Roger Waters Updates “Speak to Me/Breathe” With Chilling Spoken Word Intro

Roger Waters has just released a new set of singles from his forthcoming album The Dark Side of the Moon Redux. A new version of “Speak to Me/Breathe” has dropped, revealing a new spoken word approach.

The release of the new version of “Speak to Me/Breathe” is accompanied by an official lyric video. In the new single, Waters speaks the lyrics of Pink Floyd’s “Free Four.” The latter song was featured on Pink Floyd’s seventh studio album, Obscured by Clouds, from 1972.

[RELATED: Roger Waters Unveils New Version of “Time”]

Waters’ chilling baritone voice delivers the lyrics of the song in a deadpan: The memories of a man in his old age – are the deeds of a man in his prime / You shuffle in the gloom of the sick room – and talk to yourself as you die / For life is a short, warm moment – and death is a long, cold rest / You get your chance to try – in the twinkling of an eye / Eighty years, with luck – or even less / So all aboard – for the American tour – and maybe, you’ll make it to the top / But mind how you go – and I can tell you, ‘cause I know / You may find it hard to get off / You are the angel of death – and I am the dead man’s son / He was buried like a mole in a fox hole / And everyone’s still on the run.

The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux will be released on October 6. The album is currently available for pre-order. Waters previously released two other singles from the remastered album, which include “Money” and “Time.”

“The original Dark Side of the Moon feels in some ways like the lament of an elder being on the human condition. But Dave, Rick, Nick, and I were so young when we made it, and when you look at the world around us, clearly the message hasn’t stuck,” Waters previously said in a press statement. “That’s why I started to consider what the wisdom of an 80-year-old could bring to a reimagined version.”

“When I first mentioned the idea of re-recording The Dark Side of the Moon to [collaborators Gus and Sean, we all thought I was mad, but the more we considered it, the more we thought, ‘Isn’t that the whole point?’” Waters continued. “I’m immensely proud of what we have created, a work that can sit proudly alongside the original, hand-in-hand across a half-century of time.” 

Photo by Brian Lima / Rogers and Cowan