Roger waters songs full#
Hence the glimmer of hope for mankind at the end of a diatribe against the abuses of power and technology.īut now there’s a chance for the future and a challenge to world leaders: ‘Now the satellite’s confused cos on Saturday night/The airwaves were full of compassion and light… I’m not saying that the battle is won/But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun/ Wrested technology’s ward from the hand of the war lords.’Īs the feeling takes hold, the song’s hymnal qualities are enhanced with swathes of keyboards and choirs, boosting the melody. Although Pink Floyd did not participate in 1985’s Live Aid, Waters was deeply affected by how the event used the power of global communication as a force for good. If Radio KAOS begins in unaccustomed Waters style, the final track shows another unfamiliar trait: optimism. The Tide Is Turning After Live Aid (Radio KAOS, 1987) But Waters marshals his musical resources superbly and slowly ratchets up the intensity of the song while leaving room for his vocals to cut through. The sound gets thicker as jagged metal guitar chords and saxophones jostle for space and later on there’s even a brass section trying to get in on the act. In the early hours they’re hanging round an electrical shop when the temptation becomes too much for Benny, and he steals a cordless phone.Ī little while later, heady with bravado and alcohol and bitter at the system that has left him jobless, he’s swaying on the parapet of a footbridge yelling: ‘Can you see the whites of their headlights?/Are they coming yet?’Īll the while the song is gradually growing in density and power, driven by a relentless chorus. Wheelchair-bound Billy and his twin brother Benny, an out-of-work miner, go out for a night on the piss.
Roger waters songs driver#
Inspired by an incident in 1985 when a striking miner threw a concrete block off a motorway bridge, killing a taxi driver who was taking a working miner to the pit, Waters weaves the event into the broader context of the album’s theme on this powerful rocker. Roger Waters has performed a dress rehearsal for the This Is Not A Drill tour and we can assume this will be the setlist. No other Roger Waters album starts in such a bright and breezy manner. In addition, part of the concept for the album involved the demise of free-form music stations like Radio KAOS and the rise of formatted, computer-programmed stations where music was played for profit rather than pleasure.
Roger waters songs mod#
This was 1987, and elementary post-disco beats with all the bland studio mod cons were all over the charts. The song had to be clad in the prevailing pop fashion of the time. Those who criticise the song for being “trapped in the 80s” are missing the point. He also had to devise a short and effective way of introducing a complex plot and storyline. Steeped in 80s pop production technology, Radio Waves is probably one of the most commercially calculated songs Waters has written.įor the opening track on the Radio KAOS album, he had to come up with the kind of song that would fit the playlist of the radio station that was part of the album’s concept.
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