Roger Waters and his Palestinian musical collaborator on a new version of “Comfortably Numb,” Mona Miari, discussed their hopes for the release and the continuing accusations of anti-Semitism that have followed him for years and been rekindled since his speaking out against Israel’s recent actions in Gaza.
For “Comfortably Number Re-Imagined,” Waters told WIRED in an interview published Monday that he hopes people will “hear that it was prophetic — there is a right and a wrong. This is not complicated, and this song is on the right side of history.”
The new take on the 1979 Pink Floyd song off The Wall is re-envisioned as a tribute to the Palestinian people and Gaza and features a change to the refrain that makes the culminating lyric, “I will never become comfortably numb.” Miari sings in Arabic throughout the more than nine-minute remake in one verse vocalizing “When I was young I dreamed of freedom/ Hope blazes fierce in everything I am/ Like roots breaking through the rubble/ We shape our fate/ Our light will break the darkness/ We are the promise of a new dawn.”
“I hope they’ll go ‘Phew,’” Waters continued, “they were part of the resistance, and we are part of the resistance. Ṣumūd.”
WIRED explained that the Arabic word ṣumūd is a concept central to the Palestinian experience of steadfastness and remaining on one’s land despite occupation and displacement.
Miari explained that she hoped 10 years from now “whoever listens to ‘Comfortably Numb Re-Imagined’ could also experience a free Palestine and look back at it as a testament about the truth and what happened and just cherish that sense of resistance and urgency for freedom.”
Waters also addressed the recurring accusations of anti-Semitisism that his support of Palestine has garnered him. Water had a terse answer when asked to address the criticism that his work is anti-Semitic. “Fuck off is my answer to that,” Waters answered.
He elaborated by telling WIRED, “I don’t have an anti-Semitic bone in my body, I never did and I never will have. I couldn’t give a shit what your religion is, frankly. I’m not interested in it. I’m interested in human rights for my brothers and sisters, whoever they are. Color of the skin, religion, nationality, politics — I couldn’t care less.”
Recently, this criticism of Rogers has flared up with Disturbed singer David Draiman, who is Jewish and pro-Israel, saying on Billy Corgan’s podcast, “It was such a massive betrayal, not just to me, but Jews everywhere when (Waters) went in the direction that he did. And it wasn’t just two years ago; he’s been doing this for a long time,” adding that he would punch Waters if the two met.
In an open letter, Waters called Draiman “an obnoxious little prick” in response and said, “I will continue to work with all my brothers and sisters all over the world in the movement to demand equal human rights for all human beings, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity or nationality.”
Waters took the WIRED interview as an opportunity to express his criticism for social media as well, saying it’s numbing people to issues and injustices going on in the world. Waters called himself lucky for not having come up with social media. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, there wasn’t any social media,” he said. “Nobody had an iPhone . . . We didn’t have a phone, never mind an iPhone.”
