Roger Waters continues his series of socially distant performances with two deep cuts from Pink Floyd’s 1979 LP, The Wall: “Vera” and “Bring the Boys Back Home.”
“The Vera in question is Vera Lynn. She was an English singer, songwriter, very popular during the Second World War,” Waters said in a statement. “Her biggest hit was “We’ll meet again”. She was widely known as the “Forces’ Sweetheart”. Our Vera, who is very fondly remembered back in Blighty, died six weeks ago aged 103. So she had a bloody good innings, bless her.”
The performance transitions from “Vera” into a grand orchestral rendition of “Bring the Boys Back Home.” The latter features the smooth and seamless harmonies of Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who previously collaborated with Waters on other performances.
At one point, the Pink Floyd co-founder looks directly at the camera and tells Trump, “Yeah, bring the boys back home, particularly from Portland, you big fucking brick,” referring to the deployment of federal officers on the Oregon city last month.
“My father never came home, but at least in 1944 he really was fighting to defend his home,” he explained in a statement about “Bring the Boys Back Home.” “Not like now. Now the boys fight and die in colonial wars so some rich asshole can get richer. If it were up to me, I’d bring ‘em all home tomorrow.”
Waters recently released videos featuring a cover of John Prine’s “Hello In There” and a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Two Suns in the Sunset.” He also got into a one-sided spat with former bandmate David Gilmour over access to the Pink Floyd website.
Watch the new performances below.
