Credit: Kate Izor
Roger Waters has re-teamed with his Us + Them tour backing band for another remote performance video: a rendition of “The Gunner’s War.” The track is an anti-war-themed song from Pink Floyd‘s 1983 album The Final Cut, which Roger posted to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
You can watch the video now at Waters’ official YouTube channel and social media sites. Roger also has written an accompanying note in which he discusses a 2013 documentary called The Man Who Saved the World and reflects on how the film reminded him of the theme of “The Gunner’s War.”
The movie focuses on Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defence Forces. In 1983, he played a key role avoiding a major nuclear incident, after an early-warning defense system falsely reported that the U.S. had launched a nuclear missile.
“The year before Stanislav saved the World…In the year 1982 I wrote…’The Gunner’s Dream,'” Waters writes. “It’s weird to think that had Stanislav not been…In the right place at the right time…None of us would be alive…No one under the age of 37…Would have been born at all.”
Roger continues, “It is acknowledged by all but the cretins amongst us…That nuclear arms have no value…It is also acknowledged that…They are a ticking bomb…And we ignore them at our peril…Accidents happen.”
He adds, “If I ruled the world, I would heed the words of the wise…I would get rid of nuclear weapons…First thing tomorrow morning…On Dr. King’s name day…Of course no-one can rule the world…The world cannot be ruled…It can only be loved and respected and shared…If we’re still here in the morning.”
By Matt Friedlander
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