“Comfortably Numb” is one of those monumental and quintessential Pink Floyd tracks that seems like it was effortless to make, but bassist Roger Waters would put a heavy emphasis on the word “seems.” In reality, the idea that the entire song fell out in one fell swoop is a misconception worsened by the passing of time and the general public’s willingness to believe that rock stars are superhuman, guitar-playing machines.
In reality, Pink Floyd worked tirelessly on their music, which is precisely why it seems so effortless. And yes, even with their infamous feuds on- and off-stage, Roger Waters and David Gilmour worked closely with one another to create the best solos, bass lines, and other signature parts.
Roger Waters Clears The Air About “Comfortably Numb”
In a YouTube series where former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters answers fan questions, the founding member of the psychedelic rock group pulled a question pertaining to whether he played any role in crafting David Gilmour’s guitar solos. Under any other circumstances, it would be a fair question, considering how prominent of a songwriter Waters was for the band. But the extra context of the interpersonal tension between the two musicians certainly adds another layer of intrigue and salacity, which Waters had no problem clearing the air about.
After reading the question about whether Waters gave Gilmour guidance during guitar tracking, Waters replied simply, “Yeah. Because I was producing the records, and so was he, and so was, who else, [Bob] Ezrin and James Guthrie. So, we would all stick our oars in. However, we did sometimes, you know, leave him alone to do a few takes.”
Waters continued, accusing Ezrin of “lying through his teeth” about the creation of the “Comfortably Numb” solo, especially the one toward the end of the song. According to the bassist, Ezrin “waxed eloquent” during interviews about how Gilmour played the entire solo in one take.
“The only problem with that story,” Waters said, “is he wasn’t there. Bob Ezrin was not in the studio when Dave did that. James Guthrie was there, and David did umpteen takes, and then he went away, and James Guthrie edited the best bits of all the takes and stuck it together.”
The Bassist Understands The Public Perception Of His Band Relationship
The public tends to flock toward interpersonal band drama even more than the music that the band is creating at times, and the feud between David Gilmour and Roger Waters that led to Waters’ departure from the group is certainly no exception to this rule. People are always quick to speculate when two public figures no longer work together, and Waters acknowledged the “implication” of his fan question that he might be overly critical of his colleague just because they had their disagreements.
“I like all Gilmour solos,” Waters argued. “I say so often, I say so, I believe in the sleeve notes on the new record, there’s nothing wrong with Dave solos. There’s nothing wrong with his solos on The Wall or his solo on Animals or his solos on Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here or The Final Cut or any of the work that I did with him. I’m a fan. They’re great.”
Just not, you know, superhuman great, which is fair, too.
Photo by Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
