Roger Waters performs with Palestinian artist Mona Miari
47 years after its original release, the classic dei Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb is preparing to return in a new guise. Roger Waters, historic co-founder of the British band, collaborated with the Palestinian artist Mona Miari to accomplish Comfortably Numb – Reimagineda reinterpretation that blends the original with sounds and lyrics in Arabic.
The initiative, launched through the website comfortablynumbreimagined.com, aims to transform the famous song into a “battle cry” to draw global attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. According to what was reported by the promoters of the project, the new version – due out in May – intends amplify the original message of the song, focused on the rejection of alienation and apathy, adapting it to the current context of the Palestinian genocide.
The new interpretation will not be a simple cover, therefore, but will include Arabic arrangements and melodies written specifically to evoke themes of resistance and solidarity. The speech by Mona Miari, known for her commitment to the valorization of Palestinian musical culture, introduces verses in Arabic which are intertwined with the classic structure composed by Waters and David Gilmour in 1979.
Waters’ return on this song it’s nothing new absolute – the artist had already published a “darker” version without solos in 2022, during his solo tours – but this collaboration represents a further shift in the center of gravity of the work towards an explicitly political and intercultural dimension. The project was officially presented a few days ago in New York, in a private preview. There is also a video of Waters performing with Miari on YouTube:
