Roger Waters has continued his criticism of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, reigniting their long-standing disagreement. In a new post titled ‘A Christmas Message For Thom’ on his website, Waters addressed their past conflict. It centered on Radiohead’s 2017 decision to perform in Tel Aviv even after calls for a cultural boycott.
“Every morning, noon and night, I have to delete a few notifications of new subscribers to my short SubstackStack. My new subscribers liked the recent publication of my email exchange with Thom Yorke of Radiohead fromback in 2017. It seems it cleared a few things up for them. Good,” the rocker wrote.
Waters then expanded his criticism, linking it to broader issues of human rights and global responsibility. He referenced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed in 1948, accusing Yorke and others of ignoring its principles. “I thought when our leaders signed the Universal Declaration of Human rights on the 10th December 1948 in Paris, enshrining its thirty articles in law, they all meant to abide by it, but I was wrong. Not all of them meant to abide by it, some of them were telling porkie pies weren’t they Thom? Some of them had their manicured fingers crossed behind their backs? Didn’t they Thom?”
The post continued with Waters directly questioning Yorke’s character and choices, and his use of modern technology. “So, Thom? Sorry Thom I’d almost forgotten you. Chance would be a fine thing wouldn’t it Thom. Do I sound angry Thom? Well, well spotted Thom, I am. Can I ask you a question Thom? Do you own a smart phone? If you do you can’t claim ignorance can you? Or are you just a sociopath Thom?”
Waters also reiterated his belief in the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, contrasting its intent with his perception of Yorke’s actions. “So? Was the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights the biggest smirking porkie pie of the twentieth century Thom? What do you think? You seem to be dithering a bit Thom, so I’ll answer for you. No Thom,the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights wasn’t a porky pie. It was an heroic, magnificent attempt a progress Thom. It was an expression of a global desire to make a world that was better than it was before the two World Wars to end all war. For most of the signatories it wasn’t a lie, most of them believed in what they were signing. Most of them still do. No Thom it wasn’t a lie, it was a universal expression of love, truth, and above all, hope for the future of mankind.”
Waters ended his message by warning about how modern technology spreads and normalizes atrocities, once again calling out Yorke. “It still is and if we the people stand together unflinching in our resistance to the genocide, being brought to an I-phone near you Thom, all day, every day, 24/7, in all its disgusting detail.”
While their beef originally started in 2017, this isn’t the first time he slammed Yorke since then. In an interview with The Empire Files podcast, he took a shot at Yorke. “I wrote [Yorke] a sort of email that went, ‘I’m sorry if you thought I was being confrontational.’ He wrote back and he said, ‘Normally, people on one side of an argument at least have the decency or the grace or the something to have a conversation.'”
Waters then shared his own response: “So then I wrote him back, and I said, ‘Thom, the people in BDS have been trying to have a conversation with you for months! And so have I!'”
He added: “That the guy’s a complete prick!”
The bassist said in 2017 that he begged Yorke to have a conversation with him about the matter and even sent him numerous emails. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead also played in Tel Aviv with Dudu Tassa and stated that ending suffering is more important than art.
