Roger Waters shares the one Pink Floyd song that should ‘work for any generation’

A song from the legendary band Pink Floyd works for “any generation” according to lyricist and bass player, Roger Waters.

The band released dozens of classics, but Waters has suggested a song from The Wall transcends time and would work for decades to come. An interview given by Waters after the release of The Wall had the veteran songwriter share his thoughts on one of the band’s biggest songs. Waters said the song works on “various levels” but appears to be about work and death most of all. The double album from 1979 was released to mixed critical appraisal but has since received plenty of acclaim and has become an integral part of Pink Floyd’s discography.

Another Brick in the Wall, Part I, was the song Waters said could work for every generation, and his reasoning links to the “simple story” it tells. The bass player confirmed he featured in the song, as he saw a lot of himself in the character sent off to war. He said in an interview at the time: “Yeah, well, it could be, you see it works on various levels – it doesn’t have to be about the war – I mean it should work for any generation really.

“The father is also… I’m the father as well. You know, people who leave their families to go and work, not that I would leave my family to go and work, but lots of people do and have done, so it’s not meant to be a simple story about, you know, somebody’s getting killed in the war or growing up and going to school, etc, etc, etc but about being left, more generally.”

It is not the first song from The Wall which Waters has broken down in an interview, with another song featured on the album calling back “to the days of Syd Barrett.” Barrett had founded the group in 1965 but left shortly before the release of the group’s second album, Saucerful of Secrets.

Waters said at the time: “There are some lines in here that harp back to the halcyon days of Syd Barrett, it’s partly about all kinds of people I’ve known. But Sid was the only person I used to know who used elastic bands to keep his boots together, which is where that line comes from.

“In fact the ‘obligatory Hendrix perm’ you have to go back ten years before you understand what all that’s about.” He further confirmed the meaning behind the “fading roots” line heard later in the song, which Waters said was about “contact” more than anything.

He added: “Well, he’s getting ready to establish contact if you like, with where he started, and to start making some sense of what it was all about. If you like he’s getting ready here to start getting back to side one.”