Pink Floyd's "Publius Enigma"

[Scott Bails]

Was this ever solved?

Was it even real? From the link:


• P*U*L*S*E, a DVD of the 20 October 1994 televised concert at Earls Court, London, contains footage of the word "ENIGMA" being projected in large letters on to the backdrop of the stage during the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)". The DVD's authoring company, Das Boot, uses an enigma machine as their logo, which can be seen at the end of the show

• In the artwork for the MiniDisc release of A Momentary Lapse of Reason, the word "PUBLIUS" has been inserted into the photo of the man in the rye field. The word "ENIGMA" appears in the lower corner of the picture of the man standing on the edge of the cliff.

• The words "Publius Enigma" can be heard spoken just before the song "One of These Days" on the 2003 DVD release of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii.

• The text on Storm Thorgerson's cover for John Harris' book The Dark Side of the Moon: The making of the Pink Floyd masterpiece, published by HarperCollins in 2005 concludes with the word "ENIGMA" alongside an ellipsis.

• Page 13 of The Division Bell's CD booklet contains an anagram of the word "enigma", hidden in third column from the right of the top verse of the lyrics to Wearing the Inside Out, perfectly aligned with the page number "jyusan". Anthony Moore, who wrote the lyrics to the song, has denied that this was intentional on his part.

• The official Pink Floyd biography contains the statement "[...] true to their beginnings, there has always been an enigma at their heart" and ends with "For at the heart of Pink Floyd, there has always been an enigma..."

[Paulrus]

And in other news, Paul is dead.

[rael74]

I have always picked up a very disinterested or anti-floyd vibe on this forum, which is baffling.

[bob_32_116]

The full wikipedia article probably says all there is to say about it.
I think it was just a bit of fun on someone's part, combined with some "clues" to generate discussion, possibly a bit of a marketing ploy.

The Division Bell is about breakdown in communication. ENIGMA was a code developed in war-time for encrypting communication. That's probably the complete extent of the connection.

There could have been a real riddle and a real prize, but I doubt it. I think there are two possibilities. One is that it was a complete piss-take. The other is that the intention was semi-serious, but "solving the riddle" simply means understanding the intention behind the lyrics in the Division Bell, and the "prize" is - hopefully - a better world, because of people relearning how to communicate. Whatever the case, I'm prepared to believe that Gilmour and Mason had nothing to do with it. If they did, why would they deny it?

[zravkapt]

There was a website all about that at one time, don't know if it still exists.

[chalkpie]

"Wrong, do it again!"
"Wrong, do it again!"
"If you don't eat yer enigma, you can't have any pudding. how can you
Have any enigma if you don't eat yer meat?"
"you! yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"

[ItalProgRules]

There's definitely something going on in the booklet. I followed the old Publius site for a while but eventually lost interest.

For some real fun with a CD booklet, Rush's Clockwork Angels has a ton of cool stuff going on in it. Hugh Syme really outdid himself. You have to really pay close attention to the little details and then you start to "get it."

[GuitarGeek]

I seem to recall the question coming up back in the late 90's, on whichever forum I was posting on at the time (either Prodigy or AOL) and it was said that the whole thing was a wind up. I think it was just suggested that original "Publius Enigma", the person who started all the talk was some random prankster. The thing I remember hearing was that the person was supposed to prove his/her legitimacy at one of the Giants Stadium shows.

During the actual show, the word Enigma appeared in big letters in the rows of lights across the front of the stage, which hadn't happened at any other show up to that point. The story I heard was, one of Gilmour's kids put forth the suggestion to the lighting guy that afternoon, "for laughs" or whatever, and then they ran with it for awhile after that. But I think it was said to be just a hoax of some kind, there was never an actual scavenger hunt of any kind nor any kind of actual prize.

[JKL2000]

Thanks, italprogfan - will have to take a closer look!

[JKL2000]

They decided to fuck around with us instead of spend time on releasing archival material.

[ItalProgRules]

They decided to fuck around with us instead of spend time on releasing archival material.

Yup. Release the Paris Theater Tapes!!!

In the Clockwork Angels book, look for things like the time on someone's watch or at someone's tattoo, then relate them to the symbols on the front-cover clock. You'll start to see how the "times" relate to the track numbers. But I don't want to spoil all the fun...

[Man In The Mountain]

This will forever be an enigma.

[Jerjo]

Storm Thorgerson is reading this from his celestial laptop and laughing his ass off.

[rcarlberg]

I have always picked up a very disinterested or anti-floyd vibe on this forum, which is baffling.

Genesis is "warmer."

[Halmyre]

I remember some heated discussion on the PF newsgroup. Some people took it very seriously.

[SteveSly]

I remember when the whole enigma thing was going on. There was quite a bit in the old Brain Damage Pink Floyd fanzine that I subscribed to back then. I kind of got into it for a while, but then it kind of lost interest for me.

[bob_32_116]

I remember when the whole enigma thing was going on. There was quite a bit in the old Brain Damage Pink Floyd fanzine that I subscribed to back then. I kind of got into it for a while, but then it kind of lost interest for me.

A bit like any discussion thread. When there is no new information coming in, interest eventually tapers off.

It's the sort fo thing that is good for a laugh, but really I think TDB is good enough to stand on its own musical merits without any publicity gimmick.

[Interstellar]

When Syd Barrett chose the name "Pink Floyd", he did it carefully. There was a secret code at the heart of it. It was probably linked to the structure of the egyptian pyramids. The code also provided the key that would enable the band to synch their albums with certain movies, among which "The Wizard of Oz". Some of these movies have yet to see the light of day.
The code was meant to be hidden away for a certain amount of time so that success could come to the band. Syd put the code somewhere (probably into a spliff) and buried it. He then said the words : "They must become greater, while I must become less". He made it clear that he had to disappear for the prophecy to be accomplished. He made it clear in the song "Jugband Blues" that he was not there anymore.
Success didn't come right away. Waters expressed his frustration through his scream on "Careful with that Axe, Eugene", and later on "Time". Clare Torry, who was promised major success with the band, also expressed her frustration on "The great Gig in the Sky".
As we all know, a major success happened in 1973. The pyramids explicitly appeared on PF artwork around that time. The band acknowledged Syd's influence on "Wish You were Here", which was a direct echo of the "Jugband Blues" lyrics. When the band recorded the album, Syd came into the studio to remind them of the deadline. The code had to be uncovered someday. But there were differences within the band about where and when, and Syd's words weren't perfectly clear at the time. (He did clearly talk about an "effervescing elephant", though.)
The band began to dislocate. Waters believed there was a curse included within the code, and he slipped into a paranoid state of mind. He resented the audience that had given them success (he even did spit on a fan) and wrote The Wall as a kind of therapy. The plan was to creat a double album full of tuneless drivel, and put the band to rest. It didn't work, as the album was a great success. Waters then tried to give the band an abrupt ending and called it "The Final Cut". He then released an album with a naked woman in the artwork to make it clear that he had nothing to do with Pink Floyd's classy reputation anymore. He lost his mind. He even wrote an opera in french years later !
Gilmour, on the other hand, believed that the band had to carry on to fulfil the prophecy. He and Polly Samson alluded to Barrett in the lyrics again. The enigma was about to be disclosed, but at the last minute Gimour decided to hide the music that contained the code (the music is known as "The Big Spliff"). Gilmour believed that PF had to be an un-dying entity. Twenty years later, he finally decided to release small parts of The Big Spliff and called the album "The Endless River" which meant PF had no end. The album alludes to the code, which is said to be "the sum of the parts". Waters made it clear that he had nothing to do with it ("Phew ! this is not rocket science people. Get a grip !")

I'm not allowed to tell you more right now.

In other news, Dave kerzner has rejoined Sound of Contact.

[rael74]

I know the answer, and have sent it to Old Pink, care of The Funny Farm, Chalfont