• Radio KAOS
  • "What is the Morse code on KAOS?"
  • "What was the lost verse to The Tide Is Turning?"
  • "What's being said at the beginning and end of KAOS?"
  • What's all this about KAOS2 then ?

Radio KAOS

"What is the Morse code on KAOS?"

The cover is pretty easy to decipher. It says:

   ROGER WATERS RADIO KAOS WHO NEEDS INFORMATION THE POWERS THAT BE HOME
   THE TIDE IS TURNING RADIO WAVES

The Morse code at the beginning and end of the album is harder to decipher. It's worth it, though, because it contains a deleted verse from ``The Tide is Turning.'' There's also other bits of code scattered throughout the album. Here's what people have been able to figure out, from Douglas Whisler, A.G. Spencer and David Truckenmiller: - ``turning Syl'' (beginning of album)

 - "macho bullshit and mediocrity oh tide"
    (end of album)                                     

 - "it is they that must fight and die ... Herbert Hoover" 
    (end of "Who Needs Information")

 - "dock ... oh time(?) is turning ... the party's over but you are not"
    (during the "I don't like fish" speech)

See the next question for a partial explanation...

"What was the lost verse to The Tide Is Turning?"

There was supposed to be another verse to this song, but it was removed because Waters was worried about lawsuits. He did, however, sing part of it (the last two lines) during some live concerts. The lyrics are:

        Now the past is over but you are not alone
        Together we'll fight Sylvester Stallone
        We will not be dragged down in his South China Sea
        of macho bullshit and mediocrity

This is also who Waters refers to later in the song when he sings ``The tide is turning, Sylvester.''

"What's being said at the beginning and end of KAOS?"

This is taken from Q&A in TAP (#53):

   According to "Psycho Pink" Eric Wayne Morrison (Colorado
   Springs), it's "...back to the beginning" and "That's...".

What's all this about KAOS2 then ?

Roger liked the KAOS concept so much that, during a break in the KAOS tour, he began writing material for a new album about Billy and Jim, to be called ``Amused to Death.'' At one subsequent KAOS show, Roger said he would play some new material from KAOS 2; the only ``new'' material played was ``Fish Report with a Beat'' and ``Going to Live in LA.'' So I guess Roger had pegged the latter song, at least, for use on the new project (it had originally been written for the KAOS album).

The album was rumored to be ready for release in early 1989, and included a Gerald Scarfe cover that depicted three familiar musicians drowning in a giant martini glass. But the album was reportedly rejected by the record company, and later on by Waters himself.

What happened next is a matter of speculation. In a Rockline interview at the time of ATD's release, Waters said he had been putting the songs together for the past four or five years (interrupted, presumably, by his work on the ``Ca Ira'' project). Another article notes that most of the album was written and conceived before the Gulf War. So one might assume that at least some of the KAOS 2 material was worked into the new, ``TV-concept'' _Amused to Death_. But we don't know for sure...