I have to say, for whatever reason I always connected with Roger Waters' lyrics. They saw me through some pretty low points in my life, in fact. Pink Floyd caught my attention when I was still in school, with their Another Brick in the Wall single that was getting radio time in those days. Some years later, Pink Floyd's The Wall played as part of a two-movie regular selection at a tri-plex in Lansing by the Frandor Mall, alongside Rocky Horror Picture Show — and seeing the two audiences lined up for tickets every weekend at 11pm was always entertaining because both crowds took their movie seriously! And yes, I saw it after making sure to be in that certain frame of consciousness to best appreciate the sensory overload that was going to be unleashed via projector and booming sound system. Nowadays, I settle for a DVD version on a big-screen TV, but it doesn't have the same experience to a ginormous screen where the whole audience moves in close and then into Pink's eye in that opening scene. I'd heard that Roger's persistence in "message" music created friction in the group, and they are of course no longer a band or group these days. But I connected with the themes about war and its impact on a person's life, the disconnection from society, the failed relationships. When The Final Cut was released, I once again connected with the themes and the lyrics that composed the final group album for Pink Floyd, at least one that had Roger Waters as part of it. I do have the subsequent albums, and do enjoy the Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell albums, but they were notably different for me. I'm still not quite sure what to make of Roger Waters' Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, but the audio tracks are outstanding and flesh things out nicely, even including an appearance by Jack Palance as a truck driver. I just enjoy it for what it is, a decent album, albeit quite the lighter fare to Radio K.A.O.S., which I continue to enjoy even today, with its sardonic look at society through the eyes of a robot. Amused to Death was my long-desired conclusion to the themes introduced in The Wall, then expanded on in The Final Cut. The opening narrative still gives me chills as I listen to the recounting of that officer's experience in the field during that World War. And the lyrics paint a stark picture of the world, no question about it, but for me they were bluntly honest while showing the impact of such things on the otherwise ordinary lives of others. --Tim
