Roger Waters has continued to criticize Radiohead’s Tom Yorke, reigniting their long-standing disagreement.
In a new post titled ‘A Christmas Message For Tom’ 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.
The rocker wrote:
“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 Tom Yorke of Radiohead from back in 2017. It seems it cleared a few things up for them. Good.”
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. He wrote: “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 Tom? Some of them had their manicured fingers crossed behind their backs? Didn’t they Tom?”
The post continued with Waters directly questioning Yorke’s character and choices, and his use of modern technology. He further wrote: “So, Tom? Sorry Tom I’d almost forgotten you. Chance would be a fine thing wouldn’t it Tom. Do I sound angry Tom? Well, well spotted Tom, I am. Can I ask you a question Tom? Do you own a smart phone? If you do you can’t claim ignorance can you? Or are you just a sociopath Tom?”
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.
He further noted: “So? Was the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights the biggest smirking porkie pie of the twentieth century Tom? What do you think? You seem to be dithering a bit Tom, so I’ll answer for you. No Tom,the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights wasn’t a porky pie. It was an heroic, magnificent attempt a progress Tom. 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 Tom 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.
Their beef originally started in 2017 and this isn’t the first time he slammed Yorke since then.
