tour by English singer and musician David Gilmour to support his fourth solo studio album, Rattle That Lock. The tour became a commercial success, grossing $47 million and selling 288,997 tickets in 16 shows in the 2015 total. It was the 76th highest grossing of the year, according to Pollstar's annual year end tour chart. The tour covered 50 performances – 17 more than his On an Island Tour in 2006. The tour is documented on the live release Live at Pompeii (2017).
A Theatre for Dreamers is a 2020 literary fiction novel by Polly Samson, which entered the Sunday Times Bestseller List at Number 2 upon its April 2020 release. It is a fictionalized account of life on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1960s, featuring real-life characters who lived there at the time, including Leonard Cohen, Charmian Clift and George Johnston.
"Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on digital platforms on 8 April 2022. It is based on a 1914 Ukrainian anthem, "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow", and features vocals in Ukrainian by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band BoomBox.
Luck and Strange is the upcoming fifth studio album by the English songwriter and guitarist David Gilmour, set for release on 6 September 2024.
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