Is Pink Floyd is wasted on teenagers?

After buying The Final Cut on vinyl the other day, I have come to the realization that Pink Floyd just might be wasted on the young. I was a hardcore Floyd fan (meaning I listened to their music all the time) when I was like 16 years old. As I have gotten older they have definitely taken a backseat to other stuff (much like Billy Joel and Def Leppard did). Not to say I have ever officially rejected them--my listening priorities just changed. I assume based on conversations with friends that this tapering off of Floyd consumption as you get older is a pretty common affliction.

Which brings me back to my question/conundrum: somehow when you hit your 30s, 40s, etc., or (worse) come home from war, does Pink Floyd's music somehow take on a special relevance? The overarching theme of so many of their songs is holding on to your dreams in the face of daunting challenges. But how can you really appreciate this until you've had to fly solo and figure out who you are and how to stay true to that person? How can you fully appreciate this message until you've lost someone you dearly love? And most importantly when it comes to Floyd, how can you appreciate them unless you have felt yourself going slightly insane at some point? Afterall, so many of the characters in their songs are deeply disturbed. How can you really "get it" unless you've contemplated shaving your own eyebrows?

This all hit me when I was listening to the "Gunner's Dream," a song about a man who survives war to come home to a place where "You can relax on both sides of the tracks ... And no one kills the children anymore." Despite the safety his homeland provides, he cannot shake the memory of his comrade killed on the "corner of some foreign field." This soldier death haunts the protagonist so horribly that "Night after night /Going round and round my brain/ His dream is driving me insane." (Full disclosure: I've never fought in a war and I hope I never have to. But I am assuming that if you've actually been through something similar, this song has profound relevance in your life.)

What was funny listening to this in my home on Sunday, after having been through my share of bad times and good times, is that all I remember from listening to this song when I was 16 was Roger Water's screeeeam at the end. Not that it's still not a cool scream, but what leads up to it is much more moving. The part of the "Gunner's Dream" though that I think is an excellent example of how you need to lose a little to really appreciate Floyd goes like this:

After the service when you're walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream.

It's all there and I never knew it. The vivid details. The tragedy. And the fight to hold on to what matters most when it would be so much easier to give up. I missed all of it the first time around. But not this time. This stuff is so much more powerful when you're a little older (and a little more sober!). Anyway, if you've put Pink Floyd on the back burner like I did, I encourage you to break out one of those albums and take heed of the dream!