Roger Waters On Those Pink Floyd/Wizard Of Oz Rumours
Roger Waters has appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Show in which he addressed the long-standing rumours of a connection between Pink Floyd‘s The Dark Side Of The Moon and the film The Wizard Of Oz, among other topics.
Buy Pink Floyd vinyl and CDs at the Dig! store
When asked by Rogan if there was any truth to the theory that the album and film are carefully timed to work together, Waters was forceful in his response. “Bullshit,” Waters laughed. “Of course it is! I mean, it may not be – it may [work] if you do what they say; but it has nothing to do with us. Any of us. Nothing to do with anyone in Pink Floyd or anyone who wrote or recorded any of the music. It’s something that somebody thinks – it’s a coincidence… Maybe it’s cosmic coincidence!”
Waters went on to tell Rogan his favourite story surrounding the rumour, saying he’d heard there was a “cop in Louisiana following a bus and it was weaving about the road a bit, and so he pulls it over… [He] puts the bike up on the stand, opens the door, nearly falls over, there’s so much smoke coming out through the bloody door.
“He goes in, he goes through and he’s trying to find people with dope because it’s just full of marijuana smoke. Eventually he gets to the back of the bus where there’s a private compartment. He opens the door and goes in, and there’s Willie Nelson. And the story is that Willie Nelson is listening to The Dark Side of the Moon and watching The Wizard of Oz on the TV.” He added: “And I don’t believe it for a minute, but I like the story!”
Waters went on to discuss his current tour, enthusing, “I’m still really excited about it. These are the best shows that I’ve ever done. By far. I’ve made a real breakthrough. This is the first time that I ever sort of managed to communicate with an audience in a way that is satisfying…
“I’ve opened my heart. I’m vulnerable. And yet, because I’ve done that, they’re responding, and the consequences have become bolder. You know, the more you risk, the more you potentially lose, but also, the more you potentially gain. When you share your heart with somebody, they can either step on it or give you a bit of theirs back.”