How 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' Gave Roger Waters His First Writing Credit and Became Pink Floyd's Hypnotic Live Epic

“Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” is the first song Roger Waters wrote entirely on his own for Pink Floyd. He lifted the lyrics from a collection of Chinese Tang dynasty poetry, specifically drawing on the imagery of Li He. The music came together during the A Saucerful of Secrets sessions in late 1967, and the band recorded it at EMI’s Abbey Road studios. Waters played the bass part himself—a simple, repeating D-C-G pattern that feels like slow-motion orbit—while Nick Mason smashed a giant tam-tam gong at just the right moment.

The track became a live favorite almost immediately, partly because it let the band stretch out into long, improvised jams. Early versions featured Rick Wright’s Farfisa organ and David Gilmour’s slide guitar shimmering over that bass pulse. By 1969, it had evolved into a ten-minute centerpiece of their concerts, often paired with other space-rock pieces. The most famous filmed performance is from 1972’s Live at Pompeii, where the gong crash echoes off the amphitheater ruins. The song fell out of the set after 1973, but its hypnotic bassline and ceremonial gong still define Pink Floyd’s early, more experimental era.