National treasure Roger Waters has unveiled a performance of himself today (6th August 2020) singing two deep cuts from The Wall, Pink Floyds’ stupendous eleventh studio album. Enlisting the help of his band, Waters and co recorded Bring The Boys Back Home and Vera, which precede the unforgettable track, Comfortably Numb. A socially distanced affair, of course, Water and his band performed from their separate homes.
Waters shared the moving performance to over 263,000 subscribers via his official YouTube channel. Generating over 27,000 views in a few short hours, the performance has been met with a joyous reception from Water’s worldwide fanbase. The Pink Floyd bassist also posted the video to Instagram, which has already received a whopping 80,000 views.
The black and white video opens with Waters sitting in his studio. His guitar, which by now may as well be an extra limb for the musical genius, plays a soft, rather subdued intro to the highly underrated Pink Floyd track, Vera.
The song was named after Vera Lynn, a beloved World War II singer, who recently passed away. Water’s distinct, husky croon grieves the recently deceased songstress. He sings “Does anybody remember Vera Lynn?/Remember how she said that/We would meet again/Some sunny day?”
Shortly into the song, Water is joined by his respective bandmates, who add to the emotive performance with cellos, violins, guitars, vocals and keyboard. As the musicians play seamlessly together, their rendition of Vera is heartbreakingly beautiful.
As the seminal instrumental to Vera slowly patters off, the band launch into Bring The Boys Back Home. Water’s back up vocalists sound like an ethereal greek chorus as they sing “Don’t leave the children on their own, no no”
Taking a moment to pause, Waters looks into the camera and says “Yeah, bring the boys back home, particularly from Portland, you big f******* brick.” This is a direct address to US President Donald Trump, referring to Trump’s recent ridiculous command to deploy federal officers in Portland to harm peaceful protesters.
The Pink Floyd co-creator also spoke recently on the meaning behind Bring The Boys Back Home and Vera. The song strikes a particular chord within Waters, who himself was bereaved after the untimely death of his father. Waters meditates that “My father never came home, but at least in 1944 he really was fighting to defend his home.”
Waters also broke down Vera, expanding on the late great singer’s life, saying ‘She was an English singer, songwriter, very popular during the Second World War. Her biggest hit was ‘We’ll Meet Again.’ She was widely known as the ‘Forces’ Sweetheart.’”
Released in 1979, The Wall is a seminal piece of art from Pink Floyd. Their sound unmatchable, their storytelling remarkable, and their ability to weave societal commentary and satire into their epic sonics are a few of the many reasons why Pink Floyd was and are still, one of the greatest bands ever.
