Quotes by Roger Waters

“Who is the strongest, who is the best, who holds the aces, the East or the West. This is the crap our children are learning.”

“Each small candle lights a corner of the darkWhen the wheel of pain stops turning And the branding iron stops burningWhen the children can be children When the desperados weaken When the tide rolls into greet themAnd the natural law of science Greets the humble and the mighty And a billion candles burning Lights the dark side of every human mind”

“Is gentleness too much for usShould gentleness be filed along with empathyWe feel for someone elses childEvery time a smart bomb does its sums and gets it wrongSomeone elses child dies and equities in defence riseAmerica, America, please hear us when we callYou got hip-hop, be-bop, hustle and bustleYou got Atticus FinchYou got Jane RussellYou got freedom of speechYou got great beaches, wildernesses and mallsDont let the might, the Christian right, fuck it all upFor you and the rest of the world”

“I could have been an architect, but I dont think Id have been very happy. Nearly all modern architecture is a silly game as far as I can see.”

“Either you write songs or you dont. And if you do write songs like I do, I think theres a natural desire to want to make records.”

“I always used to look at books and wonder how anybody could come up with so many words. But my divorce and then falling in love with somebody else has released in me an ability to write in other ways apart from songs.”

“I confess Ive never felt like a passenger.”

“Im in competition with myself and Im losing.”

“All my life, ... I have been preoccupied with the great tragedy of losing family in wars. The pain of losing a parent or a child in (an act of) violence that is purposefully and directly generated by political forces is in a certain way harder to bear than if someone dies in, say, an accident. The death feels more preventable.”

Did you see the frightened ones,Did you hear the falling bombs,Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter in the promise of a brave new world unfurlled beaneath the clear blue skies.Good bye blue skies.

The Gunners Dream (From The Final Cut)Floating down through the clouds Memories come rushing up to meet me now. In the space between the heavens and in the corner of some foreign field I had a dream. I had a dream. Good-bye Max. Good-bye Ma. After the service when youre walking slowly to the car And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air You hear the tolling bell And touch the silk in your lapel And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band You take her frail hand And hold on to the dream. A place to stay Enough to eat Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street Where you can speak out loud About your doubts and fears And whats more no-one ever disappears You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door. You can relax on both sides of the tracks And maniacs dont blow holes in bandsmen by remote control And everyone has recourse to the law And no-one kills the children anymore. And no one kills the children anymore. Night after night Going round and round my brain His dream is driving me insane. In the corner of some foreign field The gunner sleeps tonight. Whats done is done. We cannot just write off his final scene. Take heed of his dream.

Wish You Were Here So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, Blue skys from pain. Can you tell a green field From a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell? And did they get you to trade Your heros for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange A walk on part in the war For a lead role in a cage? How I wish, how I wish you were here. Were just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.

Were just two lost souls Swimming in a fish bowl, Year after year, Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here.

All that you touch All that you see All that you taste All you feel. All that you love All that you hate All you distrust All you save. All that you give All that you deal All that you buy, beg, borrow or steal. All you create All you destroy All that you do All that you say. All that you eat And everyone you meet All that you slight And everyone you fight. All that is now All that is gone All thats to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact its all dark.

What have we here, laddie? Mysterious scribblings? A secret code? Oh, poems, no less! Poems, everybody!

Hanging on in Quiet Desperation is the English Way

Mother do you think theyll drop the bomb? Mother do you think theyll like this song? Mother do you think theyll try to break my balls?Mother should I build the wall?Mother should I run for president?Mother should I trust the government?Mother will they put me in the firing line?Mother am I really dying?Hush now baby, baby, dont you cry.Mothers gonna make all your nightmares come true.Mothers gonna put all her fears into you.Mothers gonna keep you right here under her wing.She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,Of course mamall help to build the wall.Mother do you think shes good enough -- to me?Mother do you think shes dangerous -- to me?Mother will she tear your little boy apart?Mother will she break my heart?Hush now baby, baby dont you cry.Mamas gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.Mama wont let anyone dirty get through.Mamas gonna wait up until you get in.Mama will always find out where youve been.Mamas gonna keep baby healthy and clean.Ooooh baby oooh baby oooh baby,Youll always be baby to me.Mother, did it need to be so high?

Not the torturer will scare me, nor the bodys final fall, nor the barrels of deaths rifles, nor the shadows on the wall, nor the night when to the ground the last dim star of pain, is hurled but the blind indifference of a merciless, unfeeling world.

I could have been an architect, but I dont think Id have been very happy. Nearly all modern architecture is a silly game as far as I can see.

I think there are things in my story that have helped my creativity. Your father being killed, for instance, is one of the best things that could happen to a kid if hes going to write poetry or songs.