Listen to Roger Waters' first music from his Pink Floyd 'Dark Side of the Moon' remake

His version of 'Us and Them'

Roger Waters performing in concert in October 2022

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 3rd Mar 2023

Roger Waters has shared the first music from his re-recording of Pink Floyd’s masterpiece 1973 album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon.’

The outspoken septuagenarian rocker shared a 50-second clip of his reinterpretation of ‘Us and Them’, which he co-wrote with the late-great Rick Wright over half a century ago.

Alongside the tantalising morsel of music, Roger Waters went into detail about why he has remade ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, and he also lavished his former band mates David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright with praise.

Listen to Roger Waters' version of 'Us and Them':

Waters explained that he came up with the idea of remaking (arguably) Pink Floyd’s magnum opus after he’d completed work on ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ EP, which reimagines five Pink Floyd classics including ‘Comfortably Numb.’

“When we recorded the stripped-down songs for the Lockdown Sessions, the 50th anniversary of the release of Dark Side of The Moon was looming on the horizon,” Waters wrote.

“It occurred to me that Dark Side of the Moon could well be a suitable candidate for a similar re-working, partly as a tribute to the original work, but also to re-address the political and emotional message of the whole album. I discussed it with Gus (Seyffert) and Sean (Evans), and when we'd stopped giggling and shouting 'You must be f---ing mad' at one another we decided to take it on.”

He continued: “We are now in the process of finishing the final mix. It's turned out really great and I'm excited for everyone to hear it. It's not a replacement for the original which, obviously, is irreplaceable. But it is a way for the seventy-nine-year-old man to look back across the intervening fifty years into the eyes of the twenty-nine-year-old and say, to quote a poem of mine about my Father, "We did our best, we kept his trust, our Dad would have been proud of us".”

Concluding his post, he wrote: “And also it is a way for me to honour a recording that Nick and Rick and Dave and I have every right to be very proud of. Happy 50th to Dark Side of the Moon.”

Listen to 'Comfortably Numb' from Roger Waters' 'The Lockdown Sessions':

Roger Waters first confirmed to the Telegraph last month that he was remaking ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ and was eyeing up a May 2023 release date.

“I wrote The Dark Side of the Moon,” Waters stated. “Let’s get rid of all this ‘we’ crap. Of course we were a band – there were four of us, we all contributed – but it’s my project and I wrote it, so, blah.”

Waters also criticised his former Pink Floyd band mates, including the late-great Rick Wright (who he spoke about in the present tense), saying none of them were good lyricists.

“Well, Nick never pretended,” Waters said. “But Gilmour and Rick? They can’t write songs, they’ve nothing to say. They are not artists. They have no ideas – not a single one between them. They never have had, and that drives them crazy."

Waters confirmed to Berliner Zeitung that there are “no rock and roll guitar solos” on his version of the record.

The news of a new version of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ came a few days after the rift between Roger Waters and David Gilmour intensified following a tweet from Gilmour’s wife, Polly Samson.

Pink Floyd are marking the 50th anniversary of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ with a deluxe box set and official book, which are both released on Friday 24th March 2023.

Roger Waters

Roger Waters’ This Is Not A Drill Tour hits the UK this summer for a sextet of arena dates. Head to Planet Rock Tickets to check ticket availability.

Roger Waters’ UK tour dates:

MAY 2023

Birmingham Utilita Arena – Wed 31st

JUNE 2023

Glasgow OVO Hydro – Fri 2nd

Glasgow OVO Hydro – Sat 3rd

London The O2 – Tue 6th

London The O2 – Wed 7th

Manchester AO Arena – Sat 10th