7 Songs You May Not Know Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and David Gilmour Wrote

Roger Waters and David Gilmour may not be on good terms today, but at one point, they were half of one of the most influential psychedelic rock bands of all time. Along with Richard Wright and Nick Mason, they crafted Pink Floyd’s atmospheric, dimension-hopping discography together across nearly three decades.

Bassist and vocalist Waters was the group’s principal songwriter and main lyricist. He penned 59 songs for the band and also wrote the vast majority of their lyrics, including all the words on the album Dark Side of the Moon and most onThe Wall. 

Meanwhile, lead guitarist Gilmour wrote several songs for the band on his own, mostly after Waters left the band in 1985. His contributions include “Learning to Fly” and “High Hopes,” among others. 

Yet most frequently, the band collaborated. Waters wrote the lyrics and Gilmour wrote the music for “Wish You Were Here” and other hits, and the duo co-wrote the songs “Young Lust” and “Run Like Hell” for The Wall, among many others.

Keyboardist Richard Wright also made several key contributions to the band, including ”Summer ‘68” on Atom Heart Mother and the instrumental part on “The Great Gig in the Sky” from The Dark Side of the Moon. Drummer Nick Mason’s only solo songwriting credit in the Pink Floyd discography is “Speak to Me,” the instrumental opening track on Dark Side of the Moon, but his artistry was also key to shaping the band’s overall sound.

Many of Pink Floyd’s early songs, however, were written by Syd Barrett, who served as the band's original frontman and main songwriter until a severe mental health crisis led him to leave the group. Following his departure, many of the band’s subsequent greatest hits were at least partly inspired by Barrett, including “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” 

The vast majority of the songs that Waters and Gilmour have written over the course of their careers have either been Pink Floyd releases or solo works. Still, there have been just a few rare songs that these two musical greats have written or co-written for other artists over the years.

1. “Incarceration of a Flower Child” // Marianne Faithfull
2. “Sparrows Will Sing” - Marianne Faithfull
3. "Without Blame" // Marianne Faithfull and Ismaël Lô 
4. “Playing Games” // Roy Harper
5. “Hope” // Roy Harper and Jimmy Page
6. “You” (The Game Part II) // Roy Harper
7. “White City Fighting” // Pete Townshend

“Incarceration of a Flower Child” // Marianne Faithfull

Written By: Roger Waters

Waters shared a long-term friendship with musician Marianne Faithfull. He also penned several songs that were eventually released by Faithfull, including “Incarceration of a Flower Child,” which he wrote in 1968 but never recorded it with Pink Floyd. It was eventually released on Faithfull’s 1999 album Vagabond Ways. 

The song appears to be about an idealistic young hippie couple who are torn apart after one of them is arrested. Some fans have also connected it to former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett’s transition from promising bohemian artist to man trapped in a prison of his own mind. 

In a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, Faithfull commented on her friendship with Waters. “He’s one of my dearest friends, and I love him and he’s everything a real gentleman rock star should be,” she said. “He’s not a misogynist. He is not only in it for the money. He is a great man.”

“Sparrows Will Sing” - Marianne Faithfull

Written By: Roger Waters

Another song Waters penned for Faithfull was the epic track “Sparrows Will Sing.” Like many of Waters’ songs, it explores the depths of the human experience, blends hope with nihilism, and mixes psychological and political undertones, causing many people to connect it to similar tracks on The Wall. 

“It sets up the way I feel about everything, humanity, the world and love. Waters also writes with hope and that’s why I chose it; he has also a lot more hope than I do,” Faithfull said of the song, which was released on her 2014 album Give My Love to London. “Roger is definitely one of the greatest writers that started in the 60s period; he is still writing, performing and creating. I admire him very, very much and actually I love him,” she continued.

"Without Blame" // Marianne Faithfull and Ismaël Lô 

Written By: Roger Waters and Ismaël Lô 

Waters wrote the English-language lyrics for Senegalese musician Ismaël Lô’s track “Without Blame,” which he originally sang in French. Faithfull and Lô recorded the duet with Waters’ lyrics in 1995, and it was released on Lô’s album Jammu Africa. 

“Playing Games” // Roy Harper

Written By: David Gilmour and Roy Harper

Gilmour frequently collaborated with British singer-songwriter Roy Harper in the 1970s, and the pair co-wrote several songs for Harper's 1980 album The Unknown Soldier. These included  “You,” “Old Faces,” “True Story,” and “Playing Games,” the album’s opener. 

Gilmour also co-wrote the track “Short and Sweet” for Unknown Soldier, and ultimately released it on his own solo album as well. Harper and Gilmour’s collaborative efforts were far from one-sided, though; Harper sang lead vocals on the Pink Floyd song “Have a Cigar,” and also lent background vocals to Gilmour’s About Face. 

“Hope” // Roy Harper and Jimmy Page

Written By: David Gilmour and Roy Harper

Roy Harper collaborated with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page on the 1985 album Whatever Happened to Jugula? One of the tracks on it was “Hope,” which Gilmour and Harper wrote together. 

The track was originally intended for Gilmour’s second album, About Face, and Pete Townshend was meant to write the lyrics, but Gilmour ultimately didn't resonate with what Townshend came up with. He then sent the track to Harper, who wrote the lyrics that appeared on the Jugula album.

“You” (The Game Part II) // Roy Harper

Written By: David Gilmour and Roy Harper

Another song that Gilmour and Harper co-wrote was the track “You (The Game Part II),” which also appeared on The Unknown Soldier. The song also features vocals from none other than Kate Bush, who was in the early stages of her career at the time.

Gilmour played a major role in launching Bush’s career. He discovered her as a teenager and produced some early songs, including “The Man With The Child In His Eyes,” which resulted in her being signed by the record company EMI. 

“White City Fighting” // Pete Townshend

Written By: David Gilmour and Pete Townshend

Gilmour and The Who guitarist Pete Townshend shared a long-standing admiration for one another that began before they even met. That admiration deepened into a collaborative relationship over the years, and one song that the pair created together was “White City Fighting.”

Gilmour originally composed the song for his solo album and asked Townshend to write lyrics for it, but again didn't connect with what Townshend provided. Townshend later included the song on his fourth album, White City: A Novel.

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