❗️Join us on Telegram 
, Twitter
, and VK 
.
Roger Waters turns 80 today. One of the authors of the soundtrack of the second half of the 20th century, the son of a teacher and grandson of a miner can quote without blinking a masterpiece for each finger of his hand: “Another Brick in the Wall”, “Comfortably Numb”, “ Eclipse”, “Brain Damage”, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, “Money”, “Run Like Hell”, “Hey You”, “Goodbye Blue Sky”, “Pigs”. There’s more, of course. It was supposed to be satisfied, but that’s not the case, he reveals in an exclusive interview with GLOBO.
In the first week of October, he releases his seventh solo album, “The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux” on the platforms. In it, he re-reads the Pink Floyd classic, which he founded in 1965 with Syd Barrett, Nick Mason and Richard Wright. “Redux” arrives exactly five decades after the original, when the band no longer had Barrett and had David Gilmour. “Unfortunately, the album remains current, with an air unbreathable by outdated supremacist ideas and predatory capitalism”, says Waters, on the eve of arriving in Brazil.
His “first farewell world tour” — and fifth in Brazil, after “In the Flesh” (2002), “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (2007), “The Wall Live” (2012 ), “Us + Them ” (2018), in addition to the opera “Ça-Ira”, in 2008 and 2013)— will pass through Brasília (10/24), Rio (10/28), Porto Alegre (11/1), Curitiba (11/4) , Belo Horizonte (11/8) and São Paulo (11/11, sold out, and 11/12). Scheduled for 2020, postponed by the pandemic, “This is Not a Drill” (something like “This is not a training”) began in July last year in the USA. The “rock & roll cinematic extravaganza” was shown in cinemas around the world and caused controversy with mayors in Germany trying to cancel performances.
The artist does not shy away from the topic in the exchange of emails with O GLOBO (“’The Wall’ does not glorify Nazism or promote anti-Semitism”), and comments on the request to the federal government of the Brazilian Israeli Confederation, as informed by Lauro Jardim’s column in June, to stop their concerts (“I regret that I fell for the ridiculous historical revisionism of the Israeli lobby”). Waters credits the allegations to his “defending of the Palestinian people” and sends a message of tolerance to fans.
More hopeful than pessimistic at 80, he recalls, track by track, “The Dark Side Of The Moon”, and thanks “the opportunity to share what I think with friends in Brazil and, who knows, with those who don’t agree with me on everything , but consider dialogue important”. Waters also talks in the interview about family, friendship, Lula, Bolsonaro, Marielle and David Gilmour (no, there is no reconciliation in sight).
Why re-record “The Dark Side Of The Moon” now?
Because the warlords, 50 years later, still haven’t understood the album’s message and children are still being murdered. I spoke to ( producer ) Gus Seyffert and ( director ) Sean Evans and they were like, “Hi, but re-recording DSOTM? Are you crazy or are you just stupid?” (laughter). I reacted with: “Ah, stop, go, let’s do it!” We did. I play bass on “Any Color You Like”, add a few lyrics and sing on all the tracks.
Did you like the result?
Yes, it turned out amazing! For those who hate me singing, I warn you that it was Gus who insisted (laughs). The production is practically all his, who argued that it was important, after all, that the guy who wrote the songs sang them. Last month I showed a very raw mix to my daughter India. She said: “Dad, it’s really cool! It’s the versions of the 29- year-old who wrote them, and those of the 80-year-old, the two now facing each other, with half a century of life in between, reflecting on what they’ve done”. What a smart girl! I wish I had that balcony (laughs).
Did you have fun with reactions, such as that, with your lower voice, it sounds like Leonard Cohen singing Pink Floyd?
Leonard Cohen, want higher praise? (laughs) And “Redux” is also a tribute to what Nick ( Mason ), Rick ( Wright ), David ( Gilmour ) and I did in 1973. “Great Gig in the Sky” and the chords of “Us and Them”, from Rick, are brilliant. There are David’s sensational guitar solos for “Money” and “Time”. And Nicky is, well, Nicky, right? A genius drummer, underrated and, most importantly, my best friend. Dude, I’m 80 years old. I have good friends, and when I say good, they are good. What a privilege! I finally found my soul mate, my wife Kamilah, who gives me the strength to keep fighting. And if sometimes it bothers me, so be it. I have no doubt that people are disappointed in me at times, but we are only human.
The world has changed a lot since 1973 and I imagine so have you. What are your biggest wins and regrets?
I was lucky to have lived so long and, naturally, had many regrets. But what I most regret is, due to the greed of the richest, the gradual loss of our stocks in the symbolic scale of life.
What did you mean by saying that “today we breathe the same air as in 1973”?
That we continue to live under the suffocating cloud of hundreds of years of colonialism. The air is so polluted with outdated supremacist ideologies and predatory capitalism that it’s hard to breathe. “Breathe, breathe the air, don’t be afraid to care about others”, as in “Breathe”. More than ever, it is necessary to care, yes, to have empathy for our brothers and sisters, regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religion. We need to take a deep breath and actually start helping each other.
What are your best memories of “DSOTM”?
The best is waking up one morning in 1972 with the idea that certain things wrongly shape our lives. From calling the band to a meeting, in Nicky’s kitchen, and announcing the album’s concept. For them to enjoy.
Will we see anything from “Redux” at the shows in Brazil?
Some from the original “DSOTM”, but not from “Redux”. We will play hits and the new song “The Bar”, about expressing opinions without fear of censorship. About listening to those who disagree with us and looking for solutions.
In Germany, authorities tried to suspend the tour with the argument that “anti-Semitism” and “debauchery of the Nazi imaginary” were being seen on stage in “The Wall”…
(Sighs) I wrote, recorded and released “The Wall” in 1978/9. The film is from 1982. We celebrate the fall of the Wall in Berlin and the end of the Cold War in 1990, in a show for 400,000 people. In 2009 I received, with my hero Mikhail Gorbachev, the ( German ) Cinema for Peace award. The world tour from 2010 to 2013 held the record for the most profitable by a solo artist. In 2014, the film from the tour was presented at the Toronto Film Festival. Anyone minimally familiar with “The Wall” knows that, in the narrative, the rock star Pink suffers a psychotic episode and imagines himself degenerated, in the skin of a Nazi-style tyrant.
It’s a piece of fiction…
A satirical critique of tyrannical ideologies. Later, Pink recovers from the episode and, examining herself in an imaginary judgment, emerges as the red fluffy heart we love. At no point does “The Wall” glorify Nazism or promote anti-Semitism. I ask the cancel culture freaks: why, after 45 years, a contemplative and humanist piece like “The Wall”, and its author, suffer lying attacks, coordinated by the Israeli lobby? Of course I know the answer: my defense of the Palestinian people. Leaders of the Jewish community asked the Brazilian government to ban their concerts here… I regret that they have embarked on the ridiculous historical revisionism of the Israeli lobby. The German press published images of a black inflatable pig, with a Star of David painted on it, as if it were part of the Berlin and Frankfurt shows. Plumper! There is an inflatable pig, but white, without the Star of David, and on it is written “Steal from the poor and give to the rich”.
What is your message for Brazilian fans, including those of Jewish origin, about what they will see in “This is Not a Drill”?
They know that I am neither anti-Semitic nor pro-Nazi. In June I received a letter from director Peter Medak, who worked on “DSOTM”, and is deeply hurt by my cancellation by the Israeli lobby. He gave me permission to share it with GLOBO readers. ( In the letter, Medak, who was born in Hungary in 1937, is a Holocaust survivor and has directed films and series episodes, including “Hannibal”, writes that he is “irritated by the unfounded and unfair criticism” of Waters, the tour, his music and artistic trajectory. He remembers that “when you performed in Hungary, Roger, I wanted to visit my family home and understand how I managed to escape the Horror.” And that “we met 50 years ago and I know you are not, never was, nor will be, anti-Semitic. I am very proud to say that I am your friend” ).
Are you really going to sue for defamation the writer Polly Samson, David Gilmour’s wife, after she accused him of anti-Semitism and also of dubbing his voice in the shows?
No, I’m not taking legal action.
Is there any chance you and David could hit it off?
What do you think?
When you were in Brazil in 2018, you called Jair Bolsonaro a fascist, raised a #elenão on stage. How does it feel to return now with Lula in the presidency and Bolsonaro ineligible?
Bolsonaro is a fascist and I keep saying #elenão. I tried to visit Lula in prison in 2018, but I wasn’t allowed to. I feel that I am on the right side of history, and I believe that Lula is too. I love Brazil. When I’m there, I feel at home. I’m still in mourning for my friend Marielle Franco, but the seeds she planted sprout new buds every day. When I get there, I want to shout: “Viva o Brasil livre!”
At 80, are you more hopeful or pessimistic?
Without any hesitation: more hopeful. And the hope is that the flame lit by the Enlightenment resisted colonialism and corporate greed. That the tide is turning. I’m not naïve, I know the fight is not over, we’re in the middle of it and the battle is fierce. Bolsonaro, Trump and all fascists believe in something like the old divine right of kings, now translated into the privilege of the richest. I, and so many others, believe in democracy, human rights and the law for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion or bank balance. “This is Not a Drill” is, in the end, about love. I’m already there to fight for love, for Marielle, and against the “end of Luz”. See you soon.
