Eric Clapton says Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters suffers “terribly” from sharing his political views and has seen him “sit on the window ledge in tears”
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Eric Clapton says that he thinks Roger Waters has “a lot of guts” when it comes to sharing his political opinions, and has seen him suffer “terribly” for it
Eric Clapton has stated that he thinks Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters has “a lot of guts” for sharing his political opinions – many of which have been heavily scrutinised and have even resulted in his own gigs being cancelled due to claims of anti-Semitism.
The guitarist’s thoughts on Waters arose during a new interview with The Real Music Observer, after being asked on what he thinks about people suggesting that musicians should “stick to music” rather than weigh in on politics.
“I don’t respond to the word ‘should’ very well,” he answers. “Anyone that tells me what I should be doing, I’m going to do the opposite. Not just out of spite, but because who are they to tell me how to live my life? I don’t interfere with them.”
Clapton continues, “I love Roger. I love him. We are brothers and he goes his way about it, and it takes a lot of guts, and he suffers from it terribly. I’ve seen him sit on the window ledge in tears and say ‘It’s morning here in Manhattan and I’m in tears again’, you know?
“I can’t do that, I am on the verge of tears a lot when I think about what’s going on and the evil there is, but I also have to carry a positive message of hope, and he does too. Music is a healing agent. I believe that there is a system of thinking about how you conduct yourself in that realm, and to be responsible not to offend people.”
He adds: “Gandhi had it down, but I don’t really want to follow his path, because if he wanted people to follow his thinking he would go on a starvation diet and he would risk his life and that’s when they knew he was serious.
“A lot of people really don’t expect me or Roger to stick to what we say, but we do. And I think I have a responsibility because of what I told you earlier that I’m there carrying a message of hope, for love, peace and freedom you know that’s my responsibility as a musician.”