Roger Waters says Pink Floyd song is ‘extremely simplistic’ pastiche of rock and roll

An “extremely simplistic” song from Pink Floyd‘s discography is meant to be a pastiche of rock and roll.

Bassist and songwriter Roger Waters confirmed the song’s meaning in an interview given at the time of its release, suggesting it was not only a knock at traditional rock but also an “extremely simplistic” story that everyone could understand. Breaking down the ease with which the song could be understood, Waters suggested you “probably won’t hear the words” during a traditional rock and roll show. In the same interview, Waters had suggested parts of The Wall were influenced by the growing attendees and alienating experience of performing at stadiums across the world.

He said at the time: “It’s just about the ways that one protects oneself from one’s isolation by becoming obsessed with other people’s ideas. Whether the idea is that it’s good to drive…have a powerful car, you know, or whether you’re obsessed with the idea of being a vegetarian…adopting somebody else’s criteria for yourself.

“Without considering them from a position of really being yourself; on this level the story is extremely simplistic, I hope that on other levels there are less tangible, more effective things that come through. I think it’s ok in a show, where you only hear the words, you probably won’t hear the words at all the way rock and roll shows get produced.”

The song which inspired these feelings for Waters was What Shall We Do Now, a song which was replaced with Empty Spaces on the film for The Wall. What Shall We Do Now would return on Is There Anybody Out There?, the live album for The Wall recorded over 1980 and 1981. The song is sometimes listed as Empty Spaces, as is the case for The Wall: Live in Berlin.

Waters went on to explain the “young lust” line from the song of the same name, suggesting it was a “pastiche number.” He said: “When I wrote this song “Young lust” the words were all quite different, it was about leaving school and wandering around town and hanging around outside porno movies and dirty bookshops and being very interested in sex, but never actually being able to get involved because of being too frightened actually.

“Now it’s completely different, that was a function of us all working together on the record, particularly with Dave Gilmour and Bob Ezrin who, we co-produced the album together, the three of us co-produced it.

“Young Lust is a pastiche number. It reminds me very much of a song we recorded years and years ago called The Nile Song, it’s very similar, Dave sings it in a very similar way. I think he sings Young Lust terrific, I love the vocals. But it’s meant to be a pastiche of any young rock and roll band out on the road.”