Roger Waters on why he became the “leader” of Pink Floyd
In 1987, Roger Waters was out of Pink Floyd and going it alone. Famously, he left the band under a cloud two years prior following the recording sessions for The Final Cut – his final record with the band – after becoming increasingly isolated, despite taking almost complete creative control.
If fans thought relations between Waters and the band’s other big hitter, David Gilmour, couldn’t get any worse when he departed, things were taken to a whole new level when Waters launched a High Court campaign in an attempt to dissolve the band, as in his mind, there was no way Pink Floyd could carry on without him. He was their creative director and, more importantly, leader. After he left, Waters deemed them a “spent force creatively”.
Despite Waters’ claim, Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason vehemently opposed their former bandmate, maintaining that they would not fold and that Waters couldn’t possibly declare them spent when they were actively trying to make new music. Waters eventually reached an agreement with his former bandmates, which was settled after serious legal considerations in 1987. After, he asserted that commercial restraints influenced his decision: “If I hadn’t, the financial repercussions would have wiped me out completely”. Years later, Waters would concede that trying to dissolve the band was a misstep.
In June 1987, Waters sat down with Q Magazine for an interview, and there, he was asked when and why he assumed the leadership of Pink Floyd. The interviewer pondered if it was directly after the band’s first frontman and creative director, Syd Barrett, left in 1968. It was straight after Barrett left, Waters said. To him, it was a matter of him taking responsibility when “no one seemed to want to”, which saw him become the “leader”. He also asserted that he was “perfectly happy” being the executive.
Waters explained: “Yes, It was straight after we had split up with Syd. I’m sure you would get arguments about that from the other ‘boys’, but I simply took responsibility, largely because no one else seemed to want to do it, and that is graphically illustrated by the fact that I started to write most of the material from then on, I’m perfectly happy being a leader.”
He continued: “In fact, I know I can be an oppressive personality because I bubble with ideas and schemes, and in a way it was easier for the others simply to go along with me. We rarely used to see each other socially, although I used to get on with Nick Mason alright. For a limited time, in the early days of the group, we did mix socially. Because there is something rather appealing about a group together on the road. But that soon palls. And things like families make sure that cycle comes to an end.”
Was it difficult for Waters to replace his friend as the leader of Pink Floyd? He said: “Well, replacing Syd as leader of the Pink Floyd was OK. But Syd as a writer was a one-off. I could never aspire to his crazed insights and perceptions. In fact, for a long time I wouldn’t have dreamt of claiming any insights whatsoever. But I’d always credit Syd with the connection he made to his personal unconscious and to the collective, group conscious.”
Concluding: “It’s taken me fifteen years to get anywhere near there. But what enabled Syd to see things in the way he did? It’s like why is an artist an artist? Artists simply do feel and see things in a different way to other people. In a way it’s a blessing, but it can also be a terrible curse. There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be earned from it but often it’s also a terrible burden.”
