Astronomy Domine

Barrett wrote it and sang it with Richard Wright, and its working title was Astronomy Domine (An Astral Chant). The track opens with the band's manager Peter Jenner reading the names of planets, stars and galaxies through a megaphone. Barrett's Fender Esquire runs through a Binson echo, and Wright's Farfisa organ sits in the background. The lyrics name Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune and the moons Oberon, Miranda, Titania and Titan. Waters later described it as the sum total of Barrett's writing about space.

Live and covers

It opens the live side of Ummagumma (1969), with Gilmour sharing the vocals. The last confirmed performance with Waters was on 20 June 1971 in Rome, and when a fan called for it later that year Waters said they would never play it again. It returned on the 1994 tour, where the version on Pulse has Gilmour, Mason and Wright joined only by Guy Pratt. Gilmour played it on his 2006 solo tour, and Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets played it in 2018. In a 1968 Belgian television film for Tienerklanken, Gilmour mimed to Barrett's voice.