If (Pink Floyd song)
{{Short description|Song by Pink Floyd}}
{{Infobox song
| name = If
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Pink Floyd
| album = Atom Heart Mother
| EP =
| written =
| published = World Copyrights
| released = 2 October 1970 (UK)
10 October 1970 (US)
| format =
| recorded = 12 June – 21 July 1970{{cite book |last=Guesdon |first=Jean-MIchel |title=Pink Floyd All The Songs |publisher=Running Press |date=2017 |isbn=9780316439237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rF0RDgAAQBAJ}}
| studio = Abbey Road Studios, London
| venue =
| genre = {{Hlist|Folk rock|progressive folk}}
| length = 4:31
| label = Harvest
| writer = Roger Waters
| composer =
| lyricist =
| producer = Pink Floyd, Norman Smith (executive producer)
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"If" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd on their 1970 album Atom Heart Mother.{{Cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |publisher=Canongate Books |location=Edinburgh |isbn=1-84195-551-5 |page=1177 |date=2004 |edition=7th}}{{Cite book |last=Mabbett |first=Andy |title=The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=0-7119-4301-X |date=1995}}
Writing
Written and sung by Roger Waters, like "Grantchester Meadows" before it, "If" carries on a pastoral and folky approach,{{cite book |last=Manning |first=Toby |title=The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd |year=2006 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=London |isbn=1-84353-575-0 |page=162 |edition=1st |chapter=The Albums}}{{cite book |last=Schaffner |first=Nicholas |title=Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey |year=2005 |publisher=Helter Skelter |location=London |isbn=1-905139-09-8 |edition=New |page=162 |chapter=The Amazing Pudding}} but instead deals with introspection.{{cite book |last=Manning |first=Toby |title=The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd |year=2006 |publisher=Rough Guides |location=London |isbn=1-84353-575-0 |edition=1st |page=63 |chapter=Set the Controls}} The song is in the key of E major.
Live
The song was performed live at a John Peel session on 16 July 1970, at BBC's Paris Theatre, London. Waters performed it on several occasions, during the 1984–85 'Pros and Cons' tour, and in support of Radio K.A.O.S. in 1987. For these performances, "If" was expanded with additional lyrics and chord sequences. The song was later played by Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024 in a medley with Atom Heart Mother.{{cite web |last1=Bailie |first1=Geoff |title=Concert Review: Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets - Ulster Hall, Belfast - April 14th, 2022 |url=https://progreport.com/concert-review-nick-masons-saucerful-of-secrets-ulster-hall-belfast/ |website=The Prog Report |access-date=24 April 2022 |date=19 April 2022}}
Reception
In a review for the Atom Heart Mother album on release, Alec Dubro of Rolling Stone gave "If" a negative review, calling the song "English folk at its deadly worst. It's soft and silly." Dubro said the same for "Fat Old Sun".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/atom-heart-mother-19701210|title=Atom Heart Mother|last=Dubro|first=Alec|date=10 December 1970|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=22 July 2017|archive-date=21 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721084953/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/atom-heart-mother-19701210|url-status=dead}} Rolling Stone would later praise the song in 2007, however, writing "Roger Waters' pastoral ballad on this flawed album was a moving examination of the terror of isolation; Floyd were finally rooting their astral travels in true songwriting."{{cite magazine | last=Gilmore | first=Mikal | author2=David Fricke | date=5 April 2007 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/220190918/ | title=The Madness & Majesty of Pink Floyd | magazine=Rolling Stone | issue=1023 | page=79 | publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers | via=ProQuest}} Critic Mike Cormack notes that the song has "a quite radical lyric, neatly reversing the patriotic bombast and public-school derring-do of the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name for the recognition (and thus valuing) of fragility and otherness", and that the "reversal of the values of patriarchal, class-bound Britain towards something more inclusive is one of Waters’ most enduring strengths as a songwriter".{{Cite book |title=Everything Under The Sun: The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd |last=Cormack |first=Mike |publisher=History Press|year=2024|isbn=978-1803995359|location=London}} Stephen Deusner of Paste described "If" as one of Roger Waters' best compositions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/10/pink-floyd-atom-heart-mother-why-pink-floyd-reissu.html|title=Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother ("Why Pink Floyd?" Reissue)|last=Deusner|first=Stephen|date=6 October 2011|work=pastemagazine.com|access-date=22 July 2017|language=en|archive-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814101115/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/10/pink-floyd-atom-heart-mother-why-pink-floyd-reissu.html|url-status=dead}} Irving Tan of Sputnik Music believes "If" contains "very introspective lyrics that end up making a memorable outing", but also believed the track was not as well-written as some of his later and earlier pieces.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/39178/Pink-Floyd-Atom-Heart-Mother/|title=Review: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother {{!}} Sputnikmusic|last=Tan|first=Irving|date=18 September 2010|website=www.sputnikmusic.com|access-date=23 July 2017}} Tan also believed the track was reminiscent of "Grantchester Meadows", another Waters-penned track from Ummagumma a year before.
Personnel
- Roger Waters – lead and backing vocals, classical guitar, bass guitar
- David Gilmour – slide electric guitar
- Richard Wright – Hammond organ, piano
- Nick Mason – drums
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Wikiquote|Atom Heart Mother}}
{{Atom Heart Mother}}
{{Pink Floyd}}
{{authority control}}
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
{{1970s-rock-song-stub}}