John Waters Marks 75th Birthday With ‘Prayer to Pasolini’

John Waters has released Prayer to Pasolini in conjunction with his 75th birthday on April 22nd. A tribute to controversial Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, Waters’ audio set is currently available in digital format. A 7-inch vinyl version of the two-part title track is available as part of Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 6 and is limited to 1000 copies.

The directors were both maligned in the Seventies for Waters’ Pink Flamingos and Pasolini’s final work, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, over explicit scenes that led to the films being banned. Both films depict eating shit. According to a statement, Waters said the difference is that in his film, which predates Salò by nearly four years, Divine ate literal shit, whereas the actors in Salo ate chocolate. “But I don’t hold that against them,” Waters said.

Waters recorded the single with producer Ian Brennan during the pandemic. They recorded it in a fenced-off park near Rome’s airport by a monument, which marks the area where Pasolini was brutally maimed and murdered in 1975. The single captures the vibe of the setting, with industrial, wind and bird sounds.

In addition to the single, the digital Prayer to Pasolini includes Waters discussing Pasolini’s work as well as a track where he is speaking in tongues.