Roger Waters has dipped his toes into the… waters of politics once again, performing Pink Floyd’s classic ‘Wish You Were Here’ at a pro-Julian Assange rally in London.
If you’ve been paying attention to the world of local and international affairs, you would likely be aware of the fact that Australian-born activist and WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is currently locked up in a UK prison.
Having spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange was arrested earlier this year, before being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaking the UK’s Bail Act. His legal troubles won’t end there though, with Assange set to face an extradition hearing early in 2020.
Obviously, this is something which many of Assange’s supporters have opposed, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who recently performed at a rally in London, calling for the Australian’s freedom.
Check out Roger Waters performing ‘Wish You Were Here’:
As The Irish Examiner reports, the politically-outspoken Roger Waters appeared before a rally outside of London’s Home Office earlier this week, calling for the release of Assange.
“How do we put ourselves in the position of a Julian Assange in solitary confinement,” Waters asked the supporters, “or with that kid in Syria or Palestine or Rohingya, being blown to bits by these people in this building here?”
“How do we put ourselves in the position of the parents of that child who will spend the rest of his life on crutches? It is called empathy and it is the most valuable thing any human being can possess in their lives.
“Julian Assange, we are with you. Free Julian Assange.”
Performing a rendition of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ in Assange’s honour, Waters prefaced his performance with a lengthy speech which also saw him touch upon former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.
In related news, Pink Floyd recently announced the release of an expansive box set titled The Later Years 1987–2019. However, fans of the above performance might be a bit disappointed, with the release collecting most of the material record following Roger Waters’ exit from the group.
Check out ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd:
