Regardless of what some might think of him as an individual, Roger Waters is a songwriter and conceptual artist par excellence. His political views and pronouncements raise the ire of many; for his part he maintains that his positions are largely (and willfully) misinterpreted. Waters makes no such controversial claims about his abilities as a musician; he believes his work should be measured on the strength of its lyrics. And in those lyrics, Waters has explored weighty topics: insanity, loss, war, death, and the human condition in general.<\/p>\n
Roger Waters \u2013 who celebrated his 80th birthday on September 6 \u2013 recently completed work on The Dark Side of the Moon Redux<\/em>, a re-imagining of Pink Floyd\u2019s landmark album, with (unsurprisingly) a greater emphasis on the lyrics. It\u2019s set for release in October.<\/p>\n When he and his friends Syd Barrett, Nick Mason and Richard Wright launched Pink Floyd, Barrett was the primary songwriter; Waters progressed slowly but surely as a composer. Here\u2019s a look at five key tracks written by Roger Waters, each of which represents a key point in his development as a songwriter.<\/p>\n \u201cTake Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk\u201d from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn<\/em> (1967)<\/strong>
\nMost of the songs on Pink Floyd\u2019s groundbreaking debut LP came from the pen of Syd Barrett. But in one of his earliest songwriting efforts, bassist Roger Waters wrote this tune. Oddly \u2013 seeing that Waters is an atheist \u2013 the song\u2019s title is a variation of a bible verse (John 5:8).<\/p>\n