A “complete piece of music” is the blueprint Pink Floyd would follow after recording one particular song, Roger Waters says.
The bassist and songwriter has confirmed working on a song with the group led him to believe the songs could form a piece of music as a whole, rather than just be a collection of individual songs. Waters has confirmed “one long piece of music” is what inspired him to piece the songs together both instrumentally and lyrically, and likened it to “strangers passing in the street”. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall are the clearest examples of this, and Waters even suggested one of the two albums has stood the test of time because it is one continuous story which feeds into each song.
Waters suggested Echoes from Meddle is the influential turning point for the group. He said: “I think immediately after Echoes, which was one long piece of music. Within that were a number of different musical movements.
“It was the whole of that side of the record. Lyrically, it expressed some of the same preoccupations of alienation and isolation that crop up in The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. You know, that stuff about two strangers passing in the street, that we’re connected, but we have problems allowing that connection to materialise.”
Waters was then asked which album he said best showcased the strength of the overarching story tied together by separate songs. He said: “I have increasingly come to believe that the sonic and musical qualities of [The Dark Side of the Moon] record in some way express the underlying emotional and political concerns. There’s a symbiosis about it.”
The bassist also believed Pink Floyd should have come to an end when the group released The Dark Side of the Moon. Waters said the band had “cracked” what it meant to make a perfect record, and it would have been the perfect time for the group to go their separate ways.
He said: “But of course, The Dark Side Of The Moon finished Pink Floyd off once and for all. To be that successful is the aim of every group. And once you’ve cracked it, it’s all over. In hindsight, I think Pink Floyd was finished as long ago as that.”
It is clearly not a view held by Gilmour, who continued on with the band for nearly a decade without Waters. Guitar veteran Gilmour would later share the reason he avoided performing Waters’ songs after the bassist left Pink Floyd.
He shared: “That’s the way it goes. Every time we’d go into a town, there’d be a Pink Floyd Day, tons of records would be played, the Performing Rights Society or the BMI in America would pick up some royalties, which would be distributed to the people who wrote those songs – perfectly right.
“And when Roger plays The Wall in Berlin, money for some of those songs will be paid to me. I do think it’s slightly funny at times, but it’s not a subject one would want to dwell on overlong.”
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