Songfacts®:

• According to Roger Waters, this early Pink Floyd song was the first of his compositions that he was proud of. Bar the title line, all the lyrics were pinched from a book of Chinese poetry that Roger Waters owned.
• At his two solo concerts at Wembley Arena in June 2002, Roger Waters performed this with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. It was the first time they'd performed publicly together in over twenty years, during which time they'd managed to go over a decade without speaking, despite being the best of friends for most of their lives. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Daniel - Melbourne, Australia, for above 2
• The title was inaccurately described in Nicholas Schaffner's book A Saucerful Of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey as being taken from William S. Burroughs, but Burroughs wrote no such line in any book. It is actually from a book by Michael Moorcock entitled Fireclown, also known as "The Winds of Limbo." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Anton - St.Louis, MO
• This song inspired British author Douglas Adams to reference the band in his book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where "The loudest group of all times" destroys a spaceship directing it into a star. The group was called Disaster Area and its music was so loud that the fans would have to listen their gigs from a long distance. Adams was a friend of band's guitarist David Gilmour. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mihail - Sofia, Bulgaria
• For a short period of time between David Gilmour joining the band in December 1967 and Syd Barrett's departure in April 1968, Pink Floyd were a five-piece. According to an interview with David Gilmour on the 2006 documentary Which One's Pink?, "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" is the only Pink Floyd song that features all five band members, as it includes guitar work from both Gilmour and Barrett.
• Nick Mason's drumming was inspired by watching Chico Hamilton's band play in the 1959 concert film Jazz on a Summers Day, where he used mallets instead of sticks.
  
  "It was only when I re-watched that film, many years later, that I realized that what I was playing at absolutely nothing to do with what I thought I heard,!" he told Uncut magazine. "But so much of what we played around that time has that jazz feel, which makes it perfect for reinterpretation."