Roger Waters on ‘Daily Show’: The Message of ‘The Wall’ Has Evolved

Jon Stewart raised a beacon of false hope last night on The Daily Show when he asked guest Roger Waters midway through an interview, “Now, you’re going back on the road with the remaining members of Pink Floyd, right?” 

Waters flashed a smile and cracked, “This is how he makes his living. That is funny!”

Though it’ll just be Waters and his band when The Wall tour resumes this summer in Europe, the Pink Floyd co-founder told Stewart that the meaning of the songs has evolved for him.

“It’s far more universal in its message,” Waters said. “It’s no longer about that miserable, self-serving, sniveling, nasty little Roger we hated all those years ago.” Instead, Waters said, “It’s more about… the rebellion that is trying to understand the world and, if possible, help people occasionally.”  

Stewart noted that Waters has been vocal and visible in that regard, participating in the Stand Up for Heroes benefit and the “12-12-12” Sandy relief concert and putting together a band of musicians from among wounded soldiers recuperating at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near Washington D.C. “Every time I see you, the archetypal rebellious rock & roller, you are just out there doing good in the world,” Stewart said.