(If you haven't read the analysis for side A, it is highly recommended that you read it first! You can access it by clicking here. This is an analysis for the following side, side B, and following that will be an overview of the entire album, discussing overlying themes and messages.)

Carefully removing the needle as it creaks and pops along the center ring, you flip the disk over, replacing the needle. After the near-death experience the last side ended with, you hope that maybe this side will leave you with a more positive attitude. As you're met with the chiming of a cash register and a few peppy bass notes, you are lead into the song...

Money

This song, sung by bassist Roger Waters, was actually not intended to be on this album. The record company wanted another song included on side B to extend the playing time, and this is what Pink Floyd came up with. Waters was particularly disappointed in this song, finding it too light-hearted and detached from the album's themes. However, this song would prove to be one of Pink Floyd's most recognizable (and digestible) songs. The first lyrics you hear are:

Money, get away
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team

These are certainly the most blunt lyrics featured on the album. Sung forcefully loud and featuring caricaturistic lyrics from the perspective of a greedy capitalist, the theme is easily interpreted from the start.

Money, get back
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack
Money, it's a hit
Don't give me that do goody good bull***t
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet

Money definitely serves as the album's comic relief, but it isn't afraid to tackle a persisting issue with zero subtlety, poking fun at the high class.

Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise
That they're giving none away

The final verse of Money conveys its strongest message (or rather, idea) of hypocritical individuals promoting generosity, but only if they have nothing to do with it. After all, we all know (or are) someone who scowls at people refusing to toss a coin to the Salvation Army, but when no one's looking, will gladly walk by without sparing a penny. Hypocrisy is an easy practice when you're thought highly of, after all.

Us and Them

As the fast-paced and high-spirited instrumentation of Money begins to fade out, you're next met with a slow, yet soulful saxophone solo that lasts for about a minute.

Us and them
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do

The theme of the song is not yet known by the listener, but from this first verse one can easily tell that this is a notably somber piece. While the first verse is sung quietly, giving the listener the impression that it will be a continuously-peaceful song, the next verse is much louder, giving it a nearly gospel sound.

"Forward!" he cried
From the rear
And the front rank died
And the General sat
As the lines on the map
Moved from side to side

At this point it is quite obvious that the song is about warfare, and certainly doesn't have a glorious idea of it. The front rank is sent to die with little to no effect in the general, who can only sit and watch the whole ordeal unfold based on his orders.

Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who?
Up and down
And in the end it's only round and round and round

War is an unending cycle fought by sides that seem so different, but truly are all the same. Soldiers are told to dehumanize the enemy, but that can be a difficult feat when they recognize that the enemy has a home with a wife, child, friends, and family. It is fought by ordinary men who have no love for what they're forced to do.

"Haven't you heard
It's a battle of words?"
The poster bearer cried.
"Listen, son,"
Said the man with the gun,
"There's room for you inside."

A battle of words it is, indeed. This can be interpreted in many ways. One can see it as leaders of nations flaunting their power while thousands of innocent lives are destroyed. Perhaps, it relates to yellow journalism, and how the media thrives off of the horrors of war, trivializing them and desensitizing the world for its lust of money. Under the next saxophone solo, a few pieces of dialogue can be made out:

"Well, I mean, they're gonna kill ya, so like, if you give 'em a quick sh...short, sharp shock, they don't do it again.
Dig it? I mean he got off light, 'cause I could've given 'I'm a thrashin' but I only hit him once.
It's only the difference between right and wrong innit? I mean good manners don't cost nothing, do they? Eh?"

It's only fitting that, in a song about mindless violence, there is a quote about mindless violence. It's hard to tell exactly what the speaker is referring to, but it is obvious that he is speaking very aggressively about letting someone off “light” by hitting them, while he could have horrifically brutalized them.

Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?

Often times after long years of warfare, it's hard to remember what started it all. Perhaps it started for a legitimate reason, but now it's just fighting because that's how it's always been. After all, change can be difficult to accept, even when it's for the better.

Get out of the way,
It's a busy day
And I've got things on my mind
For want of the price
Of tea and a slice
The old man died

While gunfire tears the bodies of soldiers apart and generals command them from the safety of their offices overseas, the most easily forgotten casualties are those lurking in the slums, broken by the economic collapse, left to starve while more pressing matters are at hand. Even when the war has ended, and a nation claims its victory, everyone has truly lost.

Any Colour you Like

As the last lyric of Us and Them fades into oblivion, you are next met with a psychedelic synthesizer tune with a complex guitar solo. This particular song features no lyrics, and therefore has no direct message. However, the song title may offer some insight into what the writers were thinking as they composed the piece. Bassist Roger Waters once said in an interview:

“...Any Colour You Like' is interesting, in that sense, because it denotes offering a choice where there is none. And it's also interesting that in the phrase, 'Any colour you like, they're all blue', I don't know why, but in my mind it's always 'they're all blue', which, if you think about it, relates very much to the light and dark, sun and moon, good and evil. You make your choice but it's always blue."

While perhaps a bit pretentious, this idea is notably intriguing. It is not at all conveyed in the music, so there's not much thinking to do about it, but it is still a lovely piece of instrumentation to be enjoyed by all ears.

Brain Damage

As the synthesizers fade out and a slow-and-steady guitar takes its place, you're immediately hit with the following lyrics:

The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is on the grass
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
Got to keep the loonies on the path

Indeed, it is confusing. No matter how hard you contemplate what this means, you'll likely never come to a conclusion. However, it is notable that these opening lyrics, similarly to Any Colour you Like , have a secret meaning. The lunatic is on the grass refers to a sign that Roger Waters saw on a particularly lovely piece of grass telling people to stay off. Waters interpreted the idea of keeping people off something so attractive was insanity, and these lyrics were a sarcastic way of conveying this.

The lunatic is in the hall
The lunatics are in my hall
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more

The theme of insanity is strong in this song, and while it is never stated who the “lunatics” are, it is likely that the concept of them stems from Waters's experience.

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

For the first time in the entire album, the album's title is said. We will not discuss what The Dark Side of the Moon means until next week, but feel free to hypothesize what it may stand for as you observe the accompanying lyrics.

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'till I'm sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me.

Still, the theme of insanity is apparent. This verse may well be referring to Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder), or may be interpreted vaguely as mental illness itself. The lyrics You raise the blade, you make the change/You re-arrange me 'till I'm sane have a somewhat romanticized sound to them, which may tie into the romantic elements of mental illness conjured by the rest of this song. This verse plays into the idea of dependence quite a bit, and it could be suggesting a romantic dependence of one's mental illness.

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

Curiously enough, the lyric about one's band playing different tunes comes from Pink Floyd's original leader, Syd Barrett, who suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia. On stage when he wasn't in a catatonic daze, he would randomly begin playing the wrong songs on his guitar. Barrett's mental deterioration was taken very hard by the band, and many songs and lyrics (the song Shine on you Crazy Diamond , for example), are homages to Barrett and his mental illness. After this verse, some maniacal laughter is heard beneath the instrumentation, as it transitions into...

Eclipse

Easily mistaken for a continuation of Brain Damage , Eclipse is this album's finale. It is only about thirty seconds long and primarily consists of a continuation of Brain Damage's instrumentation. When the lyrics kick in, they are sung continuously without stopping, and, while they are not fast, some lyrics may be lost on a first-time listener.

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy
beg, borrow or steal
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say
All that you eat
everyone you meet
All that you slight
everyone you fight
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

Everything in existence lies beneath the sun and her glory, who keeps all in order. However, the moon lies above her, rendering her efforts futile. Rather than beneath the sun, we are beneath the eclipse.

The record grows silent for quite some time before the needle screeches to a halt. The same heartbeat from the beginning of the album can vaguely be heard, as well as a barely-audible whisper:

There is no dark side of the moon really.
Matter of fact it's all dark