Roger Waters The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking released

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking Roger Waters

Released: April 30, 1984 Peak: 31 US, -- RB, 13 UK, -- CN, 30 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.06 UK Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) 4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies) 4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 2) 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) 4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love) 4:50 AM (Go Fishing) 4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 1) 4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin) 5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Part 10) 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity) Total Running Time: 42:14 The Players: Roger Waters (vocals, rhythm guitar, bass) Eric Clapton (guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer) David Sanborn (saxophone) Michael Kamen (piano, production, conductor: the National Philharmonic Orchestra) Andy Bown (Hammon organ, 12-string guitar) Raphael Ravenscoft, Kevin Flanagan, and Vic Sullivan (horns) Andy Newmark (drums, percussion) Ray Cooper (percussion) Madeline Bell, Katie Kissoon, Dorren Chanter (backing vocals)

Rating: 3.326 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings)

About the Album After Pink Floyd released The Final Cut in 1983, bassist and singer Roger Waters departed for a solo career. For his first outing, he embarked on a concept album focused on a man suffering from a midlife crisis. He “takes a road trip through California, commits adultery with a hitchhiker he picks up along the way, attempts to reconcile with his wife by moving to the wilderness, and finally ends up alone but with greater insight into a common human compassion. Along the way he also faces other fears and paranoia.” WK “The entire story is framed in real time as a fitful dream taking place in the early morning hours of 4:30:18 am to 5:12:32 am on an unspecified day. At the end of the dream, the man wakes up lonely and contrite and turns to his real wife for comfort, presumably having processed his crisis.” WK The story idea dates back to 1977. Waters presented the concept to Pink Floyd in July 1978 alongside another project. The band went with the latter idea, which became their 1979 album The Wall. As Waters said, “I wrote both pieces at roughly the same time. And in fact, I made demo tapes of them both, and in fact presented both demo tapes to the rest of the Floyd, and said ‘Look, ‘'m going to do one of these as a solo project and we’ll do one as a band album, and you can choose.” WK The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:33 AM (Running Shoes) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 2) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: 25 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.10 video, 6.12 streaming

4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:50 AM (Go Fishing) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 1) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Part 10) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: single (4/9/1984), The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) B-side: “Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad” Peak: 17 AR, 76 UK, 74 AU, 17 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.10 video, 12.56 streaming

5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: single (6/11/1984), The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984), In the Flesh (Roger Waters live, 12/5/2000) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.20 video, 3.36 streaming

5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity) Roger Waters

Writer(s): Roger Waters Released: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 8/24/2025.