“Terrifying and violent”: The three Pink Floyd classics David Gilmour will never sing again
There is perhaps no bitterer feud between two former bandmates than that of Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour and Roger Waters.
In fact, it’s somewhat curious that they shared a musical project altogether, given just how pointed the feelings towards each other are. But that was a large part of their success, the light and shade that both Waters and Gilmour brought, to constantly teeter on the edge of sonic greatness and madness.
What started with creative differences in the mid-1980s turned into a problem of bureaucracy come the band’s end. Questions over who owed what drove an even larger wedge between the two, and in the wake of it, the gloves came off. Because now, nearly half a century after their seminal album, Dark Side Of The Moon, the root cause of their rift is no longer attributed to creative differences or band legalities, but a genuine dislike, dare I say hate, for one another’s character.
But in the fallout of their feud, the respective songs of the two members begin to feel like relics of a band once who were once iconic, but instead soundtracks of two wildly contrasting musicians. Like divorced parents, Gilmour and Waters have scrapped for custody over the songs that they felt were truly theirs and subsequently bolted them to their solo careers and removing them from the Floyd legacy altogether.
So now, with both members outrightly confirming that they will never share a stage together again, Floyd fans are left to choose which member to see live based on the songs they want to watch. Gilmour has made it abundantly clear that Waters’ discography will never make it onto his set list.
“There are songs from the past that I no longer feel comfortable singing,” he explained in an interview conducted with Mojo. “I love ‘Run Like Hell’ [from The Wall]. I loved the music I created for it, but all that (sings) – You’d better run, run, run – I now find that all rather, I don’t know… a bit terrifying and violent.”
“‘Another Brick In The Wall’ is another one I shan’t be doing,” Gilmour says. “I don’t think I’ve done that with my own band, but I certainly did it in the post-Roger Pink Floyd, against my better judgment. The same with ‘Money’. I won’t be doing that. I’m going to be sticking with the ones that are essentially my music, and I feel some ownership of. ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, maybe…”
Those chosen songs are a defiant response from Gilmour, whose musicality was perhaps wrongly disrespected by Waters. According to drummer Nick Mason, “Roger doesn’t really respect David,” adding that “He feels that writing is everything.”
Maybe Gilmour was something of a charismatic performer and guitarist in the early days, but as time went on and with the songs that Gilmour is allowing himself to include on his setlist, he has proven that he was more than just a capable writer, but the man responsible for some of the band’s best songs.
