A decision to credit all of Pink Floyd in the writing of The Dark Side of the Moon is a choice Roger Waters “regrets”.
The bassist and frontman of the band says he wished he had not offered writing credits on the album to bandmates Nick Mason, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. While the trio were hugely influential on the instrumental portions of the album, Waters says he wrote the entire work without input from the rest of Pink Floyd. Waters remains protective of the album, so much so he released a “redux” version of The Dark Side of the Moon in 2023, which remains a contentious release for Pink Floyd fans. Despite this, his love for the classic progressive rock album is clear, and Waters has called it “my baby”.
In an interview with Uncut Magazine in 2003, Waters confirmed he “regrets” the decision to credit his Pink Floyd bandmates. He said: “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.”
Though he was thankful for the contributions made by Gilmour and Wright, Waters remained clear in his belief that it was a mistake to credit them as writers for the album. Waters went as far as to single out a credit given to Mason which he had come to regret.
Waters shared: “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.”
The bassist would also criticise Gilmour, who had suggested his contributions to The Dark Side of the Moon were not as great because he had been “lazy” around this period. Waters disagreed, though, and suggested the problem with Gilmour and The Dark Side of the Moon was not his attitude, but his ideas.
Waters added: “He doesn’t have very many ideas. He’s a great guitar player, but he’s not really a writer. However conscientious or hard-working Dave was, he would never actually write anything.”
Gilmour released his most recent studio album, Luck and Strange, in 2024. Fans picked up on the September 6 release date as more than a coincidence, as they believed Gilmour had chosen the date to coincide with Waters’ birthday.
Cult Following previously reported the link between release date and bassist’s birthday. One user wrote: “David Gilmour has been trolling Roger on his birthday the last four years.” Another user replied with screenshots of Pink Floyd posts on social media, which wish their former band member “peace and enlightenment” on his birthday.
But some were unconvinced by the theory Gilmour had chosen the date of release to poke fun at Waters. One fan wrote: “The date was probably decided by the record company and they probably had no clue it was his birthday. Still ironic and awesome though.” Others disagreed, though, and some fans maintain it is a “delicious” joke from Gilmour.
David Gilmour is living rent free in Rogers head for years and the fact that 2 decent albums were made without his input drives him crazy
Decent?
I guess, since that is a rather low bar.
I disagree. ‘Strange’ is a weak album. Its lyrics are sophomoric and the tracks only hit the essence of Pink Floyd with a long guitar solo. It’s like Beatles songs without the edge of Lennon.
The Beatles songs without the edge of Lennon? Would they include Helter Skelter, I’m Down, I Saw Her Standing There, Drive My Car??
The Lennon was edgy and McCartney was soft narrative is getting old, and was never true in the first place.
Quite so. Waters just seems like a classically cranky and bitter man.
Couldn’t agree more.
Waters can regret all he wants but fact is je hasn’t done any writing on his own which rivals dark side or the wall animals or the division Bell .when you see the making of dark side of the moon it’s clear Roger didn’t write everything and Gilmour mason and wright had equal contributions . Waters write the lyrics , great he got credit and his share of cash . The guy has narcissist issues .
Waters is a narcissist, but both Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking and Amused to Death are better than Floyd without him. Waters is the better writer, Gilmour the better musician. They’re both brilliant producers. Gilmour’s writing has improved since he began working with his wife more extensively. He works best when the concept isn’t so rigid, whereas Waters could never make an album of unrelated songs.
The lyrics are not the song. Gilmour has always been better musically. Dark Side was what Floyd could be as a band. The bright spots of The Wall are where Gilmour had input. On Dark Side, I would argue they needed to share credit more. In a modern song what Alan Parsons did as the audio engineer would be recognized as contributing to the album creatively.
Wright wrote the great gig in the sky and us and them. Waters would never be where he is today without Barret, Gilmour, Mason and Wright. He has destroyed his legacy. What a tool.
Roger waters is both the best and worst part of Pink Floyd.
Man, I’ll never understand this I mean these guys put together classics and regardless of what’s said if either one of them were not there none of these great sounds lyrics would exist. And my opinion if David wasn’t there Floyd would never be Pink as pinks always been there
How has Roger Waters solo albums done compared to Pink Floyds albums without Roger Waters? I would say not even in the ball park. Ive seen Pink Floyd without Waters and ive seen Waters solo tour. No comparison. Pink Floyd was great and Waters was an anti Trump rally. Waters is a hate mongering, anti semite. He’s also a jealous male reproductive organ.
Damnit you are right. I much prefer dark side and the wall to momentary lapse of reason and division bell though.
Really? Come on Roger. If you call that steaming pile of crap remix of Dark Side of the Moon your vision, maybe THEY shouldn’t give you any writing credits, cuz that shit sucked hard. Dark side of the moon is one of top albums ever made because All members contributed and a magical chemistry was created. Had you released your “version” of DSM first, we would not even be debating this because you would have fallen off the planet in obscurity 50 years ago. Perhaps a little gratitude to the guys that helped shape your music and rock and roll in general?
Waters is a lyrical genius and that’s about it. Gilmour, Wright, and Mason gave the music soul. Gilmour is also not a raging prick that picks a fight with everyone. Credit where it’s due but they got along pretty good without Waters for two albums not to mention their subsequent tours. I saw them in 94. Best show I’ve ever experienced. I’ll take Gilmour over Waters any day. Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets tour sounds great as well. We lost Wright far too soon. 😢
I saw Pink Floyd in 1969 which was an eye opener with Umaguma! I saw Roger Waters at the “Desert Trip” festival. The show was amazing starting off with ” set the controls for the heart sun”. 5 years later I saw them during the “This is not a drill” tour. Didn’t even enjoy that show! He went to great lengths to express his displeasure with the upward trend in fascism worldwide. Which is undeniably true. However he fails to understand he has become a “Useful Idiot” for Putin. The politics overpowered the show.
If this pr*ck Waters were honest, he would have left Great Gig, Us & Them, Any Colour you like and On the Run out of his disgraceful redux. His version is based on the album as composed by the Floyd. His demo of Time was so bad, it wasn’t included in the Immersion set: same lyrics, zero melody. Speak to Me is not his idea either, it’s a reworking of Heart Beat, Pig Meat from Zabriskie Point and it’s a percussive idea.
Dark Side is not great as a concept album, the concept is underdeveloped at best. It’s great because the concept is dressed in the most exquisite music. His “concepts”, once devoid of the Floyd magic, gave birth to the worst solo albums in prog history. The demo for Pros and Cons was supposed to be better than The Wall. I don’t hear that anywhere in that waste of vynil.
I have had the suspicion that the Vacuum-Cleaner Monster that dwells in the “Sea of Monsters” from “The Yellow Submarine” animation uwas none other than Roger Waters with the sun image on the creature a reference to “Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun” after he assumed control of the band following Syd Barrett’s demise, after which David Gilmore revealed that he had become “a pushy sort of fellow.”
For FS Rog, give it a break!! You would not have been nearly as successful without the rest of the band. You are a great lyricist and I absolutely love “Amused To Death ” but give it a break man. You have been away from the band as long as you were in it. Syd just as important as well, without him there would have been no Pink Floyd. Couldn’t have started without him, couldn’t have gone on with him!
The problem is is how the law looks at song writing. If I recall Roger a great lyricist and that already is 50 % of copyright to a song . Then you look at the melody line. . All the rest are production elements.
Theory. Roger may be right. But musicians bounce of each other and bring things to life. Then production makes or breaks a song. Roger not so successful on his own because the band give the songs light and shade, textures. So everyone relevant to it’s success.
Let bigones be bigones I say.m
Lately it’s simply impossible to avoid this hysteria!
Except for Speak to Me, Roger didn’t “give” anything. David and Richard earned those credits. Roger was an asshole then and he’s only become more so in the years since.
He’s a narcissist of the highest order. You know what you do to narcissists? You bring them back to reality by IGNORING THEM. I have been successful doing this for at least 40 years, now. At age 70, I’m betting I’ll be able to keep that going the rest of the way out. Lol!
FU Roger. You just love to file DSOTM into your cubby hole of history. Nah.
Self praise is no praise
He was once gracious and is now bitter. Grumpy old man syndrome .
I really like Roger’s music, for that I give him full credit. But he was not apart of the band beginnings and is narcissistic as he believes he should have full credits. He needs to give it a rest and help others with his money instead of throwing rocks.
Well done wee man and well said yes best band in world ever,and again roger waters,his best album since leaving them by far has got to be Radio Kaos brill
Like so many others, Roger’s has forgotten that music is half of any song. Since, as he says, Pink Floyd contributed musically, then they are every bit as important as the lyric writer. DSOTM is great with the lyrics stripped out. Is is nothing as spoken lyrics.
Waters was also the reason Syd Barrett left. Barrett was a better musician and songwriter than Waters. Waters didn’t want to give Barrett credit for anything and would not perform with Pink Floyd until he got his way. In interviews after he left, Syd even said that Waters did not write very much of the songs that Pink Floyd performed. It was always a fight to record anything with Waters.
Barrett was replaced because he could not longer perform
Waters hasn’t done anything interesting or, frankly, good on his own.
Waters is the best rock lyricist from that era. I respect his work without Floyd’s input: the gunners dream, three wishes, the powers that be, amused to death, what god wants, the bravery of being out of range, pros and cons from start to finish, etc. HOWEVER, I have to be in a certain mindset. Not looking for melody and a pleasant chorus. Rather, I need to be able to really focus on the lyrics and story.
I expect to hear background noise like a radio or TV, a simple slow chord progression, and Roger basically talking instead of singing. Not always the case for the album title songs, but generally how his albums flow.
If I’m not in the mood for an artsy trip, I play Floyd instead of solo Roger. AMLOR and Division Bell prove what the band brought to Water’s songwriting. Wright and Gilmour’s solo albums do as well. All the pieces together made the magic happen.
He’s over it, except for still talking about it?
Jesus,.man, get over your ego. You were part of one of the greatest bands that ever lived, and without ANY single person, it wouldn’t have been the same.
Any day now, we’ll hear Waters tell us that the sun rises due to his manipulation of the planets.
Pity that them guys have to stoop so low and do this in public.Just shows how “small” they really are.
i though roger’s re-release of dark side was proof enough that his solo effort wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.