Intro: the DJ, Bob Buchmann, plays Comfortably Numb, Empty Spaces, & Young Lust.

BB: I am proud here on Q104.3 to welcome one of the founding members of Pink Floyd and certainly a great solo artist in his own right, Mr. Roger Waters. Hello Roger.

Roger Waters: Hey

BB: I know you are no stranger to the New York area, you've been hangin' here and certainly doing some leisure time during the summers in places near and dear to us so that's great and you're still doing it?

Roger Waters: Yeah, I love it here.

BB: Yeah, well we love having you here. I know you've put two new creations on Roger "dash" Waters .com as of a couple of days ago for everybody to download and really think about.

Roger Waters: Yeah, like 15 months ago when the US and Great Britain together invaded Iraq, I wrote these two songs and made demos of them and, in this election year, it seemed crazy to leave them sitting on the shelves, so I kind of tarted them up a bit and thrown them out there for people to make what they will of them 'cause I feel very strongly about these issues.

BB: Yeah, you know, having just played The Wall, and having just hosted a PBS special on The Wall and specifically from a historical perspective, The Wall, AKA Berlin 1990, and your live staging there, I'm curious what walls need to be changed, you know, in 2004?

Roger Waters: Well the first thing to focus on in 2004 is this election. I think this election is singularly the most important political event since the end of the second world war. I don't thing one can overstress that point. This is a real watershed, you know, where the American voter gets to decide which road to take. There is a serious fork in the road here. Often American politics is a bit confused but I think the choice between the Republicans and the Democrats, between Bush and Kerry, at this point is a fundamental one that needs seriously addressing.

BB: And secondarily, you know, other places, other geographies, other specific walls, that perhaps need changing.

Roger Waters: Well, you know, I don't think you and I are gonna' solve the problems in Palestine during an hour here and now on Q104, wonderful as that would be. At the risk of sounding repetitous, I think that November the 2nd is THE starting point.

BB: OK, how 'bout we play one of the two new Roger Waters songs in just a moment.

Roger Waters: Sounds good to me.

BB:Alright, Roger Waters live on Q104.3.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

BB: This is New York's only classic rock station, Q104.3, I'm Bob Buchmann, and our special guest is Roger Waters, co-founder of course of Pink Floyd and a solo artist. And as the latter he has just created two new songs; Leaving Beirut and this one, To Kill The Child, in response to the invasion of Iraq. When did you do this? When did this hit you? When did you create these songs Roger?

Roger Waters: Well immediately after the US and Great Britain invaded Iraq, I was so disturbed by that kind of lack of concern for international law and also for the people on the ground. Clearly I disagreed with the invasion. I've always emphathized with the innocents who get caught-up in these conflicts around political and religious ideologies. And so this song I wrote is about both fundamental religious and political extremism and how much I disapprove of both those things and how spurious sometimes our motives are for political acts in general and military acts in particular. How what we blithely refer to as collateral damage very often is actually the killing of innocent children.

BB: And so To Kill The Child. Here it is. Q104.3.

To Kill The Child is played on the air followed by Us And Them.

BB: It is New York's only classic rock station, Q104.3, of course that is Pink Floyd on the Billboard charts of course with, you know, that unbelievable Dark Side Of The Moon album for more than 15 years and before that Roger Waters solo To Kill The Child. With Andy Fairweather on guitar what a tasty song that is and obviously lyrically there's a powerful message but musically that's a tasty song.

Roger Waters: Well, thank you.

BB: Everybody can go get that for themselves at Roger "dash" Waters.com and you 'oughta do that as we did. Phones are crazy here at 1-888-872-1043. Shall we jump on the line?

Roger Waters: Sure, why not?

BB: Hi Q104.3 you're on with Roger Waters.

CALLER: Roger, for years there's been video floating around of The Wall concert and with The Wall coming out on Broadway this year [obviously incorrect - it should be within the next twelve months - BD] I just want to know if there are any plans of releasing the original concert on DVD the way it should be?

Roger Waters: Yeah, that could happen. I've actually... strange you should ask that question. I've been looking at some of the material over the last couple of weeks it finally appeared out of the midsts of time from a mixing and editing suite in Los Angeles and it doesn't look too bad. I think it's quite an interesting historical document, so yeah, I think it will definitely become available at some point quite soon.

CALLER: Well we're all looking forward to seeing it I hope it comes true.

BB: You know, what's your name?

CALLER: Mark

BB: From where Mark?

MARK: From Marlboro-NJ.

BB: I'm glad you brought-up The Wall on Broadway.

Roger Waters: Actually I was approached by Harvey Weinstein and Tommy Mottola to, you know, to write a new version of The Wall for a Broadway show. So that's something I'm engaged in right at the moment.

BB: Great, and the timimg of that, is that...

Roger Waters: Everybody to vote for Kerry on November the 2nd! We gotta' get this madman out of the White House! You know, I'm happy to talk about my work but it all pales into such insignificant nothingness by comparison with what's going on during this election. I feel that so powerfully.

BB: And if you'd like to hear how Roger expresses that musically you can go to Roger "dash" Waters.com and hear these two new songs. In fact Roger, how 'bout we play the second of them right now?

Roger Waters: OK, why not. Do you want a preamble on that?

BB: Please.

Roger Waters: It's a short story that I wrote about 20 years ago that describes a journey that I made from Beirut back to London. Well it describes the first night of me hitch hiking. I was taken in by an Arab couple who were extraordinarily hospitable and kind to me and I've thought of them often, since, in the intervening years with all the trouble that there's been in the Middle East in general and in The Lebanon specifically, and it struck me that after we invaded Iraq that we are tending to demonize the Arab in a general way, and I've met a lot of these people and I think it's really important that we try and accept people as human beings not withstanding, you know, what their ethnical cultural background might be. So this is kind of what that songs about.

BB: OK, Leaving Beirut. Roger Waters. Q104.3

Leaving Beirut is played on the air.

BB: It is New York's only classic rock station Q104.3 and that is Roger Waters Leaving Beirut. One of two new Roger Waters songs that you can get at Roger "dash" Waters.com and he is here in the flesh. Roger Waters in the Q104.3 studios. Roger, thank you for joining us, for presenting us with this new music and for all your thoughts.

Roger Waters: You're very welcome.

BB: It's always great to see you. Nice to know you're close by in the New York area a lot that you like it here. We have time for another one or two phone calls, shall we?

Roger Waters: Sure.

BB: Q104.3. Hello.

CALLER: Yeah, I was wondering if I can ask Mr Waters a question?

BB: You're on with him now.

CALLER: OK, great. Mr Waters, are you gonna' be performing in the Broadway show?

Roger Waters: NO!

CALLER: Why not?

Roger Waters: It's a part for somebody much younger and better looking than I!

CALLER: But you're just so brilliant, I love your music. You will not appear at all, if not there, are you planning a tour?

Roger Waters: Yeah, in '06 I think I'll be back in the States touring.

CALLER: Excellent. Thank you so much for all your work that you've done and as far as the political scene, it is a very important time in history. I just want your take on Kerry's, um, how he will do as far as the war and terrorism. Is he strong enough to combat what needs to be combatted and ease-off where there should be less pressure?

Roger Waters: I think he will make all kinds of correct decisions about how to deal with the problem of terrorism around the world and I think the incumbent President is making all the wrong decisions about it. That's my view. I think that George Bush makes a great show of strength but is actually weakness. That's my view and I hope desperately that everybody goes out and gets motivated and votes for Kerry in this Presidential election because my belief is that America has an opportunity to reclaim the high moral ground in it's standing in the world and the rest of the world needs leadership from this country. There is a humanity in the heart of the USA that was always admired greatly by the other countries in the world and it's been diverted and the American people need to reclaim that essence of goodness, and I think John Kerry's a good man to make the first moves in that journey back towards America being the great country that it has been in the past and should be in the future.

CALLER: Yes, and one other question. Are you living in the States right now?

Roger Waters: I am.

CALLER: OK, and one last thing. I think we need to make them accept us more and us accept them more and make them not want to hurt us.

Roger Waters: You're so right my friend. You're so right. That's why, you know, the Cheney philosophy, Cheney-Bush philosophy can do nothing but widen the riffs between the peoples of the world, make America more unpopular, make America a less safe place to live in and generally provide us with retrograde moves. Absolutely the first thing is to get that team out of the White House and get a more reasoned less hysterical administration and I pray for that.

CALLER: OK, thank you so much for your time and your point of view.

Roger Waters: Hey, thank you!

BB: You have a good day. Some good questions. Thank you.

CALLER: Thank you. Bye.

BB: Roger Waters. Very nice of you to share some time with us and keep making the music. We look forward to what's coming to Broadway. We look forward to continuing to check-out Roger "dash" Waters.com and we continue to wait for '06 when, you know, you'll be on the road with a whole bunch of material on the stage.

Roger Waters: Well, yeah, thank you for having me today and I look forward to that. And thank you to THAT guy as well for asking those questions 'cause that's fundamentally what I'm concentrating on at the moment. It's so important.

BB: Cool. Alright. Roger Waters. Welcome and thank you so much for coming to Q104.3.

Roger Waters: Hey Bob, thanks a lot.

Our thanks to our US correspondent, Elliot Tayman, who caught the broadcast and transcribed it.