The Viral Myth of Pink Floyd’s 'Echoes' and *The Endless Summer*

If you’ve spent any time on YouTube, you’ve probably seen a video pairing the opening of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” — that iconic, submarine-like ping — with a scene from the 1966 surf film The Endless Summer, where a wave curls over a surfer. The sync feels eerily perfect, like the music was written for that exact frame. But it’s not real. The audio in those clips is almost always a fan edit, not the actual film.

The Endless Summer was released in 1966, five years before “Echoes” appeared on Meddle. The original film’s soundtrack is a mix of surf rock and instrumental cues by the Sandals, not Pink Floyd. No evidence suggests the band ever intended “Echoes” to accompany any scene from that movie