The Pink Floyd song written about Roger Waters’ father
The loss of Roger Waters’ father during the Second World War permanently altered the Pink Floyd founder’s perspective on life, despite the fact he was too young to have any memories of their relationship. Eric Fletcher Waters’ heartbreaking story is similar to hundreds of thousands of others and has been a towering influence over his son’s songwriting, including ‘Corporal Clegg’.
Waters was only five months old when his father was killed in 1944 during the Battle of Anzio. Although they were never allowed time together, and Eric was robbed of seeing his son grow up to become a man, he still managed to mould Roger into who he is today. It is, of course, one of the reasons why Roger has adopted a passionate anti-war stance throughout his adult life, given that he personally suffered the consequences of warfare.
On Pink Floyd’s second album, A Saucerful Of Secrets, Roger’s father was the inspiration behind ‘Corporal Clegg’, a title named after Thaddeus Von Clegg, who invented the kazoo. It wasn’t until over 40 years after its release that Waters decided to come clean about the autobiographical context behind the song. However, his father’s story was somewhat different to the protagonist in ‘Corporal Clegg’ as Waters flexed his creative freedom.
The main character in the song makes it back safely from Anzio in 1944, unlike Waters’ father. Although the soldier made it home, he returned with a wooden leg, and on ‘Corporal Clegg’, Waters plays around with the bizarre concept of this battle scar being treated as a trophy rather than a tragedy. Speaking to Mojo in 2009, Waters explained: “Corporal Clegg is about my father and his sacrifice in World War II. It’s somewhat sarcastic – the idea of the wooden leg being something you won in the war, like a trophy.”
Waters later discussed his father’s death in more depth and with sombreness rather than sarcasm in ‘When The Tigers Broke Free’, an effort released in 1982. The track features the line, “His Majesty signed with his own rubber stamp,” which refers to a condolence letter his family recieved from George VI.
The musician later stumbled across the letter when he discovered – and tried on – an old uniform which belonged to his father. Waters found it insulting that George VI hadn’t even bothered to sign the letter by hand, and he let his frustrations out on ‘When The Tigers Broke Free’.
Although on ‘Corporal Clegg’, Waters pokes fun at how the British treated those who risked their lives for their country, underneath the humour, it made him feel sick to his stomach. As he grew older, Waters used his voice to share his true feelings about how those such as his father were shunned by society and stopped running away from sincerity.
