Roger Waters Compares David Gilmour’s Version of Pink Floyd to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Touring

Roger Waters performing acoustic guitar and vocals during an intimate studio session

via El Muro De Pink Floyd / YouTube

Questioning Pink Floyd Without Him

Roger Waters has compared the David Gilmour-led version of Pink Floyd to “Paul and Ringo touring as The Beatles.”

Waters, who left the group in 1985, was outspoken about the band carrying on without him. He described the nine years Gilmour fronted Pink Floyd after his departure as a “complicated” period for both him and his former bandmates.

The bassist also spoke about songwriting recognition, drawing a connection to Paul McCartney’s long-running frustrations with the Lennon-McCartney credit. Waters admitted he has regrets of his own, particularly about the credits on The Dark Side of the Moon. While reflecting on that struggle, he said he felt a sense of closeness with John Lennon’s outlook on life.

 

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Views on Songwriting and Credit

Speaking to Word Magazine, Waters explained: “Well there’s a section in a song of mine, What God Wants Part 2, that goes, ‘God wants friendship, God wants fame, God wants credit, God wants blame, God wants poverty, God wants wealth, God wants insurance, God wants to cover himself’.”

He went on: “Sometimes wanting credit can get in the way of friendship. I certainly want my work to be recognised, so I can understand Paul McCartney wanting the same thing. We’ll never know who did what in The Beatles as we weren’t there.

“I confess I always felt an affinity with John Lennon in his troubled search for the meaning of life and love and truth. We all have our favourite Beatle, but whatever they did they did together.”

Calling the Gilmour Era “Weird”

Continuing with the Beatles comparison, Waters suggested that Pink Floyd’s post-Waters years under Gilmour were awkward. The Gilmour-led band released A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, with The Endless River following decades later.

Waters said: “That we did what we did together? Yeah, it’s true. But it’s a bit more complicated. If Paul and Ringo had toured as The Beatles, it would have been kind of weird.”

Regrets Over The Dark Side of the Moon

Though Pink Floyd thrived commercially without him, Waters has often revisited his own mixed feelings about the band’s most iconic album. Speaking with Uncut Magazine, he admitted: “This album is my baby. In terms of what the records were about, they were my ideas and I wrote them. Dave, particularly, but Rick as well, had major, important contributions.

“I’ve regretted it rather a lot since, but I’m over that now. I went through many years when I really regretted having given away half the writing credits, particularly [Nick Mason’s solo credit for] Speak To Me. I gave it to him. Nobody else had anything to do with it at all.”

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