“I said, ‘I’m not writing another song until you’ve written one.’ I find it hard to get him to do it. He’d rather wash the car”: Polly Samson on cajoling David Gilmour into work, Pink Floyd’s awkward silences, and the words she refused to write

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 05: (L-R) Polly Samson and David Gilmour arrive for the David Gilmour 'Live At Pompeii' premiere screening at Vue West End on September 5, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images).

Novelist Polly Samson started collaborating with future husband David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell. The couple have continued to work together since, with Samson writing lyrics for final Floyd album The Endless River – devised as a tribute to Rick Wright – and Gilmour’s solo material, including 2015’s Rattle That Lock. That year she told Prog about the process of writing for the record.

As David’s writing partner, what comes first – the music or the lyrics?