Following Meddle in 1971, Pink Floyd assembled for a tour of Britain, Japan and the United States in December of that year. In a band meeting at drummer Nick Mason's home in Camden, bassist Roger Waters proposed that a new album could form part of the tour. Waters' idea was for an album that dealt with things that "make people mad", focusing on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and dealing with the apparent mental problems suffered by former band member Syd Barrett.

The band had explored a similar idea with 1969's The Man and The Journey. In an interview for Rolling Stone, guitarist David Gilmour said: "I think we all thought – and Roger definitely thought – that a lot of the lyrics that we had been using were a little too indirect. There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific."

Generally, all four members agreed that Waters' album concept unified by a single theme was a good idea. Waters, Gilmour, Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright participated in the writing and production of the new material, and Waters created the early demo tracks at his Islington home in a small studio built in his garden shed. Parts of the new album were taken from previously unused material; the opening line of "Breathe" came from an earlier work by Waters and Ron Geesin, written for the soundtrack of The Body, and the basic structure of "Us and Them" borrowed from an original composition by Wright for Zabriskie Point.

Lyrics

"I've been mad for fucking years, absolutely years,

Been over the edge for yonks,

Been working me buns off for bands

I've always been mad, I know I've been mad,

Like the most of us, very hard to explain why you're mad,

Even if you're not mad"

Breathe, breathe in the air

Don't be afraid to care

Leave, don't leave me

Look around, choose your own ground

Long you live and high you fly

Smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry

And all you touch and all you see

Is all your life will ever be

Run, rabbit, run

Dig that hole, forget the sun

When at last the work is done

Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one

Long you live and high you fly

But only if you ride the tide

Balanced on the biggest wave

Race towards an early grave