the final cut.

･:*:･ﾟ☆ ( roger waters. seventy-three. male. he/him ) ↷ ( richard harris ) has been spotted by the paparazzi in los angeles. they are a ( c ) list celebrity known for their career as a ( soloist / ex-lead vocalist/bassist of warren pieces ). they’re known by their fans to be ( passionate, open-minded & charismatic ) but the tabloids frequently portray them to be ( egotistical, dictatorial & pessimistic ) . i wish them every success in the entertainment industry. [roger waters/pink floyd vc] (daisy. 19. est. she/her) ･:*:･ﾟ☆

BACKSTORY / PROFESSIONAL LIFE

triggers: brief mention of war, brief mention of abuse, death, alcohol/drugs, suicide

so this here is rick and he’s got a long life story ! 73yrs worth ! so let’s get started!

rick grew up largely without a father, as his father, previously a sworn pacifist, died five months after he was born fighting in normandy landings

rick’s mother became somewhat of a smother, finding him to be the closest person she had left to her husband. he was put under strict rules, his mother always insisting it was for the best, warning him that the world was cruel and it was far too easy to get hurt out there !

so he spent his free time researching the war his father died in, reading the letters his father wrote, and trying to become the man his mother wanted him to be – his father. 

he learned his father loved jazz music via one of the letters he wrote. furthermore, he learned his father had played the stand-up bass. wanting to become a small version of his father, of course he spoke to his mother about this! she refused to let rick use his father’s bass, instead getting him a cheap electric one, saying it was cheaper and more convenient

he met a kid, keith, who would ultimately change his life when he was thirteen years old. keith was a guitar aficionado and they bonded over music and shared experiences with wwii and lost fathers. where rick lost his to death, keith lost his to ‘shell shock’.

they entered secondary school together and faced the abuse of teachers who didn’t care much for corporal punishment rules. however, they met two other kids – one, john, who worked great with pianos and another, pete, who was excellent at playing the drums – and formed a band. together, they settled on ‘warren pieces’, figuring it was a nice play on ‘war and peace’, especially during such a tumultuous time.

they put out their first album in the late 60s, 'the piper at the gates of dawn’, with keith taking the lead. from those fond of psychedelics, it received rave reviews, and they didn’t care much for any other reviews. keith kept the morale up. the year after, they released ‘a saucerful of secrets’ with the same reception as their previous one.

although rick was an independent man by then, whenever he saw his mother, she would constantly tell him everything that was wrong with his music. it was too drug-addled! she knew that boy keith had never been anything but trouble! he needed to quit warren pieces before he became a druggie and stopped cutting his hair!

he put up with her constant criticisms, but the day she told him his father would be ashamed, he cut her out of his life completely. he never visited her. he made sure she was never able to buy tickets to his shows. he didn’t tell her his home phone when he bought an apartment. for everything he’d done to make her proud...

rick took solace in his band, primarily in keith (but five feet apart cause they’re not gay), and was horrified when keith fell prey to the enemy of all psychedelic-era musicians. when it became more than a habit, rick brought in a man he’d met in university, robert, to become a secondary guitarist. they told keith he was just there to tour, but he was actually being used as insurance. 

keith began purposefully putting his guitar out of tune during shows. he’d purposefully play the wrong chords. he’d purposefully start a different song from everyone else. he also became volatile and borderline delusional. he could be violent with fans. he could tell interviewers that he believed someone was watching warren pieces at all times, thus making him feel like he had to make everything perfect. then he would laugh, but not that comfortable laugh. keith shaved his eyebrows off and drew new, comical ones on.

it all ended when keith came to rick with an idea for a new song, tentatively titled “have you got it yet?” he’d play the chords for rick to follow and practice along with, then he’d switch them up. it kept up like that for some time until, yes, rick got it and finally did what he knew would pain him: he finally kicked keith out of the band, replacing him with robert.

the years of ‘atom heart mother’, ‘meddle’, and ‘obscured by clouds’ were silent ones. the band didn’t talk much except suggesting this chord here and there or put this word where that one is instead – all of that. 

however, when news came out that keith had overdosed – although he’d lived – they began talking more, finding more inspiration in shared experiences again. they created ‘the dark side of the moon’ from that, an amalgam of political critiques, anti-bourgeoisie anthems, and songs dedicated to the man they figuratively lost.

while they were recording a new song for an album with a concept they’d yet to come up with, keith visited the recording studio. he was completely hairless – bald, no eyebrows. his under-eyes were pink. he’d gained weight. he looked much emptier than he had when he left. he didn’t have anything comical drawn on. he was just... sad.

it broke everyone’s heart, especially rick’s. they all had different, silent reactions. nonetheless, they were all haunted.

after that, it only seemed right to make the album largely dedicated to keith. ‘wish you were here’ came out two weeks too late, as keith killed himself two weeks prior to its release.

the next album was purposefully impersonal, focusing on the politics of the time instead of on family, on keith, on love (not that they had many love songs). the entire album was tearing down everyone from just the general population of policemen to the more specific mary whitehouse. although each album of theirs after keith left had an element of acknowledging the corruption within the system, ‘animals’ didn’t have a single song that didn’t.

now branded as particularly political, rick decided to focus in on past politics and on what haunted him the most. ‘the wall’ was born, and so was a much more dictatorial rick.

due to it being so personal, he took every measure possible to make it perfect. he fired john from the project for a few days, noting how his cocaine addiction was affecting the music... which it wasn’t, really... after the temp pianist played on one (1) song, he brought john back to the project. 

he didn’t take any suggestions robert threw his way, deeming them all ill-fitting, even when they actually would’ve fit perfectly. he forced everyone to pull multiple all-nighters in a row, making them play take after take. pete quit for a hot second before realizing he had nowhere else to go and returning to the project.

‘the wall’ was an unpleasant experience for everyone. although the concept was likely the most cohesive of all of them, following a single character (warren) and timeline throughout, working on it was absolutely horrible. for the three other members, it was being under a heavy fist. for rick, it was not only digging so deep into himself, but also subconsciously digging deep into those around him. there was a line tossed in dedicated to john that he hardly even realized ( “got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains” - nobody home ). 

a movie was made from it. it did great among the psychedelic audience. rick realized the main character was closer to keith than it was to himself.

‘the final cut’ was the last album he made with warren pieces for a long time. he considered it the b-side to ‘the wall’, but better. it was similar in concept, and there were some that were outtakes from ‘the wall’, but it was less focused on a storyline and more focused on rick’s own feelings of loss, dealing with them so many years later than he should have. it could almost have been a solo album, which leads...

after ‘the final cut’, richard went solo for some time. he found he had too many “artistic differences” from the other members of his band and only bought the two albums they put out without him because he wanted to support john whom he was still fairly close to. 

they left on such horrible terms that he didn’t reunite with them until 2013 (granted, after ‘94 they were all out doing their own things) when they were in the middle of recording ‘the endless river’. given that the grand majority of the album was simply re-recording demos, he offered to help with some of the songs. most of them already had whatever work they needed from him on there from a long, long time ago, but they began talking again, anyway.

the driving force behind them being civil was ultimately john’s untimely demise. much of the album was simply compromised of old recording of john with robert layering some light guitar over it, the occasional percussion and bass also being present.

his solo career was very c-list. his tours grossed well due to the amount of warren pieces songs he played, but only diehard fans actually bought his solo albums. it seemed everyone was either team robert or team richard.

he’s become more civil with robert and pete since john’s death and still occasionally talks to them, but doesn’t make a habit of it. most interviewers have given up on asking him if there’ll ever be a warren pieces reunion – he’s made it pretty clear that, if there is, he likely won’t be part of it.

ETC. / PERSONAL LIFE TIDBITS

rick has been married three times. 

the first time was to a woman named anya whom he met at woodstock and it lasted for five months – much longer than his bandmates bet it would. john bet four months, keith bet two, pete bet one. he was twenty-six at the time and blames the fickle nature on that.

he married again when he was thirty-two. it was a horrible one, though – not that he saw that at the time. he wound up having affair after affair as the “groupies threw themselves at [him]!” she was, understandably, cold to him after. rick was susceptible to breaking down while alone. she stopped answering his calls. they divorced when he was thirty-four and he included details of it in ‘the wall’, making sure his character seemed more like the villain than hers. he knew that he was responsible for it all.

his third marriage was when he was fifty-one. it lasted for five years, being the longest relationship in general that he’d ever had. truth be told, however, he never really felt anything for her. he’d felt a lot for his second wife, but he’d more than screwed that up. now that he was past the time of screwing things up, he realized the difference between love and lust. he didn’t love her. she had an affair and he figured that was reason enough to divorce without creating a story about his villainy, although a few stories were created about his hypocrisy, citing his second marriage.

rick has never once claimed that the beatles were a source of inspiration for him and will make that known if someone tries to bring it up. although he admires their work, no member ever said that they were inspired by the band. it was a cliché.

although he’s still considered an english native, he’s very into politics from all around the world. his most recent tour’s main theatrics centered around anti-trump messages. ask him about the politics of any country, though – he’ll give you his very informed opinion.

created a memorial for those who died in normandy landings and named it after his father. 

reconnected with his mother after he’d had the chance to really sort through his feelings about her – after the release of ‘the final cut’. he’s grateful he did before she died... seeing as she died one year after they reconnected. rip.

is in the rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame. what a cool guy.

there’s probs more that i’m missing but he’s?? a new character?? who 110% isn’t based on anyone at all just very original like my mind!! so original!! that said