San Tropez (song)

"San Tropez" is the title of the fourth track from the album Meddle by the band Pink Floyd.^[1][2] This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.^[3]

Writing

Unlike the other tracks on Meddle, "San Tropez" was not written collaboratively; instead, Roger Waters wrote the piece himself and brought it into the studio already finished. It is the only track on Meddle not co-written by David Gilmour. This song is about a place called Saint-Tropez, a commune of the Var département in southern France located on the French Riviera. The song reflects an idealised vision of what a day in Saint-Tropez might be like.^[4]

Misunderstood lyric

Throughout the 1970s and beyond, the second-to-last line of lyrics to the song, "Making a date for later by phone", has been persisently misunderstood in Italy, mainly because of Waters' slurred pronunciation ("...fer-lita-pah-fon"), as being "Making a date for Rita Pavone", with a reference to the well-known 1960s Italian pop singer . Pavone herself has stated several times, in TV interviews and elsewhere, that she actually believes the line to be about her .

Recording

While Roger Waters plays the acoustic guitar as well as his usual bass, "San Tropez" does include a short slide guitar solo from guitarist David Gilmour and an extended piano solo by keyboardist Richard Wright at the end.

Personnel

• Roger Waters – acoustic guitar, bass and vocals
• David Gilmour – slide guitar
• Richard Wright – piano
• Nick Mason – drums and percussion

References