On the Turning Away: Inspiration and Political Awakening

David Gilmour and lyricist Anthony Moore wrote “On the Turning Away” after Gilmour saw a news report about a South African soldier shooting a black child. The title comes from a phrase in a poem by Chilean writer Pablo Neruda — “no te vuelvas” (don’t turn away) — but the core idea was Gilmour’s frustration with how people ignore suffering. It’s one of the few Pink Floyd songs that directly names a political wrong without the apocalyptic lens Roger Waters favored.

The song marked a clear shift for the band. On A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Gilmour stepped into a more socially conscious role, but his approach was less cynical and more about personal responsibility than systemic critique. Lines like “no more turning away from the weak and the weary” are a call to individual action rather than a damning indictment of power structures. It wasn’t the kind of sweeping political statement Waters had made on Animals or The Final Cut — it was gentler, almost pleading. That softer tone reflected where the band was: rebuilding without their chief ideologue, still finding a voice.