Roger upsets a whole nation

[Hudini]

I have a huge respect for Roger Waters as a musician, but he should really quit advocating world peace with such negative methods as calling for boycott. Per instance, putting up a free concert in Gaza would have conveyed his message much better than refusing to play in Tel Aviv. There are people living and dying in Gaza and they don't actually give a shit what doesn't happen in Tel Aviv or anywhere else, but they could really use a gesture like that just to know that there's someone out there who cares. They have absolutely no practical use of his political rants, but if he packed his band in an airplane and did a show in Gaza instead of sitting at his home and bitching that would have really made some difference.

[Luvelle Raevan]

Yes, advocating world peace is noble but so difficult - and what is politically correct? Who knows...or if there is such a thing as being politically correct because forms of communication are so outdated in some areas. Right though, I agree - Pink Floyd effortlessly communicates through their music and Roger appears to be trying to help create peace through appealing to other musicians...sort of like a bridge between political talks and music...but abstract imo.

I don't know, I can't find fault with Roger's intentions but who knows what's best in this situation...maybe write some new music and try to find inner peace, spread it around and reach a lot of people that way for the future.

[Kerry King]

Neil Young has been busy doing what Waters has been incapable of for the last 20+ years. Writing and releasing new material. In other words, doing the thing that made him worth listening to in the first place.

[Bigmanpigman]

Roger's latest rant........with a poem as a bonus


http://www.salon.com/2014/08/25/pink_fl ... _stunning/

[Keith Jordan]

Fancies himself a poet!

[my breakfast.]

Roger Waters is a terrorism-loving sack of shit. He should go live in one of these desert shitholes if he loves the people so much.

[UsNotThem]

Poems no less, poems everyone! The lad reckons himself as a poet.

Absolute rubbish laddie! Now get on with your work.

[my breakfast.]

Again, why the fuck would Roger Waters be intelligent? He's spent all his life playing bass. Do we even know he reads books?

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Roger's at it again!

Former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters has said that there's "no place in the legal system" for the "institutionalised brutality" of Guantanamo Bay and called for a judge-led inquiry into Britain's role in the detention and alleged torture of British prisoner Shaker Aamer.

In an Op-ed for the Daily Mail, Waters discussed recent revelations about the CIA's torture programme and raised concerns about "the mounting evidence that our own [Britain's] intelligence and security agencies may have colluded with the CIA" in the rendition and torture of terror suspects.

In particular, Waters focused on the case of Shaker Aamer, a 46-year-old Londoner who was seized by the US and rendered to Guantanamo while working in Afghanistan 13 years ago. "During Mr Aamer's long spell of incarceration, he has never been put on trial or even had any charges leveled against him," Waters wrote. "No human being should be subjected to such monstrous and prolonged treatment — 13 years, with no evidence produced to suggest a crime!"

Waters explained that he became involved in the case after it was brought to his attention by Aamer's laywer Clive Stafford Smith, who received a letter from Aamer that included the opening lyrics to Pink Floyd 1979 song 'Hey You'.

"Mr Aamer said the lyrics captured his experience in Guantanamo. I was profoundly touched that 'Hey You' had had such a resonance with him," he wrote, before concluding that "this abuse of power exhibits all the hallmarks of despotism. Either we believe in freedom to live under the law, including the law of Habeas Corpus, or we don’t."

In November, Pink Floyd secured their first Number One album since 1995 with new record 'The Endless River', beating Foo Fighters' 'Sonic Highways' to the top spot.

Earlier this year, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason compared the departure of former bandmate Waters in 1985 to the death of Joseph Stalin in Russia. "It must have been the same when Stalin died. It took quite a while [to recover], it was a three or four year period," he said.

http://www.nme.com/news/roger-waters/81 ... lTX1C78.99

[BertWW96]

Again, why the fuck would Roger Waters be intelligent? He's spent all his life playing bass. Do we even know he reads books?

Waters is that not-so-rare but troubling type of person - knows a lot, but comes to all the wrong conclusions despite it.

[BertWW96]

This part in particular interests me:

...Shaker Aamer, a 46-year-old Londoner who was seized by the US and rendered to Guantanamo while working in Afghanistan 13 years ago.

I loved the description - Londoner - something tells me there was more to Mr. Aamer than residence in London, a black bowler, fish & chips and a Union Jack if he was "seized."

But about the larger issue, the title of this thread is "Roger upsets a whole nation" - but did he, really? None of this is new or a surprise (like it was to alienated Israeli Marillion fans when the lyrics of Gaza (peace-oriented and less abrasive then Waters, but still of, by and for Gaza) were first heard); his views have been public for decades, and were just part of the package when I was a teenager starting to dig deep into the PF catalog. I always looked at him like the crazy uncle that everyone likes, sort of "thanks for Welcome To The Machine, but no thanks for the voting tips."

[Bigmanpigman]

Personally I see Roger as a very intelligent guy, but there must be something wrong up top. With regard to the Palestinian situation, he's not the first celebrity to speak out, and won't be the last. The thing is he seems to use completely the wrong language to get his point over, which is a bit odd for a bloke who made his name as a lyricist. There are many people now who just perceive him as being anti-Semitic, which couldn't be further from the truth, and is a bit sad.

[kenkef10]

I know this is old news now, but I'm new to the forum and just browsing some threads.

Whenever I see a post on his page, I get excited just in case it's news about The Wall Live DVD or indeed the new album. But no, it's just another political rant. Nobody really wants to hear it, we all just want a new album and The Wall Live DVD (1980/81 and the 2011/12 one).

We all want to have new material from artists we love. But no, I am very glad that high profile people such as Waters stand up and say these things. I want to hear it. Relative importance of a DVD of The Wall in my collection and an end to the murderous treatment of Palestinians in Gaza? The latter is 100 orders of magnitude more important.

So no Roger. Don't give it a rest. Thank you for your efforts.

KK10

[UsNotThem]

I know this is old news now, but I'm new to the forum and just browsing some threads.

Whenever I see a post on his page, I get excited just in case it's news about The Wall Live DVD or indeed the new album. But no, it's just another political rant. Nobody really wants to hear it, we all just want a new album and The Wall Live DVD (1980/81 and the 2011/12 one).

We all want to have new material from artists we love. But no, I am very glad that high profile people such as Waters stand up and say these things. I want to hear it. Relative importance of a DVD of The Wall in my collection and an end to the murderous treatment of Palestinians in Gaza? The latter is 100 orders of magnitude more important.

So no Roger. Don't give it a rest. Thank you for your efforts.

KK10

I agree with you to an extent, I share the same political opinions as Roger, particularly regarding Palestine, and I'm glad that he is actively protesting against the brutality of the crimes that are happening over there. But at the end of the day, he's best known for his music, and we all want him to be still doing that.

I know it sounds shallow of me, but I'm not saying that he should shut up about his opinions on the subject (I commend him for it), but I think most people would agree with me that he should focus more on his music.

[mastaflatch]

(...) I share the same political opinions as Roger, particularly regarding Palestine, and I'm glad that he is actively protesting against the brutality of the crimes that are happening over there. But at the end of the day, he's best known for his music, and we all want him to be still doing that.

I know it sounds shallow of me, but I'm not saying that he should shut up about his opinions on the subject (I commend him for it), but I think most people would agree with me that he should focus more on his music.

You know what's the most hilarious facet of it all? Even if Roger was releasing new music and touring extensively, writing the kind of songs he's been writing for decades i.e. very politically oriented with a strong bias for humanism and, to a certain extent, socialism, and still taking a stance for his own beliefs via social medias and interviews, a lot of people would still be upset, calling him names et cetera only because they disagree with him. You can't go pleasing everyone and Roger Waters fans (or so-called fans) should really know better already. Nowhere in his body of work there's the faintest suggestion that he would have any right-wing leanings, get the fuck over it people or go listen to Kid Rock or Ted Nugent.