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When classic literature is discussed, minds often turn to long dead poets, playwrights, and other revered minds of the literary world. However, anything in the realm of modern music is often simply dismissed due to the "pop culture" nature of it. Caught directly in this glaring oversight is long-time Pink Floyd lyricist Roger Waters. Waters’ lyrics of pain, isolation, insanity, and political satire cannot be overlooked simply because they are presented in modern rock songs. Waters’ songs and albums are indeed valid literary works as they explore the facets of everyday life, much like the classic works of the past. Of the many albums he has penned, each one presents its own concept. These concepts are masterfully fleshed out over the course of the album, taking the listener on an audiophonic tour of Roger’s world. Albums such as “Animals,” a modern insight into society much like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and “The Dark Side of the Moon,” an exploration of insanity, serve as all-time classics in the music world. Perhaps it was the cult-like mysticism that followed the band through their history that made them a revolutionary cultural icon; more than likely it was the common interest that humans hold of the unexplained parts of society. Combine this interesting song context with the Floyd’s lush sound and a band whose music has defined a generation is born. George Roger Waters was born September 9, 1943 (Schaffner, 1991, p. 15) while World War II was raging on. Roger, as he came to be called, was the third child of Eric Waters - the only child that never knew his father. The elder Waters was gunned down in Italy in early 1944 along with forty thousand other British soldiers in the attempt to capture the Anzio Bridgehead from the Nazis (Schaffner, 1991, p. 15). Subsequently, Roger was raised by his widowed mother, Mary Waters. Without a paternal figure in the house, Roger was brought up in a very no-nonsense manner. Right and wrong were clearly defined, and as soon as he was of age, he was shipped off to grammar school. This strict, sheltered childhood had a lasting impact on Roger’s life and music which is most evidently seen in “The Wall”. After grammar school, Roger attended the Cambridge County High School For Boys. Here he met future band member Syd Barrett. After graduating high school, Roger elected to study architecture at Regent Street Polytechnic, where he met Rick Wright and Nick Mason. The three immediately developed a friendship and formed a band “Sigma 6”. After gaining popularity locally, the trio ran into Syd Barrett, Roger’s old school chum, and Bob Close. Close immediately joined Sigma 6 as lead guitarist, but frequently clashed with Barrett when it came to experimenting with sound. Consequently, Close left the Sigma 6, leaving Syd to lead the group. With the advent of Syd, they decided a name change was in order. Syd renamed his new band, calling it “The Pink Floyd Sound" - a tribute to Georgia blues players Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The new group hit the London underground and became an instant hit with the people with their long winded “space” jams such as “Interstellar Overdrive” and “Astronomy Domine” which featured a liquid light show projected onto a screen behind them. After refining both their image and their sound as the regular house band at the UFO, they went professional as “Pink Floyd” on February 1, 1967 (Schaffner, 1991, p. 26). Shortly after this leap of progress, they released their first single “Arnold Layne,” the story of a cross-dressing kleptomaniac. No sooner had the Floyd released it than they were taking flak over it. Radio London banned the single, labeling it as “smutty” (Schaffner, 1991, p. 54). “If we can’t write and sing songs about various forms of human predicament,” Roger retorted, “then we might as well not be in the business”(Schaffner, 1991, p. 54). This was truly a prediction of things to come, as he would pen four albums in the seventies that would not only explore human predicament, but also set the music world on its ear. After the success of “Arnold Layne,” the Floyd released their debut album in 1967. Named after the seventh chapter in The Wind In The Willows, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” was an instant success, featuring instrumental tracks “Interstellar Overdrive” and “Pow R. Toc H.,” as well as the Waters penned “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk.” The title of the album also had an ominous prognosis. The chapter from which it was taken was the chapter wherein the young otter Portly was lost and Rat and Mole went looking for him. While they were searching for Portly during the night, they were drawn to an island in the middle of the stream by the sound of piping. The island was described as “Reserved, shy, but full of significance, it hid whatever it might hold behind a veil, keeping it till the hour should come.” Here they found a Piper, “Some great animal,” who had found Portly and was keeping him safe until he was found. After this experience, Mole remarked “I feel as if I had been through something very exciting and rather terrible, and it was just over; and yet nothing in particular has happened.” To this, Rat replied “Or something very surprising and splendid and beautiful.” (Grahame, 1908, pp. 74-83) This whole experience for Mole and Rat was much like the experience of releasing an album for Pink Floyd. Until then, all of their talents remained hidden behind a veil - with the release of an album, the music world would be able to see what Pink Floyd could do. The conversation between Mole and Rat also holds more significance than could have been imagined when they first named the album. True, the release of “Piper” could have been “nothing in particular,” but it turned out to be “something very ... splendid” (Grahame, 1908, p. 82). After the initial success of “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” lead guitarist Syd Barrett's mental health began to decline. Assisted largely by the vast amounts of acid he was taking, combined with the instant pop-stardom he had achieved, he became “well freaked-out” (Schaffner, 1991, p.76) much of the time, as well as very undependable for gigs. When he was well enough to perform, he often stood on stage with a vacant expression, randomly strumming at various chords. Irked at their bandleader’s unreliability, the others began talking of letting him go from the band. One day they simply didn’t pick him up for rehearsal; on April 6, 1968, it was announced that Syd Barrett had “left” the group. Without Syd, Roger took up much of the responsibility as band leader, which not only included hiring David Gilmour as the new lead, but also penning the majority of the songs. Their sophomore album, “A Saucerful of Secrets”, proved to be a milestone in the second year of Pink Floyd’s career. Without Syd, the primary influence for their psychedelic nature, they had to find their own way, both in music and image. While there were traces of Syd on the album, such as the psychotic “Jugband Blues,” the album was mainly progressive in nature. The listener got a taste of what was to come from Waters with the sarcastic “Corporal Clegg,” the tale of a “shell-shocked war hero.” (Schaffner, 1991, p. 132) However, the most evolved song in the way of the Floydian sound that became the standard in the seventies was probably the title track “A Saucerful of Secrets.” With each subsequent album, Pink Floyd continued to develop their sound a little more with every release. Over the course of the next five years, the Floyd released two more notable studio albums, “Atom Heart Mother” in 1970 and “Meddle” in 1971. Although “Atom Heart Mother” did give them their first number one record, the only piece that served to develop their sound further was, once again, the title track. “I’m bored with most of the stuff we’ve done. I’m bored with most of the stuff we play ... There isn’t much new stuff, is there?” (Waters as quoted in Melody Maker, March 7, 1970). If there was one crowning moment that shifted things into “overdrive”, then this would have to be it. Roger became truly bored with everything Floyd had done up to that point in time, and he decided it was time to make a change. The album “Meddle” was that change. Filled with jazz riffs, a sweet harmony, and even some innovative pieces, “Meddle” was the record that began the era of definitive Floyd. In the fashion of “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Atom Heart Mother”, “Meddle” also contained a long instrumental piece, this time titled “Echoes.” Utilizing a repeat echo unit left over from the Syd Barrett era, each member went into the studio and recorded various instrumental “ramblings” and whatever else came to mind at the moment (Schaffner, 1991, p. l64). When this was edited, Pink Floyd had a twenty-three minute soundscape of musical wonder. More interesting was “Fearless,” a song to which Roger wrote the words and Dave Gilmour penned the score. With lyrics like “fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd,”(Pink Floyd, 2000, meddle.html) that hinted at the Barrett situation, “Fearless” directly inspired another song.
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