Analysis of Pink Floyd’s Lyrics in the Context of Kierkegaard’s Existentialism

Year 2025, Volume: 29 Issue: 4, 1 - 11

Necip Uyanık

https://doi.org/10.53487/atasobed.1670032

Abstract

Pink Floyd has a unique style and perspective as a musical group. By addressing the
humanitarian crises of the 20th century in their lyrics, they incorporated distinct issues
such as war, economy, education, family, and politics into their agenda. However, it is
also possible to state that their lyrics focus on the pains of individual existence. By
examining this through sample lyrics, we can see how existential relationships are
revealed. The fundamental problem of existential philosophy is to assert that human
beings are individuals and that this should be a crucial consideration for philosophy. One
of the first to make this claim was Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, and it is
possible to state that he evaluated the human problem of the 19th century in this
context. In this study, existential themes in Pink Floyd’s song lyrics (Hey You, Time,
Echoes, Us and Them) were analyzed by Kierkegaard’s existentialism. Therefore, this
study aims to think together and discuss Pink Floyd, the influential music group of the
20th century, in the existential philosophy of Kierkegaard, who lived in the 19th century
and witnessed.

Keywords

Pink Floyd , Kierkegaard , Esistence

Kierkegaard’ın Varoluşçuluğu Bağlamında Pink Floyd’un Şarkı Sözlerinin Analizi

Abstract

Pink Floyd, bir müzik grubu olarak kendine özgü bir üslup ve bakış açısına sahiptir. Şarkı
sözlerinde 20. Yüzyılın insani krizlerini ele alarak savaş, ekonomi, eğitim, aile, siyaset gibi
farklı sorunları gündemlerine almışlardır. Ancak şarkı sözlerinin bireysel varoluşun
sancılarına odaklandığını söylemek de mümkündür. Bunu örnek şarkı sözleri üzerinden
incelediğimizde varoluşsal ilişkilerin nasıl ortaya çıktığını görebiliriz. Varoluşçu felsefenin
şüphesiz temel sorunu, insanların birey olarak görülmesi gerektiğini ve bunun felsefe için
önemli olması gerektiğini güçlü bir şekilde öne sürmektir. Bu iddiayı ilk ortaya atanlardan
biri de Danimarkalı filozof Søren Kierkegaard’dır ve onun 19. Yüzyılın insan sorununu da
bu bağlamda değerlendirdiğini söylemek mümkündür. Bu çalışmada Pink Floyd’un şarkı
sözlerindeki (Hey You, Time, Echoes, Us and Them) varoluşsal temalar Kierkegaard’ın
varoluşçuluğu bağlamında incelenmiştir. Bu nedenle bu çalışma, 20. Yüzyılın etkili müzik
grubu Pink Floyd’u, 19. Yüzyılda yaşamış ve çağına tanıklık etmiş Kierkegaard’ın varoluşçu
felsefesi bağlamında birlikte düşünmeyi ve tartışmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

Pink Floyd , Kierkegaard , Varoluş

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