Here’s a link to a story about Roger Waters’ continuing problems with inflatable barnyard animals. Get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about his elaborate on-stage (above stage, actually) prop – his giant inflatable pig, which was cast adrift on Sunday at this year’s Coachella festival when the mooring ropes meant to keep it from floating away came loose.
Everyone can relax. He got it back, albeit in pieces. And those who found it got a promised reward of cash (ten grand!) and concert tickets. Happy endings all around, except for the pig of course who must be re-constructed before flying once again. The best part about it: when he saw that the porcine prop was adrift and floating away, he said: “That’s my pig!” from the stage while in the middle of the Floyd-era track “Pigs on the Wing”. It must have been the highlight of the show.
Waters has used the prop for a long time, as a sort of holdover from his Pink Floyd days. The image of the floating pig, seen hanging over Battersea Power Station in London on the Floyd’s 1977 album Animals, has become a trademark of the group. There was an absurd law suit between the band and Waters, who spilt from them in 1985, as to who owns the rights to the image and the use of the prop. It was settled of course by the only reasonable path available to both parties. Waters was instructed to put a set of “knackers” on his pig – that’s “balls” to us North American types – making it a “boy” pig. The Floyd’s pig is a sow.
Rock and roll. Oink oink.
Editor’s note – The editorial staff here at the Delete Bin would like it noted that no reference to the popular phrase “when pigs fly” was made through out the whole of this article. For this, we feel that we too deserve a cash reward and concert tickets. If you feel the same way, please give generously. Well, maybe just add your comments, and we’ll call it even…