© toni yay (YouTube) • 24.XII.2016, «Amused To Death» (℗ 1992) - track 14 (9'06)Doctor Doctor what is wrong with meThis supermarket life is getting longWhat is the heart life of a colour TVWhat is the shelf life of a teenage queenOoh western womanOoh western girlNews hound sniffs the airWhen Jessica Hahn goes downHe latches on to that symbolOf detachmentAttracted by the peeling away of feelingThe celebrity of the abused shell the belleOoh western womanOoh western girlAnd the children of MelroseStrut their stuffIs absolute zero cold enoughAnd out in the valley warm and cleanThe little ones sit by their TV screensNo thoughts to thinkNo tears to cryAll sucked dryDown to the very last breathBartender what is wrong with meWhy am I so out of breathThe captain said excuse me ma'amThis species has amused itself to deathAmused itself to deathAmused itself to deathWe watched the tragedy unfoldWe did as we were toldWe bought and soldIt was the greatest show on earthBut then it was overWe ohhed and aahedWe drove our racing carsWe ate our last few jars of caviarAnd somewhere out there in the starsA keen-eyed look-outSpied a flickering lightOur last hurrahAnd when they found our shadowsGrouped around the TV setsThey ran down every leadThey repeated every testThey checked out all the data on their listsAnd then the alien anthropologistsAdmitted they were still perplexedBut on eliminating every other reasonFor our sad demiseThey logged the only explanation leftThis species has amused itself to deathNo tears to cry no feelings leftThis species has amused itself to death"Years later, I saw Bill Hubbard's name on the memorial to the missingat Aras. And I...when I saw his name I was absolutely transfixed; itwas as though he was now a human being instead of some sort ofnightmarish memory of how I had to leave him, all those years ago.And I felt relieved, and ever since then I've felt happier about it,because always before, whenever I thought of him, I said to myself,'Was there something else that I could have done?' "I'd rather die, I'd rather die..."And that always sort of worried me. And having seen him, and hisname in the register - as you know in the memorials there's a little safe,there's a register in there with every name - and seeing his name andhis name on the memorial; it sort of lightened my...heart, if you like." "When was it that you saw his name on the memorial?" "Ah, when I was eighty-seven, that would be a year, ninete...eighty-four, nineteen eighty-four."☆ George Roger Waters, 1943 • UK / psychedelic / art / hard rock