The “wall” between Waters and his band mates caused a rift, there is no doubt. Waters was a solitary creature whose obsession with his music created a barrier between himself and those who could not share in his madness. But, in Water’s opinion, his band mates never fully appreciated his dedication to the social commentary he felt was so essential to his art. They never comprehended the imperative nature of the questions he felt were mandatory to ask society. He created masterpieces in his secluded whirlwind of lust for the truth as he saw it. Was he misunderstood? Was the band hastily pushing him out to make way for their self interest, instead of taking the time to appreciate and exalt the music in its form? Were they too preoccupied with being disgruntled, using him as their scapegoat for maintaining the dissonant tone the band consistently preferred?
Most of the “professionals” in this matter - in this case, Pink Floyd fans - whose writings I have consulted for this assignment would, for the most part, resoundingly respond “no” when asked if the band’s deprecation of Waters’ music was at fault for the breakup. There is, of course, an inherent flaw in the enlistment of a fan’s opinion: the fan is prone to obsess about the perpetuation of the music and deny the crushing reality of the termination of the art they adore. People are Elvis fans, one way or another. They refuse to accept that what they once loved has been lost. It could very well be the opinion of still others that the breakup of the band occurred when Syd (the founder) left it. Or, still another opinion could be that the breakup occurred officially in 1995, when the group of people who referred to themselves as “Pink Floyd” broke up. However, the most enduring opinion, throughout the numerous perspectives I have viewed is that the band “broke up” when Roger Waters quit. Logically, if that moment is considered to be the moment at which Pink Floyd ceased to exist, you must examine the reasoning behind that viewpoint. The reason most people believe that to be the point at which Pink Floyd “broke up” (or, ceased to exist in a complete manner) is because of the essential role Roger Waters played in the artistry and profound nature of the band and its music. Roger Waters brought punctuation to the band; he brought ideology, creativity, and expansion to a group of Regent Street Polytechnic architecture students and he did, in fact, make them famous.
It was fully admitted and publicized that Roger Waters had taken on the band as his personal project; his erection. He strongly exercised his artistic influence over the albums, inventing original and astoundingly inventive concepts for the band which catapulted them permanently into the limelight. They (Pink Floyd) became well-known due to Roger Waters’ brainchildren, including his conception of certain iconographies such as the infamous pig, the wall, eclectic sound techniques, and much more that had poured solely from this amazing, poetic mind. Unfortunately, it seemed that this band, regardless of its popularity, fame or riches, would never escape the dark flavor of trauma that accompanied the bastardization of its inception. This band was, after all, conceived originally from a mentally unstable drug addict who found himself helpless to prevent the downward spiral of his internal conflict, and who abandoned his infant entity shortly after its birth. Syd Barrett bore Pink Floyd and then left it on Roger Waters’ doorstep. Roger fed it and nurtured it as though it were his own. And it just kept growing. Rick Wright also encountered problems involving his addiction to drugs, and was “kicked out” of the band itself, though he stayed on to play on a salary. Rick died in 2008, making a reunion highly unlikely in present day.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
When Roger Waters had finally had enough criticism and resistance from his band members, he declared that Pink Floyd was a “spent force”. That was 1985. Nowadays it is acknowledged that, true enough, David Gilmour contested the rights to the name “Pink Floyd” and the rights to their catalogue. He won, and they resumed business as usual, calling themselves “Pink Floyd” and being a band… but once they were rid of the supposed dark side, the oppressive force (though violently successful force) of Roger Waters, and were now “free” to make all of the “quality rock and roll” music that David Gilmour desired to make… well… They had to hire people to help them come up with something. Yep. That’s right. All that bitchin’ and all that fightin’ for a whole lotta “Now what??” They enlisted the assistance of Bob Ezrin (originally a friend of Waters) and Jon Carin to help write the upcoming “Pink Floyd” album. The new Pink Floyd album was called “A Momentary Lapse In Reason”. It was released in 1987 with help from the outsiders mentioned and without the help of most of the band. So, while Gilmour’s complaints and foot-stompery about Roger’s exclusion of band members, his megalomania, and his self-serving artistry are still ringing in the ears of fans and band members alike, Gilmour proclaimed himself the new messiah of pink and took over the project of the new album himself with help coming primarily from outsiders. Hypocrisy rained down upon the newest album, warping its integrity and blurring words together as we find that the premise of the album itself has been Xeroxed. Gilmour’s momentary lapse in reason could have been anything from continuing with the Pink Floyd name when it should have been put to rest; it could have been lack of appreciation for a brightly shining star and his masterpieces; it could have been his tactic of emulating the very egotistic behavior that Gilmour criticized in Waters when he finally had control of the band… or it could even have been the hypocritical use of the same concepts, slanted in different directions for the new album. Who knows? Either way, it was clearly a “Lapse in Reason”, momentary or not. Gilmour’s primary complaint about Roger’s music was that the lyrics were supposedly too politically and socially poignant and that type of conceptualization within their music was tainting their capability to create “quality rock and roll music”. However, Gilmour’s “A Momentary Lapse In Reason” (considered somewhat of a solo project, much like “The Wall” was for Roger Waters) was an album full of Gilmour’s positions on Waters’ socio-political concepts.
Roger Waters had good reason to become as vehement as he did about his political views; his father died in WWII and his entire life’s passion revolved around enlightenment of the masses and informing the public of the wrongs and injustices that he saw clearly as a motivational vehicle for protest. He would not allow the truth to hide in the dark, along with the corpses of those who had been so thoroughly wronged by useless political machines and motivations. He was determined to make his voice heard, and not to sit idly by and be considered a “good rock and roll band” when he could force the masses to think. It is my belief that Roger Waters was a misunderstood visionary who was plagued by the Pink Floyd tradition of blame and madness; it is my belief that if the band could have comprehended the type of contribution Roger Waters was making to the band and to the art of music itself and appreciated it fully for what it was, and participated in it with him instead of pushing against it, the band would still be together and Roger Waters would have created much more fascinating, gut wrenching, throat-slitting, blood-pumping music for the future generations.
So, at long last, David Gilmour got his wish. Instead of procuring the integrity of the music that he purportedly deemed so important, the essential element of what made Pink Floyd what they were was removed and what replaced it were shadowed echoes of the genius that propelled it to heights unseen. David Gilmour was the fatal toxin of the powerful element in rock and roll culture known as Pink Floyd. And though his cast of members continued to label themselves with the title, they were no longer capable of being what they once were, for without Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd sound was lost forever.
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