Is This really The Life We Want?

When We Were Young - 1:39
Déjà Vu - 4:27
The Last Refugee - 4:12
Picture That - 6:47
Broken Bones - 4:57
Is This the Life We Really Want? - 5.55
Bird In A Gale - 5:31
The Most Beautiful Girl - 6:09
Smell the Roses - 5:15
Wait for Her - 4:56
Oceans Apart - 1:07
Part of Me Died - 3:14

Musicians

Roger Waters – vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano
Nigel Godrich – keyboards, guitar, sound collages, arrangements
Gus Seyffert – guitar, keyboards, bass guitar
Jonathan Wilson – guitar, keyboards
Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. – keyboards
Lee Pardini – keyboards
Joey Waronker – drums
Jessica Wolfe – vocals
Holly Laessig – vocals
David Campbell – string arrangements

When We Were Young

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:	Film/video
Is This really The Life We Want?	Us + Them

[Voice]

When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was...

[Spoken Sample]
When we were young, we could piss off the boys' bog wall
A black expanse of pitch, or tar, or whatever it was
(Trunks, dripping slowly into the gutter and the floor. Canopy's stretched black...)
It doesn’t matter much anymore
And tussles with the girls before the advent of pubescent
Awe and confusion
(You could- I could- it's invisible...)
Knickers thick, pasty in the roar of adolescence’s dawn
(Trunks, dripping slowly into the gutter and the floor. Canopy's stretched black...)
How innocent and cruel
Ran the gauntlet of first stirrings
In the changing rooms of May
(You could- I could- it's invisible...)
(Trunks, dripping slowly into the gutter and the floor. Canopy's stretched black...)
Where are you now?
Don’t answer that
(You could- I could- it's invisible...)
I’m still ugly, you’re still fat
I’ve still got spots, I’m still afraid
(You could- I could- it's invisible...)
Our parents made us what we are
Or was it God?
Who gives a fuck, it’s never really over!

DÉJÀ VU

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:	Film/video:
Is This really The Life We Want? Us + Them	Us + Them

The song was known as "Lay Down Jerusalem (If I Had Been God)", when performed live by Roger Waters before the album and single release. The song was longer in its original form, but the extra verses can be heard on the reprise version from Us+Them (album & film)

If I had been God
I would have rearranged the veins in the face to make them more resistant to alcohol and less prone to aging
If I had been God
I would have sired many sons and I would not have suffered the Romans to kill even one of them
If I had been God
With my staff and my rod
If I had been given the nod
I believe I could have done a better job

If I were a drone
Patrolling foreign skies
With my electronic eyes for guidance
And the element of surprise
I would be afraid to find someone home
Maybe a woman at a stove
Baking bread, making rice, or just boiling down some bones
If I were a drone

[The following verse is only included on the live version from us & Them:]
Lay down Jerusalem
Lay your burden down
Lay down Jerusalem
Lay your burden down

The temple's in ruins
The bankers get fat
The buffalo's gone
And the mountain top's flat
The trout in the streams are all hermaphrodite
You lean to the left but you vote to the right

And it feels like déjà vu
The sun goes down and I'm still missing you
Counting the cost of love that got lost
And under my Gulf Stream, in circular pools
There's ninety-nine cents' worth of drunkards and fools

[The following "part 2" is the reprise version from Us & Them:]

If you were a Muslim and I was a Jew
If I were a Mennonite and you were an Hindu
Would we exchange the weight of these chains
Chains of belief and the carnage on the trains
To turn over a new leaf

If I had been God
I would not have chosen anyone
I would have laid an even hand
On all my children, every one
I would have been content
To follow Ramadan and Lent
Time better spent
Spent in the company of friends
Breaking bread and mending nets

The Last Refugee

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:	Film/video:
Is This really The Life We Want? Us + Them	Us + Them

[Radio Intro]
"And it's also the end of broadcasting for Thursday, the end of broadcasting for 1970"
"Seven to severe hail, nine, decreasing six in Humber later. Rain then showers, moderate to poor becoming good."
"Southwesterly, six to gale eight. Occasionally, severe gale nine"
"At the third stroke, it will be 11:24 and 50 seconds"
"At the third stroke, it will be 11:25, precisely"
"This is the British Broadcasting Corporation"
"At the third stroke it will be 8:57, precisely"
"In north southwesterly, 4 or 5, otherwise variable rainfall, mainly northerly in the southeast"
"A happy new year to you all"
"At the third stroke, it will be 11:25, precisely"
"Goodnight, everyone"

Lie with me now
Under lemon tree skies
Show me the shy slow smile you keep hidden by warm brown eyes

Catch the sweet hover of lips just barely apart
And wonder at love's sweet ache
And the wild beat of my heart
Oh, rhapsody tearing me apart

And I dreamed I was saying goodbye to my child
She was taking a last look at the sea
Wading through dreams, up to our knees in warm ocean swells
While bathing belles soft beneath hard bitten shells
Punch their iPhones, erasing the numbers of redundant lovers
And search the horizon

And you'll find my child, down by the shore
Digging around for a chain or a bone
Searching the sand for a relic washed up by the sea

The last refugee

Picture That

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:	Film/video:
Is This really The Life We Want? Us + Them	Us + Them

Picture yourself as you lean on the port rail
Tossing away your last cigarette
Picture your finger pushing the doorbell
Picture the skull and crossbones on the doormat

Picture yourself on the streets of Laredo
Picture the casbah, picture Japan
Picture your kid with his hand on the trigger
Picture prosthetics in Afghanistan

Picture a courthouse with no fucking laws
Picture a cathouse with no fucking whores
Picture a shithouse with no fucking drains
Picture a leader with no fucking brains

Follow me filming myself at the show
On a phone from a seat in the very front row
Follow Miss Universe catching some rays
Wish You Were Here in Guantanamo Bay

Picture a seat on a private plane
Picture your feet nailed to the floor
Picture a crew who are clearly insane
Picture no windows, picture no doors

Glued to a screen in the state of Nevada
To follow the dream gets harder and harder

Picture her wrapping a gift for the wedding
Picture her boiling the water for tea
Picture the kids climbing into the backseat
Picture my hand turning the keys

Oh, picture that...

Picture the dog in the pickup ahead
Picture the tree at the side of the road
Picture my hands growing steadily colder

Follow me down to a place by the river
Sold for my kidneys, sold for my liver
Why so weedy, so fucking needy
There's no such thing as being too greedy

Broken Bones

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

Sometimes I stare at the night sky
See them stars a billion light years away
And it makes me feel small like a bug on a wall
Who gives a shit anyway?
Who gives a shit anyway?

When World War II was over
Though the slate was never wiped clean
We could have picked over them broken bones
We could have been free

But we chose to adhere to abundance
We chose the American Dream
And ooo, Mistress Liberty -
How we abandoned thee

How
We abandoned thee
And oh, Mistress Liberty
How we abandoned thee

Could've been born in Shreveport
Or he could've born in Tehran
It don't much matter wherever you're born
Little babies mean us no harm
They have to be taught to despise us
To bulldoze our homes to the ground
To belief their fight is for liberty
To believe their god will keep them safe and sound

Safe and sound
Safe and sound

We cannot turn back the clock
Cannot go back in time
But we can say:
Fuck you, we will not listen to
Your bullshit and lies
Your bullshit and lies

Is This the Life We Really Want?

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

[Donald Trump:]
"So as an example you're CNN. I mean it's story, after story, after story is bad. I won. I won. And the other thing, chaos. There's zero chaos. We are running. This is a fine-tuned mach(ine)."

The goose has gotten fat
On caviar and fancy bars
And subprime loans
And broken homes
Is this the life, the holy grail?
It's not enough that we succeed
We still need others to fail

Fear, fear drives the mills of modern man
Fear keeps us all in line
Fear of all those foreigners
Fear of all their crimes
Is this the life we really want?
It surely must be so
For this is a democracy and what we all say goes

And every time a student is run over by a tank
And every time a pirate's dog is forced to walk the plank
Every time a Russian bride is advertised for sale
And every time a journalist is left to rot in jail
Every time a young girl's life is casually spent
And every time a nincompoop becomes the president
Every time somebody dies reaching for their keys
And every time that Greenland falls in the fucking sea it's because

All of us, the blacks and whites
Chicanos, Asians - every type of ethnic group
Even folks from Guadaloupe, the old, the young
Toothless hags, supermodels, actors, fags, bleeding hearts
Football stars, men in bars, washer women, tailors, tarts
Grannies, grandpas, uncles, aunts
Friends, relations, homeless tramps
Clerics, truckers, cleaning ladies, ants
Maybe not ants
Why not ants?
Well, because it's true
The ants don't have enough IQ to differentiate between
The pain that other people feel
And well, for instance, cutting leaves
Or crawling across window sills
In search of open treacle tins
So like the ants, are we just dumb?
Is that why we don't feel or see
Or are we all just numbed out on reality TV?

So every time
The curtain falls
Every time the curtain falls on some forgotten life
It is because we all stood by silent and indifferent
It's normal!

Bird In A Gale

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

[Intro with sounds including radio clips and phone voices]
"We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Check the number and dial again."
"The time from your telephone company is 9:33."
"Please hang up"
"Severe thunderstorms were located along the line extending from...."
"Here is the news:"
"In a few moments, you can hear Big Ben ringing out the old year, and ringing in the new."
"Cashier number one, please."
"Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees"
"The time now is five minutes past midnight on the first of January."
"Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger: southwesterly and westerly, five, seven."
"This is London calling"
"At the third stroke, it will be 8:57, precisely."
"Columbia on West Jefferson and Cambria"
"Fisher: southwesterly very westerly, six to gale eight."
"Cashier number six"
"25, precisely"
"And it's also the end of broadcasting"

Are you blowing like a bird in a gale?
Does the pain of your loss seep into your feathers like rain?
Do the bars of your cage feel low or cold to the touch?
Were my caresses too gentle?
Did I love you too much?

The dog is scratching at the door
The boy is drowning in the sea
Can I crash out on your floor?

The loon is howling at the sea
Can I crash out on your floor?
Is there room in the story for me?

The Most Beautiful Girl

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

She may well have been
The most beautiful girl in the world
Her life snuffed out
Like a bulldozer crushing a pearl

The secret committee
Deep in its lair
Conveniently far
From the cold desert air
Puts a tick in a box,
Turns the key in a lock
To loosen the bonds in her hair

Sleep if you can
Wrapped safe in your cloak
The tumbledown twilight
Havana smoke
Caught in your throat
Mistress Liberty's dance
Held you in its trance
Her bosoms were loaded with nectar and lances
"Well, boys", she said
"You have broken the trust.
Hold onto that stick if you must."

Take a fresh grip
On the crucible rune
The patchwork of ashes
Sweeps away love like a broom
Madness comes down
Like the crackpot of ages
The raging of angels
Cathedral of stars
Christopher Robin says
"Alice, go home now.
They're no longer changing the guard."

"Hold on", she said
"You're breaking my heart"
It's weird how the steel rails
Disappear into the dark
They clung to the ivory tower on her braids
They were never afraid of falling
But the bomb hit the spot where the numbers all stop
And the last thing they heard was her calling...

Home
Home, I'm coming home
I'm the life that you gave
I'm the children you save
I'm the promise you made
I'm the woman you crave

So hold on
I'm coming home
(Hold on, I'm coming home)

Smell the Roses

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:	Film/video:
Is This really The Life We Want?	Us + Them

There's a mad dog pulling at his chain
A hint of danger in his eye
Alarm bells raging 'round his brain
And a chimney smoking in the sky

Wake up
Wake up and smell the roses
Close your eyes and pray this wind don't change

There's nothing but screams in the field of dreams
Nothing but hope at the end of the rope
Nothing but gold in the chimney smoke
Come on honey, it's real money

This is the room where they make the explosives
Where they put your name on the bomb
Here's where they bury the "buts" and the "ifs" and
scratch out words like "right" and "wrong"

Wake up
Wake up and smell the phosphorus
This is the room we keep the human hair

Don't ask don't tell, it could mean a loss for us
Yeah, a little less cash in the stash
in the cupboard at the bottom of the stair -
Money, honey

Wake up
Wake up and smell the bacon
Run your greasy fingers through her hair
This is the life that you have taken

Just a line in the captain's log
Just a whine from a resident dog
Another kid didn't make the grade
Come on honey, it's a fair trade

Wake up
Wake up and smell the roses
Throw her photo on the funeral pyre, yeah
Now we can forget the threat she poses
Girl you know you couldn't get much higher

Wait for Her

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

With a glass inlaid with gemstones
On a pool around the evening
Among the perfumed roses
Wait for her

With the patience of a packhorse
Loaded for the mountains
Like a stoic, noble prince
Wait for her

With seven pillows laid out on the stair
The scent of womens' incense fills the air
Be calm, and wait for her

And do not flush the sparrows that are nesting in her braids
All along the barricades
Wait for her

And if she comes soon
Wait for her

And if she comes late
Wait

Let her be still
As a summer afternoon
A garden in full bloom

Let her breathe in the air
That is foreign to her heart
Let her lips part
Wait for her

Take her to the balcony
See the moon soaked in milk
Hear the rustle of her silk
Wait for her

Don't let your eyes alight upon
The twin doves of her breast
Lest they take flight
Wait for her

And if she comes soon
Wait for her

And if she comes late
Wait, wait

Serve her water before wine
Do not touch her hand
Let your fingertips
Rest at her command

Speak softly as a flute would
To a fearful violin
Breathe out
Breathe in

And as the echo fades
From that final fusillade
Remember the promises you made

Oceans Apart

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

She was always here in my heart
Always the love of my life
We were strangers, oceans apart
But when I laid eyes on her a part of me died

Part of Me Died

Roger Waters 2017

Lyrics/Music: Waters

Album releases:
Is This really The Life We Want?

The part that is envious
Cold hearted and devious
Greedy, mischievous
Global, colonial
Bloodthirsty, blind
Mindless and cheap
Focused on borders
And slaughter and sheep
Burning of books
Bulldozing of homes
Giving to targeted killing with drones
Lethal injections
Arrest without trial

Monocular vision
Gangrene and slime
Unction, sarcasm
Common assault
Self-satisfied heroic killers
Lifted on high

Piracy adverts
Acid attacks
On women by bullies
And perverts and hacks
The rigging of ballots
And the buying of power

Lies from the pulpit
Rape in the shower
Mute, indifferent
Feeling no shame
Portly, important
Leering, deranged

Sat in the corner
Watching TV
Deaf to the cries of
Children in pain
Dead to the world
Just watching the game

Watching endless repeats -
Out of sight, out of mind
Silence, indifference:
The ultimate crime
But when I met you
That part of me died

Bring me a bowl
To bathe her feet in
Bring me my final cigarette
It would be better by far to die in her arms
Than to linger
In a lifetime of regret