Pink Floyd fans finally figure out what front cover of ‘Welcome to the Machine’ single is meant to be

Fans of the legendary rock group Pink Floyd are only just realising what the image on the front of the Welcome to the Machine single is meant to be.

The Roger Waters and David Gilmour-featuring group released the track in the lead-up to their 1975 masterpiece, Wish You Were Here. On the front cover is an image of two interlocking, robotic hands, which also look a bit like a socket and adapter. This interpretation, while obvious to many, flew over the heads of some users of the r/PinkFloyd subreddit. One fan of the band took to the forum and asked if they were “stupid” after finally figuring out what the image on the single cover is meant to represent.

They wrote: “All these years and I just realised it’s supposed to be two hands interlocked… Anyone else or am I stupid?” Some users were taken aback by the image, which others believed was rather obvious. The original poster has since said they thought the image was meant to represent the titular machine, though it is unclear what machine that would be.

They were asked: “What did you think they were?” Their reply reads: “A nondescript satellite-like machine in reference to The Machine. Just figured it was meant to be a trippy unknown object.” While there may have been some comments mocking the interpretation further down the thread, other users saw what the original poster meant by the nondescript tech on the single sleeve.

One user replied: “Honestly, I can see how you thought this. If you don’t recognise the fingernails it isn’t perfectly apparent what is going on.” The original poster replied with praise for the album artwork, adding: “It’s really such a dope style and the artist made it in such a way where you have to look deeper to notice what it really is. You would think I would have picked up on it after all this time, lmao…

“They really seem so clearly like fingers now, but I just thought they were parts of a machine! Props to the artist tho because it’s sick how it’s both a machine and hands. I was only using half my brain, I guess…” They added in a separate comment: “A lot of people saying I’m stupid on here, but I know I’m nobody’s fool!”

Another user has since explained the meaning behind the single’s artwork. They wrote: “Two robots shaking hands meant to symbolise the empty gesture of artists shaking hands with the money people after getting burned. Thus becoming part of the machine. Notice how one of the arms is slightly less robot-looking and wears a ring.”

Another user has shared the origin story of the image, which was made by the same artist behind The Dark Side of the Moon. They wrote: “It’s by George Hardie, who also did graphics for Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, 10CC, the front of Led Zeppelin’s first album, etc. He’s a pretty big deal.”

Others have assured the original poster their mistake in identifying the image is not an isolated incident. One joked: “I just showed this to my husband who is not a Pink Floyd fan and asked him what he saw. He said it was some kind of spacey machine thing, until I said ‘two robots shaking hands?’ Then he saw it straight away.”

Another added: “I never noticed it either idk why people are saying it’s obvious. It isn’t unless you really focus on it.