The Strange Journey of 'Biding My Time' – The Pink Floyd Single That Didn't Exist Until 'Relics'

Most Pink Floyd fans know ‘Biding My Time’ from the 1971 compilation Relics, but it was actually recorded in 1969 for the abandoned Zabriskie Point soundtrack. The track features Richard Wright on lead vocals and a brass section that gives it a jazz-pop feel totally unlike the spacey stuff the band was doing at the time.

Wright wrote it during a period when Pink Floyd still thought they might be a singles band. The song has a tight structure, catchy piano hooks, and a rare saxophone solo – all of which make it feel like a lost slice of late-60s pop. It sat on the shelf for two years until Relics gave it a home, and fans ever since have pointed to it as proof that Wright could’ve been a great pop songwriter if the band had let him. The irony is that ‘Biding My Time’ is really about waiting – and that’s exactly what it did.