Marooned

What makes Marooned so special is that it is the only instrumental piece by Pink Floyd to have been recognized with a Grammy Award. It was written in collaboration by David Gilmour and Richard Wright, and the recording was developed during improvised sessions aboard the Astoria in early 1993. The sound evokes the feeling of being on an island, with elements that recall seagulls and the sound of waves crashing on the shore. Gilmour experimented with a DigiTech Whammy pedal to alter the tone of his guitar, creating ascending octave effects that intertwine with other guitar sounds reminiscent of the song Echoes. The piano parts by Wright, originally recorded on a Kurzweil, were added at Olympic Studios in London. Gilmour has commented that much of the song emerged from improvisation, taking the best from several takes. Wright, for his part, noted that it was the first piece to be mixed for the album The Division Bell.

Marooned was released as part of the album The Division Bell in 1994. The album's production was handled by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1995, at the 37th edition of the awards. Before 2024, the piece had only been performed live on three occasions: twice in Oslo, Norway, during the 1994 The Division Bell tour (one of these performances is included in the bonus material of the Pulse DVD*), and at a charity concert called "The Strat Pack," which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar, where Gilmour used his Stratocaster "#0001." In 2024, David Gilmour included it in his "Luck and Strange" tour. In 2014, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Division Bell, a music video directed by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis was produced. Some scenes were filmed in the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine, in early April 2014, and others from the International Space Station. In July 2021, on the occasion of Wright's birthday, Pink Floyd shared on YouTube an original 8-minute and 22-second demo of the song, recorded at Britannia Row Studios with Wright, Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Guy Pratt.