To Kill the Child/Leaving Beirut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "To Kill the Child / Leaving Beirut" | ||
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| Single by Roger Waters | ||
| A-side(s) | To Kill the Child | |
| B-side(s) | Leaving Beirut | |
| Released | 2004 | |
| Format | CD single, digital download | |
| Label | Sony Music | |
| Writer(s) | Roger Waters | |
| Producer(s) | Roger Waters and Nick Griffiths | |
| Roger Waters singles chronology | ||
| What God Wants, Part 1 (1992) | To Kill the Child / Leaving Beirut (2004) | ... |
Leaving Beirut/To Kill the Child is a CD single (in Japan only) and a digital download released by Roger Waters in 2004.
[edit] Leaving Beirut
Most of the song's lyrics are derived from a short story about Waters' hitchhiking excursion in Lebanon when he was a teenager. These passages, intoned in monologue over a descending synthesizer ostinato, are interspersed with more recently-penned refrains outlining Waters' reaction to United States and United Kingdom involvement in the Iraq War.
Waters has performed the song at every show on his Dark Side of the Moon tour, replacing the spoken-word recitation with a visual backdrop of the story as a graphic novel.
[edit] Controversy and criticism
Waters' lyrical condemnation of George W. Bush received negative reactions from audience members during his show at New Jersey's PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on September 6, 2006 and at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 12 and September 13; however, audience reactions during the October 5, 2006 performance at the Hollywood Bowl were overwhelmingly positive, with many patrons rising to their feet and cheering. The song also received a positive reaction during its performance at the Massachusetts Tweeter Center Boston on September 8 and September 9. One critic noted that Waters has held a "career-long distaste for armed conflict", drawing comparisons between the song's content and similarly anti-war messages in the rest of the show (including the message "Impeach Bush" written on Waters' flying pig), which did not appear to incite anything but positive responses from concert-goers.[1]
While many fans have embraced the song's lyrical content, which is sympathetic towards the people of Lebanon, some have objected to Waters' political views. One editorial in a Jewish state newspaper accused Waters of being an "anti-Israel artist" for his protest against the Israeli West Bank barrier.[2] The editor claimed that Waters was supporting a country whose government was directly responsible for the development of terrorist groups who have historically targeted Jews as terror victims. The morning after Waters' concert in Neve Shalom, left-wing editorial writer Ben Dror Yemini wrote in the Tel Aviv newspaper Maariv:
| [I]nstead of demonstrating against genocide in Sudan, or arrests in Syria, or the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia, Waters demonstrated against Israel, canceling his appearance here[...] So who made you boss, Mr. Waters? Who are you to preach to us against the separation fence? What do you know about the hundreds of Israelis whose blood was spilled? What do you know about an entire nation that has to protect itself? What do you know about the hundreds of suicide bombers who came here not to kill the occupation, but to kill Jews?[2] |
The song has also received some criticism for its musical content and style; one review of the 10 October show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California claimed that the song "floundered" musically but was lyrically "one of Waters' best post-Floyd works."[3] Other reviewers were very impressed by the song's live interpretation, which adds guitar solos to the original instrumentation.[4]
[edit] Notes
| Roger Waters |
|---|
| Discography |
| Studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking | Radio KAOS | Amused to Death | Ça Ira | |
| Soundtracks: Music from "The Body" | When the Wind Blows |
| Live: The Wall Live in Berlin | In the Flesh Live |
| Compilations: Flickering Flame |
| Singles: The Tide Is Turning | What God Wants, Pt. 1 | To Kill the Child/Leaving Beirut |
| Videos and DVDs |
| Pink Floyd The Wall | The Wall Live in Berlin | In the Flesh Live | The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon |
| Tours |
| In the Flesh | The Dark Side of the Moon Live |
| Related articles |
| Pink Floyd | David Gilmour | Alan Parker | Gerald Scarfe | Ron Geesin | The Final Cut | The Wall | Amusing Ourselves to Death |
