Roger WatersThe Pros and Cons of Hitch HikingStudio album
Recorded: February - December 1983
Released: 30 April 1984
BandRoger Waters (bass, rhythm guitar)
Eric Clapton (lead guitar)
Ray Cooper (percussion)
Andy Newmark (drums)
David Sanborn (saxophone)
Michael Kamen (piano)
Andy Bown (organ, 12-string guitar)
Raphael Ravenscroft (horns)
Kevin Flanagan (horns)
Vic Sullivan (horns)
Madeline Bell (backing vocals)
Katie Kissoon (backing vocals)
Doreen Chanter (backing vocals)
Also featuring:
- the National Philharmonic Orchestra (arranged by Michael Kamen);
- Andy Quigley as "Welshman in Operating Theatre";
- Beth Porter as "wife";
- Roger Waters as "man";
- Manning Redwood and Ed Bishop as "truck drivers";
- Jack Palance as "Hells Angel";
- Madeline Bell as "Hells Angel's girlfriend".
All tracks authored by Roger Waters.
Side A1. 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) (3:12)
2. 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) (4:08)
3. 4:37 AM (Arabs With Knives and West German Skies) (2:17)
4. 4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, part 2) (2:02)
5. 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) (4:49)
6. 4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love) (3:09)
Side B1. 4:50 AM (Go Fishing) (6:59)
2. 4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, part 1) (1:38)
3. 4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin) (3:03)
4. 5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking) (4:36)
5. 5:06 AM (Every Stranger's Eyes) (4:48)
6. 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity) (1:28)
ReviewIn the wake of the Roger-led Floyd era, Roger decided to resurrect an old idea for a rock opera that was conceived around the same time as
The Wall. Primarily due to being half as long as its elder sibling, but also because of the less self-indulgent nature of the story, I find this album to be much more interesting overall. Yes, it lacks the contributions of David Gilmour and is very obviously not a Pink Floyd album, but Eric Clapton has stepped in to take over lead guitar duties, which helps to add some colour to the result.
Right from the start, it becomes obvious that this is meant as a piece rather than as a series of tracks. Indeed, there aren't many tracks that would stand well alone at all, and the transitions between tracks aren't easy to spot unless you know where they're supposed to be. The overall structure has an occasional song proper, interspersed with slow, acoustic numbers where Roger lazily relates the story.
Speaking of the story, it's not particularly easy to follow, but in this album's case I can excuse the lack of clarity because the framing narrative is a man lying in bed during the early hours of the morning, drifting in and out of sleep. The moments when he is half-awake are marked by the sound of a clock ticking, and usually also his wife talking to him, but most of the album chronicles his dreams instead.
For the first third of the album, he dreams about travelling through Europe, picking up some hitch-hikers, one of whom is a woman who finds him attractive. Abruptly, he dreams that he wakes up to find Arabs with knives in his hotel room, but soon becomes aware that he is dreaming, and drifts into dreaming of making love to a woman (presumably the hitch-hiker he picked up) in a German hotel instead.
4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) is about him waking up in the middle of that dream and trying to make love to his wife, who promptly refuses and goes back to sleep. This seeds his next dream, involving a series of relationship problems which lead to him taking his family out to live in the country (The Remains of Our Love / Go Fishing), his wife falling in love with another man (For the First Time Today / Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin), and him getting cast off onto the highway and becoming a hitch-hiker himself (the title track).
The album comes to a head with Every Stranger's Eyes, one of the few songs that stands well by itself, which is about finding enlightenment in realising that everyone is just as lost as the protagonist (the titular line being "I recognise myself in every stranger's eyes"). He then realises the way to avoid the relationship problems he's just been dreaming about, and wakes up in time for the final track, where he reaches out to find that his wife is awake and still in bed with him.
I find this to be a better album, both conceptually and musically, than
The Wall. It's certainly easier to relate to if you haven't been through the experiences of rockstardom that caused Pink Floyd to build their metaphorical wall in the '70s, and it has a much more positive finality to it. Add that to the fact that this is the last album Roger would record with his voice in decent shape, and you have one of the better solo records by a Floyd member. If you like late '70s Floyd, this album is a must-listen.
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