Roger Waters believes he knows why The Dark Side of the Moon is still such a popular album.
The classic album from Pink Floyd is still highly regarded by listeners, with Waters noting new generations are still listening to songs like Us and Them and Time. The bassist believes part of the ongoing allure of the album comes from the still-relevant commentaries made by some of the songs on the album. Speaking to Uncut Magazine in 2007, the veteran performer suggested The Dark Side of the Moon still “speaks to successive generations” with the “same concerns” the band had at the time of writing their seminal piece of work. Waters even noted that those attending his love shows, be it ten-year-olds or eighty-year-olds, are still moved by the work which has left people with an “enormous attachment” to The Dark Side of the Moon.
He said: “The record is musically sophisticated and yet simple. The song structures are very simple. Lyrically, it speaks to successive generations who have continued to have the same concerns over and over and over again. Sadly, a song like Us and Them seems just as apposite politically in 2006 as it did in 1979.
“Also a song like Time expresses feelings lots of young people have when they reach a certain age and they’re looking for meaning. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, all you young people out there, but it goes on. We keep re-examining out lives and our relationships with our friends, our family, and other human beings.”
Waters would go on to suggest there is an “enormous attachment” between the album and successive generations who are discovering Pink Floyd’s work for the first time. He continued: “There’s no doubt there’s an enormous attachment to the work that runs through umpteen generations of people which is very moving when you’re playing it live.
“In the show, I go out to the edges of the stage and get close to people. I get empathy from all kinds of different people, particularly out in the wings where the seats are a bit cheaper. They’re all ages, from 10- to 80-year-olds, and it’s great.”
Pink Floyd’s Live 8 reunion may mean as much to listeners as The Dark Side of the Moon too, with Waters suggesting guitarist David Gilmour does not understand how big a deal the show was.
Waters said: “No, of course not. I was sort of controlling the whole thing without doing anything. It was a bit like walking on rice paper. I think it was a bit of a worry to him.
“I might be wrong, but he came up with some strange comments after Live 8, one of which was ‘I don’t know what the big fuss is about. It would have been just the same whether Roger was there or not’. That illustrated for me that maybe he doesn’t quite get how important the symbiosis between the four of us was during ‘the golden years’ of the band.
“We were great together. We all made a contribution, but it was the combination of the four separate talents. It was a very, very special thing.” Despite Gilmour’s alleged dislike of the performance, Waters was full of praise for his former bandmates, and particularly the guitarist’s singing.
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