Watching TV

I don't think that we should take this song at first degree, we must look deeper, and decode.

Maybe Roger wants to tell us how emotions and images are used to make people to react in one way, the way THEY (media) wants you to go.

They shows a dying "perfect woman" on tv, the immediate reaction of most of people think that it was an injustice (and maybe it was) Media tells you how to react (get out your guns, get out your knife ...) Media uses emotions, not information, to make people react and to control mind, (as says biko2720 it's based on neil postman book, which tells how media control public opinion)

We know nothing of this woman, exept some details, but nothing about his past, in other circumstances, the same kind of image could be used to say that this woman was a terrorist or other

Notice that for Roger, it's not actual governement in china which is dictatorship, the dictator is Chiang Kai-shek who order to fire in the crowd (and not mao or another communist leader), who left china and build a commercial island (shoe factory, money rules), we know now that during tien an men, some disturbing events occurs (may be orchestrated by other "governement") and we know now for sure that orders have been sent by chinese governement during the "tien an men revolution" to NOT shoot at people.

"She's a victor star conceptually new" .... "She's symbolic of our failure" not THEIR failure (chinese)

I aggree that roger is fighting for human right, but not in china only or in supposed dictator state, but here,in our western country, he says beware of what is shown on tv, it's maybe manipulation, maybe dictatorship is in our countries... without noticing it, coz nobody show it to you.

Notice that all other "disasters" that are quoted are fruits of OUR western civilisation (boleyn, rosenberg, holocaust, nicaragua war dodo, kankabono, aztec, cherokee, he says that your are fooled, it's deception, coz we are at the origin of most mass murdering

waters is trying to rise a world of people to fight oppresion and human rights violations. He compares the tiannamen square massacre to the holocaust, the rosenbergs the native americans, the aztecs even the wife of king henry the VIII and more. He points out that this one individual female that was brutally murdered in order to escape the clutches of a brutal dictator can change the world as far as human rights, because unlike the holocaust, the indian american war, and many other evil acts in history this one incident is different, because it happened on TV for the whole world to see. That should be enough to piss off the world... unfortunately the will of the world is missing, it's sitting inside the empty soul of the fat ass sitting on the lazy boy watching TV for another massacre to unfold

I think DarkSide came close, but I have a slightly different view. I think it's more about how a death shown on TV makes people all pissed off and stuff...but it's entertainment. We like to watch other people's pain (like when the parents of some solider are brought on CNN, eyes full of tears). What a good song...

"So get out your pistols Get out your stones Get out your knives Cut them to the bone They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine They built the dark satanic mills That manufacture hell on earth They bought the front row seats on Calvary They are irrelevant to me But I grieve for my sister"

This verse really stands out. He is clearly pleading for people to take action. This song also brings up a theme that I think he also explores in "Too much Rope"; That in spite of televisions tendency to sensationalize world event to the point of meaninglessness, it also shows how it can bring suffering to our awarness. Think about how history might have been different if we had had global media coverage on the colonalization of the America's and the genocide of American Indians?

Jesus Christ, this is an awesome song. Probably my favourite right now. Roger writes in a way that makes you empathize with the girl's demise and his own pain. Simple and superb.

i completly agree with DarkSideoftheWall couldnt of said it better myself

Get out your pistols get out your stones" -with you so far, Roger. But what band does "knives" refer to?

-or am I reading too much stuff into this?

^^haha...never thought of it that way...

Keep in mind the album title. It's based upon Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. We know all the up-close-and-personal details about someone like the girl killed in Tianeman square (her job, daddy's job, physical appearance, etc.) because television (technology) covered it that way - in contrast to all those others mentioned who ceased to exist with less fanfare (or less coverage?). In any case, here's a place for more details on the album:http://www.rogerwaters.org/atd_about.html