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| September 18, 2006 |
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An Open Letter to Roger Waters...
Bumped, added DVD links
This morning, I read on the Drudge Report that Roger Waters (formerly of Pink Floyd) is sounding off about our upcoming elections as a part of his current tour:
BUSH BASHING PIG HITS MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Sun Sep 17 2006 18:53:38 ET
ROGER WATERS [PINK FLOYD] CONCERT TOUR HITS NORTH AMERICA AND NYC WITH FLYING PIGS, URGING DEM VOTES IN ELECTION, 'IMPEACH BUSH' WRITTEN ON REAR OF PIG FLOATING OVER AUDIENCE... One concertgoer writes: 'Seeing Bush's name written across the pig's arse made me howl'... The pig had graffiti. 'New Yorkers/Don't be led to the slaughter/Vote November 7'... another attendee played off the hit 'Another Brick in the Wall': ''We don't need no thought control,' even from Mr. Waters'...
I was a Pink Floyd fan in my youth, and as such, I feel compelled to write an open letter to Mr. Waters.
I will readily admit that the foregoing letter at times commits the logical fallacy of making ad hominem statements. So be it. Let's just say, since I was a fan of Pink Floyd as a teenager, that I have temporarily regressed for the purposes of this letter, which reads...
Dear Roger Waters,
When I was younger, I really enjoyed Pink Floyd...a lot. There were entire albums whose every word, every note, every harmonic and string noise were familiar to me.
But even then, if asked about my feelings towards the individual members of the band, I would respond that it was Gilmour, Wright, and Mason that I really liked.
The primary reason was because I had heard that you were the cause of the band's breakup---that your attitude, your many personal problems, and the fact that you were a total control freak made you impossible to work with. In my view, you were as much---nay, more---of a villain in that regard than even Yoko Ono... for the simple reason that I always liked Pink Floyd even more than The Beatles (the first two bands I came to love as a young boy).
I was also aware that much of the...well, let's call it the "darkness" of Pink Floyd's music came from you more than the others. Don't get me wrong---that darkness was a necessary and integral part of the music, and it had a definite appeal, especially to kids listening in their turbulent middle-teen years. However, as turbulent (and occasionally dark) as my middle teens may have been, I still admired the other band members for the fact that they seemed to be simply happier. Well, happier than you, at any rate. At my core, I am a happy person, and while I wasn't looking for the music to which I listened to be all Sunshine and Lollipops, I did appreciate the notion that little glimmers of happiness, hope, and occasionally even a little whimsy managed to shine through Pink Floyd's music.
Of course, as the years wore on, things got darker and less whimsical, didn't they? Part of the reason, of course, was the loss of Syd Barrett (may God now grant him rest). But I also came to be aware of an even more salient cause of the arithmetic increase in the grimness of Pink Floyd's sound for each album after Dark Side of the Moon: you. As your ego inflated, as you became more of an arrogant control freak, you began, more and more, to dominate the creative process. This trend can be heard as one moves chronologically through the later albums, culminating with The Final Cut, which, but for Gilmour's "Not Now John," might as well have been a solo album for you. And of course, the The Final Cut ended up being the final straw for the remaining members of the band (you'd already fired Rick Wright). You must be very proud of yourself.
Of course, even in my unruly---and sometimes less than contemplative---teen years, I was still just sophisticated enough to understand some of why the other members of the band found you increasingly distasteful to be around. I did not glean this knowledge from any magazines or "inside story"-type information (something I assiduously avoided). Rather, it came from a basic analysis of your lyrics, especially from The Wall. And, when my friends and I got ahold of the movie version of The Wall, it all became even more clear. Even in the midst of our partying, we couldn't miss the fact that you were bearing who you are to all of us on that screen. And whom did we discover there?
A morose, bitter man. A whiny, spoiled baby with no understanding of what his father died for. A puerile, authority-hating permanent adolescent. Someone who---his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding---has serious "mommy issues." A semi-sociopathic sexual deviant. A misogynist and cuckhold.
A freakin' weirdo.
Heck, being the Pink Floyd fans and punk kids that we were, we all liked the movie... and even WE recognized all that.
Then---as if there had been any doubt before---listening to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking confirmed for us all that you really are a pathetic loser with serious emotional problems.
And of course, we were all treated to your silly political views in The Final Cut, which---even given the default left-leaning views of my youth---I knew were overwrought and delivered with all the subtlety of an undisguised public flatulence.
All of which is why, Mr. Waters, we really could have done without yet another ham-handed display of your pathetic little political opinions here in 2006.
Fortunately, those opinions are not likely to sway anyone who isn't already suffering from their own strain of Bush Derangement Syndrome. If anything, they'll probably turn some people the other direction, in which case you will have inadvertently done us all a service.
Still, while it's okay to discuss and even have opinions on the politics of a country that is not your own, it is NOT COOL to do so publicly in an effort to influence that country's elections. We don't even particularly like it when our own artists do it, and when its done by an artist from another country, most Americans are singularly unimpressed.
The truth is, such a direct and brazen statement on the elections of another nation makes you sound a little silly and out-of-place. It's kind of like if I, as an American, were to say, "Cor blimey, that Roger Waters really is an arch-prat. I wish that wanker would just sod off."
You see how that makes me sound like a silly poser? Well, there ya go.
So, instead, I'll just close by saying, "Hey dude---get bent."
Christopher Cook
Los Angeles, CA USA
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Well said Mr. Cook! You really know your Floyd.
Posted by Mark S. on 2006-09-18 12:38:09 |
You nailed it. I'm sick of "performers" telling us how to vote. Roger Water's father was a communist. Roger wants us to vote for Democrats in order to advance the sociali...ur...communist agenda.
Posted by Mal on 2006-09-19 06:07:15 |
I was at last night's show in Auburn Hills, and I and lots of other people cheered the political message.
The pig thing was awesome.
Posted by Pink on 2006-09-19 08:16:54 |
Another 'Ditsy' Chicks Syndrome. (humm D.C.S.)
I grow tired of Hollywood and music folks voicing "their" personal views, at the viewers expense.
If you wish to bash someone publicly, then go and spend the money yourself to have your voice and views heard.
Then you'll have an audience, that wishes to hear your views.
If I attended the concert, I would be there to hear you perform.
Not to hear "your" polical views.
It's your job to entertain, do your job, get paid and go home!
Musical artists sure know how to get a captive audience!
Buy my ticket and listen to me!
Posted by John H on 2006-09-19 12:36:51 |
"Still, while it's okay to discuss and even have opinions on the politics of a country that is not your own, it is NOT COOL to do so publicly in an effort to influence that country's elections."
Roger Waters currently lives in the US.
Also, I find lines such as "listening to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking confirmed FOR US ALL that you really are a pathetic loser with serious emotional problems." insulting to the entire Pink Floyd fandom.
Posted by ClassicBadge on 2006-09-30 21:55:58 |
If this is a Roger Waters "bashing", then all of you have done a superb job of just that. The man is 62 years old, three years older than me, and I grew up with Pink Floyd. He IS Pink Floyd! Yes, Roger is "dark" -- as most genius is -- and lived with debilitating depression. It is out of his darkness that a musical genre that stands alone for over 40 years was born. Unlike poor Syd, Roger's mind survived all the drugs and quick fame. He has stood the test of time and emerged whole. Having personally lived through the nightly news of body bags coming off planes by the dozens while I ate my dinner was pretty dark. Living with the fears of a nuclear bomb during the cold war was very damned dark for a child of tender years too! Just being a part of my generation was an exercise in futility when you consider the civil rights movement, campus unrest, a groundswell of animous over the Vietnam "Conflict" (they didn't even deign to call that a "war"), and the movement of a whole generation of angry young adults into a drug-induced haze. The drugs were a blissful escape from our "reality" and Roger Waters tapped into that whole thing by giving us music to lay on the floor and get wasted to. That was then; this is now. What Roger Waters' message now is exactly what it was then -- the human race has amused itself to death! If anyone out there can honestly say that Roger has missed the mark when he says we're headed back to the Garden of Eden, then you've missed his musical message altogether! We live in perilous times, and they have been made far more perilous by the Bush administration I believe. I now regret that I voted for this man twice, but I fear he governs like a king. Our president has disregarded every Constitutional law that stands in the way of his obsession with the war in Iraq, and even wants to amend the Constitution. How audacious it is to attempt to legislate morality! While Iran gives the United States the finger over nuclear armament buildup, North Korea fires one off every time that embicile feels the urge, and Israel sits on the precipice of anihilation from all sides, all Mr. Bush wants to do is "stay the course". I find him to be a dangerous man who believes himself at the controls of a world careening OUT of control. So if Roger Waters, British gentleman that he is, feels like expressing himself on on the ass-end of a pig, who the hell are we to take on this man who has lived through times most of you cannot know or appreciate personally. Unless and until free speech is taken from us and the jackboots are at the door (we're not far from that), Roger can express himself in my country as he damned well pleases. Does he have mental problems? You bet he does, as do all of us who've earned the label 'Baby Boomer'. We're evidence of peace-time largese and a materialistic societal effort to "give the children what we never had". We have been rolled out on a cookie cutter not of our own making, and are INDEED "bricks in the wall" -- bricks with a sense of entitlement! So leave this lovely man alone. He has championed his addictions, beaten his demons, has a nice family, wants a better world for you and me, and deserves just exactly what I gave him last month for his "Dark Side of the Moon" concert in Virginia -- a standing ovation!!!! You should all be ashamed of yourselves for dissing the gift he brings to us of his "darkness".
Posted by Beth D. on 2006-10-17 23:18:52 |
To Beth D:
I think you are right on at least one count:
A ot of baby boomers are messed up by the fact that they grew up in an era of historic domestic safety and material plenty. And yes, many of thedm did end up with a sense of entitlement from it.
And how freakin' pathetic is that!
Boo hoo freakin hoo.
Posted by Christopher Cook on 2006-11-26 09:07:19 |
Roger Waters is a good man who speaks for the people and wants a free world. He is the songwriter of the second highest selling album in history and he IS pink floyd. Leave him alone, he doesnt want us to be communist, he wants people to stop bothering other people. He wants people the right to choose what they want, he wants people to get true facts and he wants to stop wars. His father wasn't only a communist, he was a pacifist . And what roger learnt from him was to fight without using weapons. To fight with words, with knowledge just like Gandhi and Marthin Luther King.
Posted by Alejandro on 2007-03-14 19:02:47 |
Well, you said that Roger is a control freak. Maybe you´re right, but, to produce suchs albums like The wall and The final cut (which if you listen very carefully, are masterpieces from start to end) you have to be a control freak, if not, that works end in nothing. The others two, Mason and Gilmour, nobody put a gun on their heads to play on The Final cut. They did it because PF produce money and they do not have the ability to produce such album. Regarding the writings on the flying pig, for me it´s ok. I saw him in Argentina. Were more funny than something to take seriously. He´s PF, like it or not. He´s few of the big ones who put his career in risk to denounce the ilogical actions of psycho Bush. Take guts to do that. Bono will never dare to do that. Less Sting. Good for ya Roger.
Posted by lucio on 2007-03-21 15:43:20 |
I think you're completely off the mark. (The writer of this article/blog) I am a pink floyd fanatic and I resent you speaking for all other fans. Especially considering that you mentioned yourself that you 'was a pink floyd fan as a teenager'. I believe that Roger embodies in his music, what everyone with any sense is thinking these days. Bush is a dangerous man and Roger is trying to get people thinking. When i listen to music, i use my brain and think about what it really means, not just how 'cool' or 'weird' it sounds. And Roger's music is about on-mark and genius as someone can get. He puts a lot of thought and work into his music and if you have a problem with his music....don't listen. I doubt people who go to his concerts really 'mind' his political views.
Posted by amanda on 2007-07-17 11:19:12 |
At the end of the day Roger Waters is a genius and music would be pretty boring if you insist in taking meaning out of it, i would rather listen to a proper musician voicing opinions i disagree with than listening to some drivel produced by the "machine" of the music industry.
Posted by maxhkhan on 2007-08-30 14:01:35 |
Hey Chris, who are you to judge someone who has made a living for themselves while you sit at home on your ass all day long. Roger Waters is a very successful man. He has just as much right to publically post his opinion on American politics as you do to publically display hatemail to him. that was the most absurd letter i have ever read. You explained how you read about Roger Waters being a control freak. Do you know this for a fact? Do you know the entire Syd Barrett story inside and out, and why Roger did the things he did? Do you realize that after Syd Barrett was no longer part on Pink Floyd, how much more successfull they became. If anyone is to blame in that situation its david gilmour. Roger Waters sold out all the concerts he did across the U.S in 2006. Obviously if people had a problem after hearing about his decision to display his views on American politics, they wouldnt have went. Everyone thinks George Bush is a douche, mainly for not drafting you and having you shot in Iraq. You need to get facts straight before you send letters to a legend. so i'm going to close this letter by saying, "Freedom of speech you bloody wanker"
Fuck off
Posted by eric on 2007-09-27 01:24:04 |
The worst part of all of the responses that a man like Waters can bring forth is simply that he is and many are not; intensifying. As a child I was never exposed to the Waters era pop attention that Pink Floyd enjoyed. I was born in 76 and started to appreciate the entire spectrum circa 88. Being a musician myself I never had the ability to "like" one member of a band more than any other. I had preferences about instruments, perhaps I paid more attention to the artists that played guitar or keyboard based devices. But I understood the chemistry.
And this political diatribe that as some of you believe begins with Waters because he uses his connection to you as his fans is certainly carried two times as far by the vanity that would make someone write an "Open Letter to Anyone". And I site passive attacks at parental loss and oedipus complexes as preoccupation with button pushing and a need for you as David to somehow defeat a far mightier goliath.
Perhaps he should just get bent, I don't agree with his political affiliation either. But you could have just said-"An Open Letter to Roger Waters"-----Mr. Waters,
Please bend yourself.
Posted by Rob on 2008-03-13 11:54:55 |
Hey man i think America is fucking gay as all hell and ffrankly we need a Europien in this damn shitty corrupted country to show us how to really run a country. As you can see Europe knows how to run a country so why not accept his political views and you are stupid you need to be more open minded about democrats you fuck ass.
Posted by Shane on 2008-04-15 13:59:18 |
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