Do I even have to introduce Roger Waters to my readers? Those born in the 1970s-80s all know the name “Pink Floyd” as one of, if not the THE, most talented group in the history of pop/rock music. As for our younger readers, they at least will have heard of albums like The Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall. Then there are the comparatively more recent releases by Roger Waters, like the opera Ca Ira or the hauntingly beautiful and deeply touching Amused to Death.
[Quick sidebar: Roger Waters has always been the real true genius behind both the Pink Floyd music and lyrics, this was true from the early Saucerful of Secrets (1968) to the (well named) Final Cut (1983). There has been a lot of controversy about that, it’s all water under the bridge now, but let me just say that I discovered Saucerful of Secrets when I was 11 (1974) and even at that young age I quickly figured out who the “hidden genius” (that is how I thought about Waters then) behind the band really was. I do have the utmost respect for the rest of the Pink Floyd band, they were also very talented, but Roger Waters stands, in my not so humble opinion, head and shoulders over the rest of the band. In fact, for me, Roger Waters *is* and always was, the “real Pink Floyd!]
The very first pop song I ever played on a guitar was “Brain Damage“. I was 12 then. Since, I have played pretty much every song Waters ever wrote. Later, I went into rock (Led Zep style) and, later, into acoustic Jazz guitar duos, but on my Walkman (remember those?), in my room and, later, in my car I always had a full Roger Waters discography. I still do, now on my smartphone :-)
Of course, Roger Waters is not only a truly immensely talented composer, his lyrics have also had a huge impact on me. I don’t want to discuss personal issues here, but let’s just say that Roger Waters put in words feelings I was harboring deep inside myself. As a kid, and later an adult, I always thought “no matter what, there is ONE GUY out there who not only “gets it” but also feels that which I feel, often very deep inside me: Roger Water’s music and lyrics touched me at my most vulnerable, desperate, frightened, filled with angst and doubt. The fact that both Roger and I lost our fathers very early on and were raised by our mothers probably greatly contributed to “tune” us to a same similar frequency, so to speak. The fact that we were born in a truly terminally insane world (including the Cold War) for sure did!
Last, but not least, I saw how Roger not only wrote about our world, but how he entered the fight against what he calls our “ruling classes” (he is right to use this category, this is certainly a class struggle) even taking on the most powerful and evil gang out there: the Apartheid state of “Israel”. Payback for Roger’s compassion for, and truthfulness about, the plight of the Palestinian people did not go unnoticed by the bad guys. One of these creeps even made a full feature length movie entitled “Wish You Weren’t Here – The Dark Side Of Roger Waters” (in Russian we have a good saying: “this tiny dog must be incredibly strong to dare to bark up this huge elephant!”).
And it is not just the Palestinians, or Julian Assange; any other person who needs protection or a voice to speak up for them – they will find such a voice in Waters. Anyone who has had a chance to hear his masterpiece “Amused to Death” or the “Ca Ira” opera will quickly figure out that Waters is not only an amazing music genius, but also a truly righteous man who followed his conscience when almost everybody sold out and left the battlefield. Bottom line, Waters truly had a huge impact on me, my life and my views. He was also a role model in so many ways.
[Special note for religious bigots: yes, I know, Waters is not religious. But may I suggest that he is not religious for all the RIGHT reasons – think of the kind of pseudo-Christianity he has been exposed to since his birth. Water’s secularism is nothing but a form of honesty which rejects all the hypocrisy so many bigots love to wrap themselves in! I would argue that there are *many* atheists for the right reasons out there just as there are deeply religious people for the wrong reasons out there too (and these atheists/agnostics also make the very best Orthodox converts, by the way, as they are truly seeking out the REAL truth!). So how about we don’t judge and, instead, praise the undeniable righteousness of any man who places the Truth, his conscience and his unwavering struggle, against all the evils of our world? As an Orthodox Christian, I feel very close and sympathetic to those idealists who reject religions because all they saw from these religions was disgusting, revolting and generally very much NOT Christ-like. After all, the concepts of love, beauty, truth are all paraphrases or metaphors for the word “God” which, alas, has become almost totally discredited in our post-Christian times! Rather than judging or condemning, let’s instead pray as our Lord taught us and humbly pray “for the peace of the whole world, for the good estate of the holy churches of God, and for the union of all, let us beseech the Lord.”]
I think that by now you all see the obvious: I love Roger Waters with all my heart. No point in hiding or denying it, as it is obvious anyway :-)
And, of course, meeting him one day has been a lifelong dream of mine. Then, in May, I got an email from a reader (let’s call him “J”) who mentioned to me that he has had contacts with Waters in the past. I immediately asked him to ask Roger if he would agree to a video interview. And then, one day, I got a very warm and kind reply from Waters saying “Hey Andrei, sure, I’ll do the interview. When and how? Love Roger!“.
The “when and how” took longer than expected, as Waters is truly in HUGE demand everywhere, did you see his reply to Mark Zuckerberg who wanted by purchase Waters’s song “Another Brick in the Wall II” for huge money? And the goal? To promote Instagram. You can see Roger’s “heartfelt” reply to Zuckerberg here. But, eventually, it did happen, and last Monday I had the huge honor, privilege and joy to speak with Roger. You could say that this was a dream of mine for 46(!) years, and it finally happened.
Needless to say, I was both blissful (hence my “cat with cream” grin during much this conversation) and very intimidated. While I spent most of my life not giving a damn about what others think, this time I cared, a lot. So I will also confess of being very intimidated by the man. If anything, his kind simplicity and compassionate understanding made him, if at all possible, even bigger in my eyes.
So, after this long intro (sorry but I had a lot to say, and could easily have turned that into into a 10’000 words article) here is the promised interview:
Since much of the interview talks about Roger Water’s “Lockdown Sessions” I want to conclude with the two I love most (so far).
The Gunner’s dream:
Two Suns in the Sunset:
This latest song is, in my interpretation, a truly beautiful lament for our poor planet. Anybody who has lived through the Cold War will easily “get it”.
And if we somehow manage not to blow ourselves and our planet up, then it will be at least in part thanks to true heroes like Roger Waters.
In the end, it depends on each one of us.
Love to all, especially to Roger!
The Saker
thank you both
the closing words of “is this the life we really want” LP to prepare for the inevitable
and from the Saker to describe understanding that the path to truth & righteousness can take a shortcut bypassing religious drill & dogma
Well, I think I might have been unclear here. There CANNOT be ANY “truth” (as a meaningful concept) without dogmatics. So religion is NOT the issue. Here is what the problem is composed of
1) The total dominance of the public discourse by either rabid atheist or bigoted religious fanatics and hypocrites
2) Rejecting a lie, ANY lie, is moral, pious and commendable. But rejecting the truth is not.
3) So the problem is simple: is there a form of Christianity out there which is not chock full of liars, hypocrites and crooks?
I strongly believe that there is.
As for “bypassing” religion is just a modern version of Sola Scriptura and all that nonsense.
Yes, that kind of religion richly deserves being bypassed!
But the original Christianity, the faith “which the Lord gave, was preached by the Apostles, and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is nor any longer ought to be called a Christian” (St. Athanasius) does not deserve such disgust.
That is why I am defending it every time I feel I have to.
Kind regards
The Saker
Respectfully, the “problem” is quite a bit simpler and more inclusive than that: Is there a form of “truth” out there, with or without any additional dogma that comes along as baggage (preferably without), that’s not chock full of liars, hypocrites, and crooks. As the old book title goes: If you meet the Buddha on the road, Kill Him!
The truth needs no defense. It’s always self-evident to those who embody it.
If that was true, why would we even have the concept of epistemology?!?!
And why 100’000 different religions?
And at least as many political parties?
No, the Truth definitely does need defenders.
That is why Christ created what is nowadays dismissively called an “organized religion”.
God even “organized” the heavens (angels) hierarchically.
So the truth ALSO needs a hierarchy.
Either that, or God is wrong ;-)
The problem with organised religion, or those running most of them, shall we say, is that the attention shifts from the original purpose which is always to offer a way to personal spiritual emancipation, as Christ did, to those that inherit the organisation. The latter’s attention inevitably moves from the original purpose of the religion ( root; to reconnect, to re-tie ) to shoring up and securing the organisation, church or whatever follows out here on the physical plane. Without competent teachers to assume the spiritual mantle of the originator, the spiritual light within an organised religion gradually wanes. This does not prevent the sincere seeker however, from living what he or she considers to be truth.
If you consider yourself a sincere truth seeker, how can you affirm this nonsense: “The problem with organised religion, or those running most of them, shall we say, is that the attention shifts from the original purpose which is always to offer a way to personal spiritual emancipation, as Christ did, to those that inherit the organisation.
Christ very much created an “organized religion”!
Not only on earth, but even in the Heavens (angelic world).
Please
this “organized religion” bashing is second only to the “Paul created Christianity” as the dumbest anti-Christian canards out there.
I will have to address both of these in the vignettes I think…
That sentence is somewhat jumbled, but you seem to have missed my point. I’m not “organised religion bashing” and if you’d care to step back for a moment, you’d see what I’m saying. Also, whether I am a sincere seeker, or indeed, an insincere seeker, has no bearing whatsoever on that observation.
So here it is again, whether Christ came to create an organised religion or not is entirely irrelevant, b/c the fact remains that the focus in Christianity, at least insofar as those that have been running it in both East or West, has shifted from spiritual to material concerns. This has no bearing on what we have today insofar as “the teachings of Christ” as contained in the New Testament. That stands as a canon of spiritual teachings/wisdom regardless of what has happened in the two thousand years since Jesus walked the earth.
I hope we understand each other, I’m not here to provoke you or anyone else, it’s a simple observation. Christianity is a force for good today in the world, in spite of the atrocities carried out in its name over the centuries, hence its survival and relevance today.
there is a great book about this
Christianity the first 3000 Years
voted one of the best books in the world published I think in 2012
https://www.amazon.ca/Christianity-First-Three-Thousand-Years/dp/0143118692/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BC9A7ZIGDAJM&dchild=1&keywords=christianity+the+first+three+thousand+years&qid=1629652399&sprefix=christisnity+the+fir%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-1
Saker, you forget culture, it is culture that is influencing and creating various strains of religion. Having one global religion means replacing culture with world citizenry. That would be a very boring world to me.
Wrong,
Take Christianity. The real thing, of course: original, early, Patristic Orthodoxy (yeah, the faith “which the Lord gave, was preached by the Apostles, and was preserved by the Fathers. On this was the Church founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is nor any longer ought to be called a Christian” (St. Athanasius)).
It is organizationally composed of independent Churches, many of which are national Churches
It uses any language
It uses any (appropriate) local cultural traditions to enrich and beautify its services
It even adopts something which is mistakenly identified as local “traditions” (small T as opposed to The Tradition, capital T) but which, in reality, are just “localisms”
And in spite of that, ALL ORTHODOX CHURCHES CONFESS THE EXACT SAME FAITH (and if/when they don’t, they are considered “lapsed” by the other Churches and any communion with them is severed).
So no, traditions do not have any impact whatsoever on REAL Christianity
Now with the many fakies out there…..
A short question: do you see a difference between faith, and religion?
Is atheism a religion, or a faith?
It all depends on you, really. These words are almost empty placeholders, like “love”, by the way.
I love God, I love my wife, I love my kids, I love ice-cream and I love Bach all use the same word and all mean totally different things.
So here is my reply:
Any serious discussion of theology ABSOLUTELY MUST have clear and precise definitions to the words used.
This is especially true since a lot of Church Fathers used platonic concepts, but completely redefined them. Alas, the dim-witted translators in the West never figured that one out, hence they accused Church Father of being Neo-Platonists (what crap!).
Short answer: it all depends on a case by case basis. Some atheists are religious in their atheism, others are not. Is atheism a faith? Well, to the degree that any affirmation might be, maybe.
Again – context is crucial.
By themselves all the most important words (beginning with the word “God”) must be very carefully defined.
If not, you inevitably end up with the vapid and frankly illiterate “religious discussions” you see everywhere.
Last thing: imho theology should begin by silence.
Again, my 2cts only
Cheers
Ilya, imho, it does not matter whether one considers him or herself as a member of a religion or as atheist, he or she will make spiritual progress – although an atheist may not use that term so let’s use the word ‘prosper’, instead – according to how much he understands the laws of life, or more specifically, how much he lives by them or not.
There are good and bad students in all walks of life, but those who prosper, are those who live what they know and believe to be true as sincerely as possible. Ie; everyone has some code that they live by. Once we define our own code, we then need to live by it to the best of our ability.
God does not love one Soul above another. All are His children, and all are loved equally. Some of these Laws of Life include the Law of Karma, the Law of Silence, and the greatest of all, the Law of Love. We give our warm love to our loved ones, but charity to the rest. Basically, it means giving unconditional love to all of existence without hesitation. We aim to be fit vehicles for God’s love, and not impose our limited viewpoints on others.
Pursuant to what I’m saying here, both participants in the video interview are vehicles for good in this world.
One – according to their own testimonies – is “a believer” and the other, “a nonbeliever”. I don’t think anyone here would dispute that the Originator of Life ( ok, “God” ), loves one above the other. Nor do their personal beliefs hamper their work in this or the invisible worlds. Both approach their work through powerful inner convictions and this is all anyone can do.
In their strict sense ‘fides’ (faith) and ‘religio’ (religion) are the same. Faith is not ‘belief’
Atheism is a ‘belief’.
Atheism is absence of belief.
The absence of a religion is not a religion.
The absence of something is not that something.
Atheists believe that God does not exist.
I change the definitions a bit: faith is a world view. This is usually metaphysical.
Atheists have a world view, that is metaphysical: “God does not exist”.
This is their belief – they can’t prove it because God is axiomatically beyond observable experience – unverifiable in the here and now.
Atheism however has little religion – any practice to improve a person. Mostly it is ideology – “improve” others, even at gun point.
In classical acception ‘Religio’ means ””scrupulous or strict observance of the traditional cultus”. In classic antiquity, it meant conscientiousness, sense of right, moral obligation, or duty towards anything and was used mostly in secular or mundane contexts”.
Cicero derives the name from re- (again) + lego in the sense of “choose”, “go over again” or “consider carefully”. Also, it is affine to ”ligo”=bind, connect”, re-ligare, i.e. re- (again) + ligare or “to reconnect,” which was made prominent by St. Augustine.
‘Religio’ was understood as an individual virtue of worship in mundane contexts; NEVER as doctrine, belief systems, practice, or actual source of knowledge. It referred to broad social obligations towards anything including family, neighbors, rulers, and even towards God.
It means also “obligation of an oath”, of an oath to “scrupulously observe the traditional cultus”, a military oath, an oath to keep your word, promises, contracts.
‘Faith’ is derived from ‘fides’/pistis=confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. It meant also the obligation to respect an oath, ‘fidelity’. Of course, Christian faith (“the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see”) is trust in the words of Christ and assumed obligation to follow his commandments, obligation assumed at Baptism (‘Πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, Πατέρα, Παντοκράτορα, ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, ὁρατῶν τε πάντων καὶ ἀοράτων… Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem, factórem cæli et terræ, visibílium ómnium et invisibílium…).
The Latin ‘credo’ is more than ‘belief’ (opinion). ‘Credere’ is derived from a IE root *kerd-dhe- literally “to put one’s heart” (source also of Old Irish cretim, Irish creidim, Welsh credu “I believe,” Sanskrit śrad-dhā- “faith, confidence, devotion”), from PIE root *kerd- “heart.”
In fact ‘belief’ bileave, means also “confidence reposed in a person or thing; faith in a religion,” replacing Old English geleafa “belief, faith,” from West Germanic *ga-laubon “to hold dear, esteem, trust” (source also of Old Saxon gilobo, Middle Dutch gelove, Old High German giloubo, German Glaube), from *galaub- “dear, esteemed,” from intensive prefix *ga- + PIE root *leubh- “to care, desire, love.”
‘World views’ are the domain of ‘philosophia’ and ‘theologia’.
Atheism is the deliberate ‘mistrust’ of the words of Christ, the determination to not respect the obligations of ‘religion’. It might derive also from a misunderstanding of ‘via negativa’ of theology (apophatism).
Congratulations Saker on your opportunity to speak with a celebrity that is not in the bag, so to speak. It was treat to listen to the both of you. Молодцы!
Спасибо за добрые слова!
What a gorgeous intro – already have tears in my eyes.
Thanks Andrei and Roger
What a treasure
what a fantastic interview – he was able to engage fully within himself – thanks Andrei.
Dear Ann, you are quite welcome and all the Glory be to God for all things!
I just want to throw in a “ditto.” Wonderful interview, nice to see you in person, and as for Roger – yeah, he needs to be cloned. We need more people like him. I’d like to see more interviews like this in the future. Especially in these contentious times. Thank you. Well done!
Very interesting interview. Saker is surprisingly good interviewer – two autocrats seemed to understand each other well.
Good try.
I only will say this: ANYTHING I might have in common with Roger is an honor for me.
Cheers
The Saker
In art, I always preferred the word ‘perfectionist’ instead of ‘autocrat’, as for the Pink Floyd’s final product, the winner is the public.
Thank you for this interview, two great people on my computer screen.
Roger is no autocrat at all, that is utter nonsense. But here is what he is:
1. A genius
2. A very experienced artist
3. A perfectionist
Nothing wrong in that list (it also describes Bach, by the way).
Oh, and, yes, he probably is also what one might call a “hierarchist” meaning that when he is in charge, he is in charge and he expects those working with him to do as he says. Remember, in classical music a the person leading the orchestra is called a “director” and not “our pal up front with the little stick”.
The ultimate example of Roger’s maniacal perfectionism (that is a compliment in my mouth) is his Amused to Death. Yeah, it took years to be finalized and released. But look at the result!!!
Here is the truth: authority/hierarchy work. “Equality” does not.
My 2cts, of course, YMMV
Cheers
Thank you, Saker, and Roger Waters for sharing this. Yes, i am from the same generation, and i love his music…it has a special attachment to my heart. It has *conscience* and *human feeling*. I thoroughly enjoyed this special blog entry. Thank you.
First, a great interview. It is packed so densely with important thoughts and content that it seems an hour in duration.
Second, well done, Saker. Very well done. Prepared and executed so professionally.
Third, for eight years I have urged you to do Video, Radio, live chat. This proves I was right. You are excellent being yourself. And you show a depth beyond what your writings show.
Roger is a blessing, a great human being, an unelected official for the voiceless, a heroic rebel with cause.
This is an important piece of history, for music and for human rights. Very well done, Saker.
Thank you Larch445!
Yes, I went through A LOT of efforts to try to make this look halfway decent, as you know, the only interview I ever did before was with Sheikh Imran Hosein. They both are wonderful, shining, human beings, but I will tell you that is A LOT harder to interview somebody whom you have admired since at 11 and somebody you discovered well into your 50th.
I did my best to try hide it. But, yes, I was very intimidated and emotional during the entire interview :-)
But Roger really made me feel welcome, and that made that interview simply wonderful for me.
Cheers!
Just an update on the Tech corporations.
They are pretty much all in Liberal bastions. They are intercepting political messages they disagree with, ones that got Trump into the Whitehouse, and destroying them. Political messages they agree with are allowed to exist even if illegal.
Political messages they disagree with are disintegrated even when legal.
People are ultimate fact checkers not privately owned corporations (including Foreign) who have inherent bias.
For private corporations to censor political speech they disagree with is an anittrust issue as they are all doing it at the same time. Without a criminal reason. (Which is clearly not allowed under the constitution as no law can exist that prohibs freedom of speech)
These private corporations have illegally extended their own mandate into acting as ‘fact’ interlocurs.
US constitution clearly states that only government decides truth. Only the legal system of the US administration, the legislative can determine veracity.
No corporation can say I am deciding veracity. It does not have a legal mandate to do so by the constitution. And the legislative itself cannot pass any laws that allow censorship.
What the corporations are doing is when examined hyper political and trying to assume authority for something they have none over.
Imagine if you ordered some thing from a bar and because of your political views (not criminal ones) you were denied access or simply ignored. Or your order taken but never provided. While your political opponent is first to get a drink.
Censoring viewpoints they politically disagree with. In the name of honesty.
yeah he really warmed up to you Andrei, he was so engaged and loving the conversation. He seemed a bit shy too at the beginning but is a master of himself and made it all okay immediately
Just felt that wonderful burst of youthful excitement. Wide eyed and giddy! Can’t wait to watch this wonderful gift. Two of the people I respect most, sharing precious dialogue.
Thank you for your kind words and, yes, I was wide eyed and giddy :-)
Amazing and unique. This is what Rock n’ Roll journalism should have been doing for the last forty years. If you want a honest glimpse behind the scenes of what it means to be a professional musician from the old days to now, here it is. A modern glimpse into the miracle of rock music in England in the 60’s and 70’s; on that tiny island where everyone knows each other, and sessions can be handled in a day with a phone call to Clapton or McCartney or Townsend, all the way to getting Hipgnosis to work on the record sleeve! I’ve never seen an interview with one of the heavies of rock music like this, this is what “music journalism” should have been from the get-go, a bit of reality! The music world has always been about people working together, the “hype” and glamour were incidental, and in the end, pointless.
And then, in the middle, Andrei shines a light on the bigger picture, and we somehow end up with the last five minutes, which is the most funny and optimistic hope for better things I’ve seen in a long while.
This is golden. Congratulations for a job well done!
Thanks my friend and fellow guitarist!
Hugs
The Saker
Yes it is quite a controversial subject and I wholly disagree. The last I liked them was Umma Gumma. I didn’t buy the commercial like Back Side of the Moon, although everyone loves it, David Werner and able mixing of Bob Clearmountain deserve, if not the lion’s share then a large part of the credit.
Nick Mason produced the first ever punk singles in the UK for one of the most fantastic bands on the planet, the Damned. Before the Clash or Sex Pistols.
The only real cult figure I see is Syd. No explanation needed. Too bad the band treated him so shabbily all those years. They never came to see him. He visited the studio once and they were generally disinterested. He lived in a tool shed in his parents backyard until he died. Floyd have made millions off the records Syd was on and the incredible interest still generated by Syd today. Everything after Backside, including it, is just commercial for the punters. That said, I still love them.
https://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-saucer-full-of-bath-water-heroin.html
Yes it is quite a controversial subject and I wholly disagree.
No problem, to each his/her own :-)
Syd was super talented, but he was also very sick, so he burned up early, which is really sad!
But Syd never wrote anything even nearly comparable to what you think of as “commercial” albums.
To these albums (DSOM, WYWH, the Wall) are all perfect in their own way, yes, and fantastically polished, but they were most definitely not “commercial”. Sure, they sold millions, but that was a side-effect of their honesty and power. Syd never reached that level, sorry.
At least this is my strictly personal opinion (and played most PF/RW songs at one time or another, so I worked through them).
Kind regards
Me too. You make wonderful points. I do agree Syd wrote nothing comparable to, actually I would go so far as to say, anything after he checked out of the band. Calling him sick is totally generous…….the thing with the mandrax on his head did him in. I bought Saucerful when I was 11 so we have that generational difference. My intent by way of reply is not to mince words with you but to congratulate you on a marvelous, marvelous, masterful interview. I’m stunned….not that I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you but because so many rock journos….(Most rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read. – Frank Zappa)…work for decades and couldn’t do what you’ve done! Kudos and hats off to Harper laddie. May I carry you piece on my blog…..all credit to you of course? Like you treat others.
Never understood the worship of Syd Barrett in the least. Certainly appeared to be an enigmatic/eccentric figure in his youth, but how many of those types have we known? The music? Meh… David Gilmour made the Floyd commercially palatable (at the very least!); and no apologies, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Waters was without a doubt the driving moral, lyrical, and philosophical force of the band post-Barrett, although I think he tended to be a bit too morose and obscure for the times, as the 70’s turned into the 80’s, whether his message was relevant or not. It’s a shame that the band split so acrimoniously after The Final Cut, but then again, there was a whole lot of that going around in those days. For me, Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were both simply sublime and were the standards of the era. So much so that they exist in a separate class all their own. If that makes me merely “commercial,” then so be it. Animals began the barely perceptible slide, while The Wall, although great at times, was ponderous and a bit pretentious at a time when rock music was finally shaking off all that. Being stationed in Hawaii at the time, I remember it being the perfect accompaniment to an evening of “the kind, bud haze,” though.
“David Gilmour made the Floyd commercially palatable” is an astounding original comment and a great notion. Not to reduce your comment to mere fandom speculation but everyone had their favorite Beatle for example. Most may not have known why. You clearly do even if you arrived at your conclusions at Little Beach while Zep hung there for a couple of weeks. I didn’t much care for the Wall either but I wonder, you know, what would have happened if the Pistols had done it, or the Stooges. It could have been the same songs with a wallop and no one would. I liked Animals and Atom Heart Mother and the film soundtrack whose name eludes me. When I go back into a Floyd mode I’ll listen a bit more to Gilmour’s input. I do not dispute anything, in fact wholly endorse everything re: Roger’s valiant stance, with all of us, against the machine. Lastly Syd worship comes down to, for me anyway, that distinction between the Pink Floyd Blues Band and the Mod movement which the guys clearly went through. Syd, in a way, was Floyd’s Davie Jones (of the Monkees). Through Mod to psychedelia Syd was it. Hope and change was blindsided and black jacked to near death and left to die in an alley behind some club back then and Syd was one of the casualties. The corporate world would have never tolerated Syd, as he didn’t them. Money addresses that corporate world, subsumes it and becomes it. I think that may have been part of the split. For years, behind my apartment in Hollywood, the Pink Floyd pig flew from the stylus atop the Capitol Records building. It was always fun to sit and see that. A different world.
Okay,let’s not make this about who was the bigger genius!
Please!
Not at all. I think they were both (Waters and Gilmour) great. As I said, sad to see them split the way they did.
maybe you mean the soundtrack of MORE
Alan Parsons produced Dark Side of the Moon, and Chris Thomas mixed it. Thomas is well known for his classics of studio craft and production, which include well-known punk (Pistols, Pretenders (3 albums), and Badfinger’s “Wish you Were Here” — a pre-punk masterpiece from 1974) and a boatload of engineering Abbey Road stuff since the “White Album”. “Dark Side” is a culmination of ten years of UK rock musical craft, from songs to engineering, no matter how you slice it.
Alan Parsons produced Dark Side of the Moon
REALLY?!?!!? I had no idea…
I have a confession to make: I always thought of Alan Parsons Project like a “wannabe Pink Floyd” (along with a few other groups which I am sure you know). Thus, I never had the time to really sit down and listen to his stuff (well, I heard some of it, like everybody, but I was not really *listening* the way I was listening to Roger Waters.
Can you recommend some good Alan Parsons recordings?
I was not precise there — Parsons was “behind the glass” and chief engineer. Pink Floyd were the producers, of course, since the early days, but in those days Abbey Road were loathe to let most people do it all without someone there, I assume on staff.
“Production” is a slippery term. It can mean anything from a guy in a chair saying that’s the take, to the full-on control Jimmy Page had with Led Zeppelin. Nevertheless, even with Zeppelin, the engineers like Andy Johns and so forth were important. So no, Pink Floyd produced, Parsons was behind the glass.
I look at, looked at Alan Parsons Project the same way you did… he got his reputation from DSOTM, for sure. Can’t recommend an album, but I do like the song “You Can’t Take it With You”… I don’t know the other stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiRIYPmvlqw
Nothing to do with Pink Floyd, really… just good pop music (which is snow in the Sahara these days)
Thanks!
Yes, Saker
I can recommend Alan Parsons Project,
Pyramid album from 1978.
Great album.
Srbin iz Bosne.
No, Alan engineered it. Along with Bob C. Producers of The Dark Side of the Moon
Keith Walley
Keith Walley
D.J. Webster
Paul White
Personnel
Mary Fahl – vocals, arrangements
Mark Doyle – producer, instrumentation
David Werner – producer
Bob Clearmountain – mixing
https://www.bing.com/search?q=who+produced+dark+side+of+the+moon&cvid=63ffa0ecc9da4eaa8cd24bcef3eafe3f&aqs=edge..69i57.8372j0j1&pglt=43&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=U531
Parsons was also on Abbey Road!!! Love the dude. My STEM kid is bananas over I, Robot. Here’s the Wikilink too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Parsons
Your link goes to a 2006 or 2011 re-mix/re-release. I have no idea what these credits are for, they look dubious.
I was talking about the original album from 1973. Which is accurately referenced here:
https://www.discogs.com/Pink-Floyd-The-Dark-Side-Of-The-Moon/release/1873013
I have the old vinyl, the credits are right there on the inner sleeve.
I forgot Peter James as assistant engineer.
Chris Thomas mixed the original, there’s no doubt about that.
The remix I can find is by Andy Jackson in 2011 on the “Immersion” set. I don’t see how you tie Clearmountain into this, maybe he did a re-mix 40 years later?
Clearmountain’s wiki has him starting at Media Sound in New York, then Power Station.
No mention of DSOTM in the wiki. He did mix work on “Let’s Dance” by Bowie, Stones “Tattoo You”, Brian Adams, which is a different time period, ten-odd years later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Clearmountain
Saker, what a gem, moving my old heart like a child’s one. I’m one year older that Roger and he moved me in the late sixties together with those geniuses, who died in the age of 27.
You asked Roger, what it is, strengthening his hope and optimism. This is a question to everyone of us to share in love of your vineyard, which is one reason, a peace of new continent avoiding one to despair, but to thrive in gratitude for all the light coming from the east and the blessing, that obviously is resting on a more mature organization of human things.
Heartfelt thank you, Saker and to your guest,
cheers, mundo
Dear Mundo
You need to thank my wonderful correspondent “J” who made my dream come true.
And, of course, to Roger for his kindness and for being himself :-)
Kind regards,
The Saker
Still rubbing my eyes, Thank you God for these two people
Thanks for this…
Dear Andrei,
Exhilarating, all together.
53 years and still going full steam.
Много хвала.
Жељко из Крајине
Yandex translation. Mod:
Thank you very much.
Zeljko from Krajina
The Saker never ceases to amaze!!! …And Roger, hm, Roger is a living legend whose integrity is rock solid (no pun intended). He decided to stay human when most of his colleagues became satanists and prostrate themselves for a fistful of silver…cough…Bono….cough
Thank you both.
Well, what a surprise! I certainly never expected this. I have to be honest, I didn’t listen to Pink Floyd when I was a kid. I heard them (and liked them enough not to change the radio station but never bought the albums) and thought to myself ” Oh this is a bit complicated”. So I waited consciously until I got older (I stopped myself from buying The Dark Side of the Moon at the age of 19 because I felt that I wasn’t ready yet)) and only heard the Dark Side of The Moon at the age of 35 or so and was, of course, blown away. I am glad I waited to a mature age to fully appreciate it. I did listen to his solo “Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” at the age of 20 and had the vinyl album and loved it. Later, of course, I got the DVD of the Pompeii recordings. And when I discovered his activism I was firmly a fan.
As for you dear Saker, I knew you were a good sort and you just proved it to me by writing this: “yes, I know, Waters is not religious. But may I suggest that he is not religious for all the RIGHT reasons – think of the kind of pseudo-Christianity he has been exposed to since his birth. Water’s secularism is nothing but a form of honesty which rejects all the hypocrisy so many bigots love to wrap themselves in! I would argue that there are *many* atheists for the right reasons out there just as there are deeply religious people for the wrong reasons out there too”
Thank you Saker!
Thank you Dusan, for your kind words!
As for my views on my so many people in the West are disgusted by religion, I meant every word of it.
Good thing that the criteria “truth” and “size/popularity” don’t overlap!
The Church of Christ is today as glorious as at the height of the Eastern Roman Empire.
It just got much, much smaller, but it remains one amongst several forms of His Incarnation.
But absent this, anybody looking at “modern Christianity” (I call it post-Patristic or even non-Patristic pseudo Christianity) will see the same, sad, picture: a dead religion, choking in hypocrisy and abject submission to the power that be with the powers that be.
I always felt that if I was not an Orthodox Christian, I would become a rather militant atheist myself….
(imagine that!)
:-)
it’s all true!
cheers
I totally understand! I feel the same way.
Thanks again for this great interview. As someone here said, you did a better job than most, if not all, “professional” music journalist. I believe Roger feels the same.
Well, this teared me up. Probably mostly because of the man’s simple, shining honesty. And Dark Side of the Moon fused with my DNA as a young teenager.
I breathed an audible sigh when you mentioned the eclipse of the peace movement. Nobody talks about this but, for me, it is one of the great tragedies of the last two decades. Maybe 9/11 and Bush’s immediate challenge “You’re either with us or you’re against us” was the mousetrap springing shut. Where I live, the Green movement began not with environmentalism but with nuclear disarmament activism. Sadly, the Greens seem to have forgotten this. On the other hand, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. So perhaps there is room for some hope.
Anyway, brilliant interviews always consist in the interviewer saying really very little and yet the interviewee is somehow immediately fully engaged and animated. This is what happened with your interview, so congratulations and thanks so much. A mesmerising half-hour in the company of a great human being.
Well, this teared me up. Probably mostly because of the man’s simple, shining honesty. And Dark Side of the Moon fused with my DNA as a young teenager.
Same exact here.
And
“Each small candle lights a corner of the dark”
“the eclipse of the peace movement. Nobody talks about this but, for me, it is one of the great tragedies of the last two decades.”
I couldn’t agree more. Remember the anti-Iraq-War marches in 2002-3? There were a lot of us out there, there were millions on the streets of the big cities. I recorded it to a VHS tape and still have the footage, somehow I had a feeling that wouldn’t be shown again, it was barely shown at all.
And then one day it seemed like Anti-War was no longer welcome in the so-called “Left”. It was made obvious under Obama. And Ron Paul, anti-war, wasn’t welcome on the “Right” either. Ron Paul and Kucinich were the kind of anti-war candidates you just don’t see anymore in this country. Cynthia McKinney too. They were all ridiculed and harassed and marginalized, driven out completely.
But Roger Waters can’t be the only old Rocker still flying the peace flag… maybe he’s just the bravest. I’ll bet there’s more than just him who’s still anti-war. It’s interesting, the “social media” has made opinions and thought seem so homogenized, but maybe they aren’t. The unison of MSM opinion is a the grand illusion, which may finally start to break a bit during the current madness… we can only have room for hope, as you say.
(the interview is a candle, and so was your post, thank you!)
But Roger Waters can’t be the only old Rocker still flying the peace flag
If not, PLEASE name others.
Yes, RAM has some very good political stuff, the rapper Paris has one awesome album, there is David Rovics, Shadia Mansour and, in a very different style, Gilad Atzmon. But none of them are “old rockers”.
The old ones are either dead or sold out.
If I am wrong, make me really happy, and give me a counter-example!
Yes I remember protesting in LA close to UCLA where I studied. In front of Federal Building on Wilshire.
Not a very big crowd, but in SF they closed Golden Gate bridge I think – thousands of protesters.
I went to a protest on Venice Beach one weekend – it was surprisingly small – maybe 50-100 of us.
Then the guitar player of Guns’n’Roses Slash and a few others started playing live music – old songs like that Stop Children Look Both Sides etc. They played for half an hour or so – it was great
Re: Two Suns in the Sunset
My wife and I walk every noon and early evening in a park in our small town that has at one end an enclosed playground for toddlers. One of our greatest joys is seeing the young, beautiful mothers and their strong protective husbands, playing with their children there. Our town is a town full of young people and families of four and more children are not uncommon. When I listened to this song, I am ashamed of how far from the holy we have fallen. I wept.
As I said, I often tear up when I listen to Roger, especially his later albums (from “The Final Cut” to “Is This The Life We Really Want” – but the best of them all, so far, is the infinitely *perfect* “Amused to Death”. The first time I heard that album I wept for the full duration of it.
Of course, our tears are a mix of pain and joy, each time.
And if that is not pure artistic (music and lyrics) genius, I don’t know what is :-)
Thank you
Andrei >>>Roger & I share Sept 6, our Birthdays! Pink Floyd Music changed my consciousness in 1960s, and Jimi Hendrix too, who was from
Seattle where I now live just across the Water lol .. I’ve sent Roger messages from time to time to be more careful … sent via RT >>> I’m communicating with Jere VanDyk, went to HS with him, both Roger & Jere older than I by a few years … see email to you, about my communication with Jere
He (Jere) is an important connection, look him up, New York is where he works and NY Times a connection, I’ll send his website in email BRAVO TO YOU My Young Friend!
NICE!!!
And, of course, Jimmy Hendrix was another huge musical genius: he actually managed to play the guitar completely “wrong” (as if that concept made sense to begin with) and yet no guitarist (that I know of) ever managed to convey the raw power of Hendrix’ music?
My all time favorite Hendrix recording: “Machine Gun” live, on “Band of Gypsies”
(though I have now been playing guitar for now four decades or so, I never even *tried* anything remotely resembling Hendrix because I knew that it was futile. AS a teenager, I of course did try (hard) to imitate Page and McLaughlin (amongst a few others, including my favorite guitarist ever, Philip Catherine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Catherine and http://www.philipcatherine.com/)
Any decent guitarist can learn how to play like, say, Jimmy Page or even like John McLaughlin (much harder, but still doable). Yes, that is a lot of work, but if you pick and chose the “not quite the hardest” compositions, there are A LOT of guitarists out there who can play Page and McLaughlin compositions, some very well.
But trying to even “sound like Hendrix”? Never :-)
I miss him and his thermonuclear vital energy, he was also one of a kind.
Cheers
The Saker
John, in an interview I saw recently, stated that Jimi couldn’t be compared to John Coltrane in terms of his ‘understanding of music’, but could be compared in terms of raw power and energy. I can’t remember his exact words, but I believe this was the gist of his statement.
In a first hand account of Hendrix, recently departed Australian musician and poet, Daevid Allen – who met and befriended Jimi in 1966 or ’67, ( Daevid was a founding member of Soft Machine, and shared Chas Chandler as manager along with The Experience ) credited Jimi with advising him that in order to succeed as an artist, he needed only to follow his muse, advice which Daevid from that moment on took to heart and went on to form “underground band”, Gong which became an outfit that lasted until Daevid’s death in 2015.
Daevid had been having a meltdown in the toilets, not being able to provide whatever it was the band required of him, and Jimi walked in to relieve himself, just as Daevid had smashed his guitar to pieces. Daevid took Jimi’s advice to heart and never looked back. I believe The Experience were recording “Are You Experienced?”
at the time.
John, in an interview I saw recently, stated that Jimi couldn’t be compared to John Coltrane in terms of his ‘understanding of music’, but could be compared in terms of raw power and energy.
Interesting and original comparison, and I very much agree with the conclusion.
While there are many brilliant Hendrix performances, such as the Royal Albert Hall live version of Little Wing, ’69, among others, I also consider his New Year’s Eve, ’70, performance of “Machine Gun” with Band of Gypsies, to stand above everything else. It’s definitely on a par with Coltrane, as he entirely transcends ‘being a man on electric guitar playing a song’, it’s an almost eerie performance that transports one away to a realm of pure experience. None of the other extant performances of Machine Gun quite reach that place that night at the Fillmore. There are some muddy clips of the performance here and there, with Jimi standing there motionless, with eyes closed and that incredible wail is pouring out of him like some holy manna from God.
It was one of those moments that set me on my own course through life toward being an artist, hence my story that Daevid shared with me. I felt that if Jimi was able to do it, then we all have that same potential within us to create the same effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvv–UkFfV8
Here’s a snippet of the performance, unfortunately only 1:32 mins. of it. Prepare for lift-off just before the 0:50 mark.
YES!!!!
That is the one
My God this guy could play like no human has ever since…
Wow!
Listening to an interview with Roger Waters right after tapping a comment on Pepe’s article.
May I humbly say you have outdone yourself the Saker. Bravo, bravo and bravo.
Gotta do some work (it’s morning in my neck of the woods) but I’ll be listening to RW’s ‘Bravery’ today — it has remained relevant all these years to me, a powerful commentary on the Empire’s wars and the despicable cowards hiding behind the cannon fodder while profiting from all the death, destruction and misery wrought upon the sovereign peoples of the world.
Yes, people like Pepe and Roger really rock (pun indented)
If you have not already done so,
Get Roger’s masterpiece “Amused to Death”, listen to alone, in a dark room, with high-quality headphones.
Last, but not least, do not stop. Try is in “one shot”.
For me, it was a life changing experience for sure.
YMMV of course
Best
The Saker
Thanks for your kind reply The Saker. Yes, ‘Amused’ is another powerful song though to be honest when I first heard it when I was younger it didn’t really hit me — I was also listening to Zappa, Oldfield, Yes, etc. Later on, I understood it as Roger’s commentary on our increasing consumerism, intellectual laziness and subsequent penchant to trivialise things, to not think too much about ugly things to the extent that even war — the ‘primal violence and hate’ in one of Clausewitz’s Trinity — became inconsequential to those not directly involved or affected by it. People have become ‘zombified.’ Perhaps the cowards and moral bankrupts in the political class understand that better than we them credit for.
Thanks again for this interview Saker. Really made my day.
Cheers.
Thanks for sharing one of your sources of inspiration dear Saker, it was a moving conversation.
I was a teen in the 80s when I first heard Pink Floyd being played by friends. I thought it was too much out there (too esoteric), preferring faster & less complicated beats at the time (disco/funk/cheesy pop) and currently classical/religious.
In essence, your showing appreciation and thanks for work and efforts of Roger Waters is thanks and gratitude to the Lord Himself.
Our most precious resource is another human who inspires – towards the good and/or away from the dark. His/her background and work is really less important, as long as you can see the key lessons for you at that moment in need.
Thank you Saker and Roger Waters, well done!
The two included songs are quite lovely!
For those interested in Alan Parsons’ career, try this
https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/alan-parsons/
This was a wonderful interview that brought me to tears. The music is of course for some of us just solidly a part of DNA and makes up our past. But what struck me, is the two men and their authenticity .. there was a tone of deep and coherent emotion, spiced with knowledge and ringing a bell of something that is very real. That is such a joy to have a taste of while we are in an unreal world. Yes Scotty, don’t beam me up yet, there still is intelligent life down here :-)
Truly Well Done The Saker! And Roger for letting it all hang out, for the rest of us to know a small slice of you as you are, to enjoy and take hope from.
Peace, Love, and Rock ‘n Roll!
What a brilliant interview Saker!
How encouraging to to see such a talented musician like Roger Waters challenging the status quo (Especially when so many others have embraced it… Fake humanitarian Bono comes to mind…).
I actually looked up the Steve Donziger case which he mentions towards the the end of the interview. Donziger was a lawyer representing 30,000 Ecuadoreans who are suing Chevron for environmental damage. He is now being railroaded by the US legal system.
So violence/ war/ humanitarian interventions are used against people collectively, and legal persecution
Is used to silence individuals ( eg Julian Assange, Donziger etc)…
I hope true justice prevails. Those who are supported by Roger Waters are lucky to have him in their corner.
The wonderful Strange Brew podcast’s tribute to Pink Floyd:
https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/the-pink-floyd-sound/
Dear Saker, Congratulations on a great interview – I think the respect and admiration went both ways!
We all need good, clear voices, and music, as one of the strongest of the arts, is a most powerful force for keeping in touch with our true, human humanness, and all aspects of love, talk & freedom!
Keep up the great work. K
Don’t worry Saker.
These songs are prayers if I ever heard one…
Actually, you are absolutely correct. Prayer is not recitation. It can *begin* by the recitation of previously written and widely accepted prayers, but in reality prayer is more a state of being. One monastic told one once “Andrei – you can pray no matter what you are doing, even if you are not reciting words”.
In reality, this is much MUCH more complex, but I was struck by how insightful your observation was.
I could make a long list of his compositions which are very much prayerful, even if many fail to see that.
Look, Rogers is, in reality, of course very religious! But his religion is called “kindness, compassion, defense of the weak, speak the truth, denounce evil in all its manifestations, etc. etc. etc.”.
And to that religion he is faithful. What else can one expect from him?
Kind regards and thanks again for a very insightful comment!
He even talks of singing/preaching to the choir and cites the barefoot priest, who says (almost an echo of the magnificat):
Tears like falling rain slake the thirst and douse the flames
And cooling in the crucible an idea forms
a nugget of belief in the hearts of the poor
that maybe in the dawn’s new light They have a right to the law
—–
I always liked the anecdote of the World Council of Churches dignitary on a visit to an Armenian church, asks of the priest what prayer the old woman there is reciting. The priests listens, and confesses: She is reciting the alphabet! Intrigued, they inquire why she is reciting the alphabet. She replies, I do not know what to pray so I give Him the letters to make a prayer for me.
That second video, “Two Suns”, is easily (IMO) the equal or superior to some of the “studio albums”. I think they should do a vinyl pressing of this stuff.
And to think they did all this sending ,wav files back and forth to each other…
Ten years ago file sharing was generating all kinds of ridiculous ideas from b/s-ers in the biz that never happened (“wow, man, your audience will be able to re-mix your songs, how cool is that”, etc.).
I never heard it said that the process might be used, out of necessity (Covid “lockdown”) to get recordings back to the basics: focusing on the songs, the emotions, the takes.
The tune is the complete opposite of most mainstream modern recordings, almost no gimmicks of pitch correction and ridiculous editing and compressing the thing to hell and back. If you hear it with no reference it could be from any era since the 70’s.
I really had to put it through decent speakers and turn off the screen to hear what a great recording it is.
That second video, “Two Suns”, is easily (IMO) the equal or superior to some of the “studio albums”. I think they should do a vinyl pressing of this stuff.
I agree. I always thought that Waters’ masterpiece was “Amused to Death” which was, in my opinion, *perfect* in every imaginable way. I saw ATD as both Waters’ magnum opus and his most important legacy. Now I am not so sure anymore. Those lockdown sessions might not have been recorded on the most expensive and advanced gear on the planet, but they do have their own “perfection”, no?
And then there is Lucius. These two deserve a full article by themselves. I am AWED by their voices and the combo of them with Waters is even superior to his gigs with giants like Clapton or Beck (not singers, but this also applies).
So to be very honest, I think that his Lockdown recordings might well be his best ever!!!
Hard to imagine, but I think I can make a strong case.
Also
Have you heard his cover of John Prime’s “Hello in There: with Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig in backing?
Check out THAT masterpiece: https://youtu.be/PgFzRnyWXr8 !!
How can anybody not love this?!
Cheers
What a wonderful cover! “Hello in There” is a song that has a strange resonance, post-2020, that it didn’t have for me before. John Prine wrote that song when he was, what, 20 years old? Incredible. Thanks for the link!
Roger Waters is one of my personal heroes. I love the Saker blog, but I never imagined I would see the two of them face to face. Thanks Saker for this.
Roger, if I never get to meet you in person, see you on the dark side of the moon my friend
The irony for me is that the timeless, ethereal music of an atheist, and the inherent goodness in the man is as much proof of the existence of God as one is ever likely to get. May God bless him and keep him. This world is much in need of people like him….
Very true.
But it’s not just Waters or other truly good people, you can see God in anything truly beautiful, truly kind and truly true. The word “god” has been so discredited in the West, and not to mention completely misunderstood too, so I prefer to speak of Him in non-sullied metaphors when I speak with agnostics…
But the, so did Saint Paul at the Areopagus, so there is a good precedent for doing so :-)
Kind regards
Parabéns Andrei pela entevista com Roger Waters. Pink Floyd influenciou minha juventude mas fui descobrir um pouco mais tarde quem era de fato Roger. P,ara surpresa minha muito do que sou está alinhado ao que ele escreve e demonstra em ações. Ao recebermos ele no Brasil, ficou evidente em seus shows seu posicionamento assertivo e coerente sobre política e humanidade. Amo você Andrei e Roger, o mundo sem vocês será muito triste!
Yandex translation. Mod:
Congratulations Andrei on the entevista with Roger Waters. Pink Floyd influenced my youth but I went to find out a little later Who Roger really was. Q, to my surprise much of what I am is aligned with what he writes and demonstrates in actions. Upon receiving him in Brazil, his assertive and coherent stance on politics and humanity was evident in his shows. Love you Andrei and Roger, the world without you will be very sad!
Surprisingly, YouBeCensoredTube did not delete the video; at least it hasn’t so far. I was able to watch Waters and the Saker.
No worries, I got the video also uploaded on several Russian websites.
I also have backups, lot’s of them. So no worries
The Saker
However, DishonestTube is probably grossly undercounting the number of views. The count was 1821 when I started watching. After I finished watching the entire thing and refreshed the page, the count was still exactly 1821. Hmmm…
The comments on that page were also turned off. Figures.
By the way, Roger Waters was wonderful, amusing and forthcoming. The Saker asked good questions too. A half hour very well spent.
Seen the end of the video in retrospect, it features a fired up Roger Waters,
if it were my blog and my guest and noticing the way of Roger responds very different to political questions than the rock star standard ones (replies signaling disintrest as : it was in I guess .. a building..)
In the virtual next time I’d asked deeper for idea’s of the day on the “lockdown” in “lockdown sessions”.
Some of the “information” on LED panels in the heart of Europe near the ” one and only remedy centers” resemble scenes straight out of “the Wall”: everything Roger tried to warn against.
Question Authority I grew up with <- MIA or only very selective.
Maybe I should within my capabilities ask Palestinians for their insights on the US vs Them style apartheid main stream media is helping to create on street level and that trickles through in this very blog.
Really great to see that Roger Waters is supporting where it really truly matters.
In the shadow of the mighty Chevron he IS that small candle in the dark.
And every true dark is mightily disturbed by the smallest candle. In labs they can wake up humans by the slightest light change in light intensity or just by touching the eye area by tiny light beam.
For those, I suppose most readers here, that support Steven Donziger: It just happened that earlier this week I had listened to to the Critical Hour (Sputnik) where Greg Palast gave an update /summary on the case of Steven Donziger
Spotify , go to around 43:30 in:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uXZmiAWqcVUDVpmxtW5t8?si=HZSdb45TQa-ZFYPkNKOOng&t=2606&dl_branch=1
Or Apple podcast. I am sure podcast listeners will find their way also on alternative platforms.
https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/the-critical-hour/id1458753058?i=1000532215316
Or the website of Greg Palast.
https://www.gregpalast.com/
Thanks Andrei and Roger!
That was a real treat. A transformative experience in my life was seeing The Wall live concert in Los Angeles when I was 11 years old, which really blew me away and made a lifelong fan of Roger’s music (and opera in general).
That concert made me question a lot of things about my safely protestant American upbringing.
Lovely to see it come full circle with you two talking. You are an excellent interviewer with a voice very pleasant to listen to, so any more of these would be most welcome!
Hi Saker,
I really enjoyed the interview with Roger! Both of you really hit it off. It is unusual for a person in his position to take principle stands at strong personal cost. Same comment for you!
I was not really all that familiar with the Amused to Death recording but very cool that my favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck, played on several tracks.
Thanks much!
Bill O.
Hi Bill, you like Jeff Beck, you HAVE to get that record or, at least, listen to it once. Beck is incredible on that album, his guitar howls and weeps, it is amazing, I promise.
The Saker
i enjoyed your fanboy look trough out the intervju😁
i get why tho…
35 well spent minutes of my life, thnx.
Not many living heroes in our midst in our western world who is more esteemed, and in balance than dear Roger. No one is capable of remaining in the center unless they have already circumnavigated all the other perspectives, and we have two on the same screen. Bless you Roger, and Andrei for this, -one eyed oracle
I’ve been following Mr. Waters’ activist work for a few months now, and I’ve been reading Saker’s blog for about 5-6 years. To see you both together felt so… reassuring. That’s the word: reassuring.
I respect you both. I *adore* Mr. Waters ever since he refused to promote White Helmets. What he then said, so simple and true… He left me speechless – and made me listen to Pink Floyd! (Imagine the route to getting there! He’d certainly find it to be at least “a laugh”, considering his split with the rest of the band.) Both your commitment to humanity’s future is admirable and all I can add to this video: just keep it on! Saker, go on and analyze – and interview! – and Mr. Waters, go gather millions around you. You are a true inspiration!
You are both, as V. Prashad suggested in one of his recent interviews with Mr. Waters, indeed creating “the quire” to preach to, one that will be able to save itself, and not “march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream” through this bloody valley of steel we live in.
To quote a genius: “Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?”
Truth and love to all. Cheers.
OT but I’m curious: What’s the flag in Saker’s background (front-page link to this article)?
the Flag of Novorussia, like this one:
https://www.megaflag.ru/sites/default/files/images/shop/products/flag_novorossii_gerb.jpg
The Saker
Got it–thanks for responding!
Anytime!