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San Tropez (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'San Tropez'" is the fourth track from the album 'Meddle' by the band Pink Floyd. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, 'Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd'.
Writing
Unlike the other tracks on 'Meddle', "San Tropez" was not written collaboratively; instead, Roger Waters wrote the piece himself and brought it into the studio already finished. It is the only track on 'Meddle' not co-written by David Gilmour. This song is about a place called Saint-Tropez, a commune of the Var dpartement in southern France located on the French Riviera. The song reflects an idealised vision of what a day in Saint-Tropez might be like.
Misunderstood lyric
Throughout the 1970s and beyond, the second-to-last line of lyrics to the song, "Making a date for later by phone", has been persistently misunderstood in Italy, mainly because of Waters' slurred pronunciation ("...fer-lita-pah-fon"), as being "Making a date for Rita Pavone", with a reference to the well-known 1960s Italian pop singer. Pavone herself has stated several times, in TV interviews and elsewhere, that she actually believes the line to be about her.Recording
While Roger Waters plays the acoustic guitar as well as his usual bass, "San Tropez" does include a short slide guitar solo from guitarist David Gilmour and an extended piano solo by keyboardist Richard Wright at the end.
Reception
In a review for the 'Meddle' album, Jean-Charles Costa of 'Rolling Stone' described "San Tropez", along with "A Pillow of Winds", as an "ozone ballad". He further described the two as "pleasant little acoustic numbers hovering over a bizarre back-drop of weird sounds." 'Classic Rock Review' described "San Tropez" as "a jazz-inflected pop song with a shuffle tempo." They went on further saying "[San Tropez] adds another diverse dimension to the album with its easy-going crooner-like melody and atmosphere."
Personnel
*Roger Waters vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar
*David Gilmour slide guitar
*Richard Wright piano
*Nick Mason drums and percussion
References
Category:Pink Floyd songs
Category:1971 songs
Category:Songs written by Roger Waters
Category:Song recordings produced by David Gilmour
Category:Song recordings produced by Roger Waters
Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Wright (musician)
Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Mason
Category:Songs about France
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