4 Songs That Show the Softer Side of Roger Waters

If you’ve been following music news lately, you know that Roger Waters isn’t afraid to speak his mind. His beefs with members of the Osbourne family and Metallica provide ample evidence of that.

Waters is also known for his caustic lyrics as a songwriter, both when he was with Pink Floyd and as a solo act. But these four songs show that a softer side of his artistic persona.

“If”

The mental flameout of original lead singer and songwriter Syd Barrett forced Pink Floyd to change on the fly at the end of the 60s. For a while, they struggled to define what their identity would be. In 1970, the album Atom Heart Mother found them attempting a kind of orchestral suite on one side of the record. On the other side, they focused on more traditional songcraft. Waters, who hadn’t yet taken over as the sole lyricist for the band, stepped forward with “If”. The song touches on themes that he’d hit much harder in later years. That includes the unfortunate chasm between people who should be reaching out to find empathetic common ground.

“Wish You Were Here”

Pink Floyd labored to find a worthy topic for a follow-up following the runaway success of The Dark Side Of The Moon. They eventually looked back to the sad case of Syd Barrett on Wish You Were Here. As the lyricist, Waters didn’t sugarcoat Barrett’s sad decline on the powerful “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” suite. He also took aim at the music industry on biting songs like “Have A Cigar” and “Welcome To The Machine”. But the album’s most moving moment, and perhaps the most moving one of the band’s career, came with “Wish You Were Here”. Waters’ lyrics to music written by David Gilmour speak to the way any one of us can recede from not just our friends but even ourselves.

“Nobody Home”

Pink Floyd were never a band known for their light touch. The Wall, which Waters masterminded in terms of the concept and writing, goes pretty dark even for their standards. At one point, Pink, the album’s protagonist, flirts with fascistic tendencies after being battered about all through his life by the forces around him. Within all that, however, Waters drops one of the tenderest love-gone-wrong ballads of the classic rock era. The narrator details all his creature comforts in the verses. But as he reaches the chorus, he comes to the realization that none of that matters without someone he can call so that he can unload his troubles at the end of the day.

“The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)”

After Waters acrimoniously departed Pink Floyd, he began a solo career that continued with the thematic aspects that he’d brought to his former band. Radio KAOS, released in 1987, is typically bleak in many places. Nuclear destruction even rears its head during the album. But Waters surprises us with the closing track “The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)”. Apparently, his record company had impressed upon him the need to insert something with just a little more positivity. Although Waters didn’t perform at the Live Aid concerts in 1985, the togetherness of the audiences during the concerts inspired him. The song he wrote picks up on those uplifting vibes.

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