Pink Floyd - One Sli
Pink Floyd - One Slip


Pink Floyd - One Slip Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Released: 1987

One Slip Lyrics


A restless eye across a weary room
A glazed look and I was on the road to ruin
The music played and played as we whirled without end
No hint, no word her honour to defend

I will, I will she sighed to my request
And then she tossed her mane while my resolve was put to the test
Then drowned in desire, our souls on fire
I lead the way to the funeral pyre
And without a thought of the consequence
I gave in to my decadence

One Slip, and down the hole we fall
It seems to take no time at all
A momentary lapse of reason
That binds a life for life
A small regret, you won't forget,
There'll be no sleep in here tonight

Was it love, or was it the idea of being in love?
Or was it the hand of fate, that seemed to fit just like a glove?
The moment slipped by and soon the seeds were sown
The year grew late and neither one wanted to remain alone

One slip, and down the hole we fall
It seems to take no time at all
A momentary lapse of reason
That binds a life for life
A small regret, you will never forget,
There'll be no sleep in here tonight

Writer/s: GILMOUR, MANZANERA
Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

One Slip
  • This is about falling in love and what is love, how one event can change your whole life. How one slip is all it takes. It is not ultimately about sex or love, but about unintended consequences. In the song, a man spots a woman across the room. Their eyes meet, and soon they are both giving in to sexual impulses. A pregnancy results, as is subtly implied with the words "soon the seeds were sewn" and "the year grew late," as well as by the sound effects at the beginning of the song which are a metaphor for sperm trying and then contacting the ovum.
  • The album title came from a line in this song: "A momentary lapse of reason." The "momentary lapse of reason" is a reckless sexual indulgence, without protection, which "binds a life to a life" via the unplanned child. We know that "neither one wanted to remain alone" as the pregnancy progressed, which implies that if the pregnancy was unplanned, at least the man involved was ready to take responsibility.
  • This was used as the B-side of "Learning To Fly." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for all above)
  • Dave Gilmour wrote this song with Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music. Working with different collaborators seemed to bring out different sides of Gilmour's personality, which was reflected in the lyrics.
  • This song opens with the sound of the alarm on Dave Gimour's houseboat studio. Appearing on the Floydian Slip TV show, sound engineer Andy Jackson explained that the alarms were triggered by him entering an incorrect code into the security system. (thanks, Ryan - Largo, FL)