Frasi di Roger Waters

“Quell'anno mi resi conto che la vita faceva il suo decorso, mia madre aveva l'ossessione dell'educazione e l'idea dell'infanzia e dell'adoloscenza e così via… erano periodi in cui ti saresti preparato ad una vita più tardi. Un tratto mi resi conto che la vita non inizia più tardi, ma da zero e fa il suo decorso da sempre. In ogni momento puoi prendere in mano le tue briglie e dirigere la tua sorte, questo fu una rivelazione, un grande shock per me. Preparati ad alzarti in piedi e vivi la vita con autenticità.”

“[Allo scrittore Timothy White] Il rock and roll sta diventando avidità nascosta sotto forma di intrattenimento, proprio esattamente come la guerra è diventata avidità nascosta sotto forma di politica.”

“Molti giornalisti ci hanno pesantemente attaccato dicendo che i testi delle nostre canzoni sono letteralmente pessimi. Loro tendono a dimenticare che la maggior parte di coloro che acquistano dischi e che si interessano di musica non vantano tutti lauree in letteratura, e non leggono nemmeno molti libri… E così noi che scriviamo musica. È possibile che alcuni dei miei testi sono banali, perché io non sono nulla di speciale nel comporre.”

“Se prendi LSD quello che provi dipende interamente da chi sei. La nostra musica può precipitarti nell'orrore urlante o gettarti nell'estasi delirante. Più spesso la seconda. Scopriamo che il nostro pubblico adesso smette di ballare. Cerchiamo di averli lì in piedi completamente rapiti, a bocca spalancata.”

“Molti credono che basti usare un sintetizzatore per suonare i Pink Floyd, ma non è così. È come dire che una persona diventa Eric Clapton solo perché ha una chitarra Les Paul. Non funziona così…”

“Penso che la maggior parte delle canzoni che ho scritto pongono domande simili: “Potete liberarvi abbastanza per essere in grado di provare la realtà della vita, come un qualcosa di perfetto che va avanti da prima di voi e con voi - e come ognuno di noi va avanti come parte di essa - o no?” Perché se non si riesce ci si posiziona su una piazza. In piedi da soli, fino a quando si muore. Ed è quello di cui le canzoni parlano. Tutte le canzoni mi incoraggiano a non accettare un ruolo da protagonista “in una gabbia”, le nostre vite chiuse e piene di futilità, ma di continuare a chiedere a me stesso di persistere nel fare provini anche solo per un ruolo marginale, ma che sia “parte della guerra”, che è la vita, perché è lì che voglio essere. Voglio essere nella trincea della vita. Io non voglio essere al quartier generale, io non voglio essere seduto in un albergo da qualche parte a guardare il mondo che cambia, voglio cambiarlo io. Voglio essere impegnato. Probabilmente, in un modo che mio padre forse approverebbe.”

“Quello che è straordinario di lei è che pur avendo scritto tutte quelle canzoni orribili, e pur essendo brutta, tremenda, piatta, per il solo fatto di essere totalmente priva di paura e vergogna e di essere scontata, volgare e scadente, abbia avuto successo.”

“Ci sarebbe da ridere, ma la sua popolarità non è divertente. Le sue idee non sono stravaganti. È l'eccezionalismo americano, degenerato e diffuso sotto l'ombrello dell'ignoranza assoluta. È un ignorante, lo è sempre stato, lo sarà sempre. Vive nell'illusione di essere ammirevole. E ovviamente, per chi la pensa come me, rappresenta tutto ciò che c'è di disgustoso nella società americana.”

“"Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" on The Wall (Pink Floyd, 1979)”

“Are there any paranoids in the audience tonight? (the crowd cheers) Is there anyone who worries about things? (the crowd cheers again) Pathetic. This is for all the weak people in the audience! Is there anyone here who's weak? (the crowd cheers once more) This is for you, it's called Run Like Hell! (the song starts)”

“This is the crap that our children are learningBut ooh, the tide is turning.”

“It's actually quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys after all these years, standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we're doing this for everyone who's not here, and particulary of course for Syd”

“Asked what his artistic purpose was: "There is no purpose. We do whatever we do. You either blow your brains out or get on with something."”

“"Eclipse" on The Dark Side of the Moon" (Pink Floyd, 1973)”

“I think that happiness resides somewhere between the extremes of personal, religious, and political. I think happiness resides where we understand someone else's point of view and needs. Happiness resides where we are not lost in the solitary dream.”

“Syd was a genius. But I wouldn't want to go back to playing Interstellar Overdrive for hours and hours.”

“"The Powers That Be" on Radio KAOS (Roger Waters, 1987)”

“The ghosts are walking by my side
I feel their love I feel their pride
For I have built a bridge or two
Bridges between me and you.
Hello I love you.”

“It's like saying 'Give a man a Les Paul guitar and he becomes Eric Clapton,' you know. It's not true. And give a man an amplifier and a synthesizer, and he doesn't become whoever, you know. He doesn't become us.”

“"I’m not a huge practicing Christian myself, but it just staggers me that people who claim to be can stand up and spout – like your president George Bush – can stand up and spout this bullshit about God supporting one side over another in war, which is why I wrote the lyrics of the song "What God Wants": “God wants crusade/God wants Jihad.” Well it may well be that God doesn’t want either of those things. They’re manifestations of the insecurities of the Muslim and Christian communities. I hate when someone uses religion to bolster war in the world: it's extremely disgusting and offensive for me, and for all christians, because that was not what Christ was trying to teach."”

“What it comes down to for me is: Will the technologies of communication and culture — and especially popular music, which is a vast and beloved enterprise — help us to understand one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?”

“Well, he's schizophrenic. And has been since 1968.”

“"Leaving Beirut" on To Kill the Child/ Leaving Beirut (Roger Waters, 2005), regarding the war in Iraq”

“Oh, they [the Media] definitely don't want to know the real Barrett story… there are no facts involved in the Barrett story so they can make up any story they like, and they do. There's a vague basis in fact: Syd was in the band and he did write the material on the first album, 80% of it, but that's all. It is only that one album, and that's what people don't realise. That first album, and one track on the second. That's all; nothing else.”

“"I like to think oysters transcend national barriers, Adrian." - Pink Floyd: Live At Pompeii video, in an interview with director Adrian Maben.”

“"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" on The Wall (Pink Floyd, 1979)”

“"Wish You Were Here" on Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd, 1975)”

“Life is long but it goes fast.
The kids will have to separate
Their future from our past.”

“Earlier this year we went skiing and I was in a shop, paying a bill and there was a woman standing there whom I knew slightly. I was waiting for my bill and she was buying something, a tea strainer. Quite suddenly she said to me, 'Where was your Father killed?'. I was very surprised and blurted out 'Oh Anzio'. Now this is a woman of about my age, so she's 40-ish. She said, 'My Father was killed in the war'. Apparently somebody lent her a copy of 'The Final Cut' and she had listened to the whole thing and she had found it very moving. In fact she said it had moved her to tears. She told me this, standing in the shop, with some effort I suspect, and I remember thinking: That's enough really. It doesn't matter if the Americans don't buy it.”

“I used to think the world was flat
Rarely threw my hat into the crowd
I felt I had used up my quota of yearning
Used to look in on the children at night
In the glow of their Donald Duck light
And frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning But ooh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning.”

“The very early days of Pink Floyd were magical. We played small auditoriums for entranced audiences, and there was a wonderful sense of communion. We got overpowered by the weight of success and numbers — not just the money but the size of the audience. I became very disenchanted. I had to make the choice of staying on the treadmill or making the braver decision to travel a more difficult path alone.”

“"I was quite happy standing there thundering about, playing whatever I could - that's "fun". And I see young bands occasionally now doing the same thing. I think it's called "thrash" now. It's the same thing: It's just kids who can't play, pissing about. It's terrific. That's all we were doing. I mean, Dave could play a little bit, but none of the rest of us could."”

“Regarding the spate of High School shootings of 1999: "in the Colorado shootings, the media seemed to change their tack a bit. Though they attached ghoulishly to it, covered it 24 hours a day and even gave it a logo like 'Horror in the Rockies', they did address issues of alienation and pain rather than just saying, 'oh, these aberrant teen-agers have to be stamped out.' After denigrating self-help ideas for the last 20 years, the media are beginning to look at the psychology and not just the police work."”

“I'm not saying the battle is won
But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun
Wrested technology's sword from the hands of the warlords
Ooh, the tide is turning
Ooh, the tide is turning.”

“It was very, very hard work organizing that Wall concert but everyone was fabulous to work with - Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, bloody brilliant. All brilliant. Except for Sinead O'Connor… She doesn't understand anything. She's just a silly little girl. You can't just lie in the corner and shave your bloody head and stick it up your arse and occasionally pull it out to go (_"brogue"_) 'Oh, I tink this is wrong and dat is wrong' and burst into tears.”

“I could never aspire to Syd's crazed insights and perceptions. In fact for a long time I wouldn't have dreamt of claiming any insights whatsoever. I'll always credit Syd with the connection he made between his personal unconscious and the collective group unconscious. It's taken me 15 years to get anywhere near there. Even though he was clearly out of control when making his two solo albums, some of the work is staggeringly evocative. It's the humanity of it all that's so impressive. It's about deeply felt values and beliefs. Maybe that's what 'Dark Side of the Moon' was aspiring to. A similar feeling.”

“"Perfect Sense (part I)" on Amused to Death (Roger Waters, 1992)”