PINK FLOYD
WISH YOU WERE HERE
“Did you exchange a walk-on part in a war, for a lead role in a cage?”
YAC said:
Being a man of a certain age, I of course have rubbed elbows with the music of Pink Floyd over the years. For some reason, regardless of what phase of my music fandom I've been in, I've just never connected with them. Other big name bands I was originally lukewarm on (like the Who, Toto or Iron Maiden) all eventually won me over and received the obligatory back-catalog binge - but never Roger, Syd, David & Co. That being said, I wanted to approach this song with an open mind.
As it turns out, open mind or not, some preconceptions are baked in. I know because when the track started, all those expectations, that I didn't mean to have, were confounded. I guess I heard the name Pink Floyd and my brain conjured up images of pomp and ceremony, overblown orchestral madness and looong songs.
This track was a pleasant surprise from the off, starting with some lovely vinyl crackling before giving way to a slow, moody, acoustic guitar. Even when the full band come in, it remains all about that acoustic and its sweet, melancholy riff. There's a nice solo section in the middle, but everything is kept bubbling under the main acoustic track in the mix. Very cool and controlled, I loved that.
The vocals too caught me by surprise. The vocals sound pretty different from the songs I already know. It's nothing like the processed, Don Henley-like gargling I knew from ‘Have a Cigar’, or the faraway, shouty delivery of ‘Money’. David Gilmour is on lead vocal duties for this song, and his performance is somber and understated. We’re even treated to a phelgmy throat-clearing and a sniff before the vocals kick in, to keep things folksy. The production is stripped right back, giving the track a raw, authenticity that can't be faked and is hard to beat.
If I was guaranteed a lot more of this in the back catalog, I'd be strapping on my deep diving gear and jumping in, but that catalog is quite the daunting behemoth to contemplate. While this track is great and has scored a spot in my daily shuffle rotation, the specter of spiraling 20 minute songs and thundering orchestral instrumentals still leaves me on the platform watching the Floyd train go by.
B said:
Progressive rock is probably my favourite genre right now. I’ve went from dipping my toes into the music of Pink Floyd into being submerged into the Pacific Ocean-like musicscape that is progressive rock, with me exploring Floyd’s peers such as Yes, King Crimson and Genesis. When I started listening to Pink Floyd, I explored some of their most popular songs like Comfortably Numb, Money and Another Brick In The Wall Part 2, but Wish You Were Here as an album probably piqued my interest the most, with songs like Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Welcome To The Machine, but the title track in particular is an interesting and worthwhile listen.
When I first listened to the song, I didn’t know what to expect. Pink Floyd are extremely diverse, with songs from Dark Side of the Moon sounding nothing like songs on Animals, so I was ready for anything. I was pleasantly shocked when I found out it was a song led by an acoustic guitar, something you don’t normally see in prog rock. I looked into the backstory of the song and this riff came from a jam session when David Gilmour was playing the riff and Roger told him to slow it down. Roger wrote some lyrics to accompany the riff and gave them to David.
One thing that makes this song special is its relatability. Unlike with the rest of their catalogue, anyone, fans and non-fans, can relate to this song. Many speculate this song is about the band missing Syd Barrett, and while I can see where they’re coming from, this song can be for anyone. I tend to listen to this song to cheer me up after a hard day. There’s just something about this song that can make a person pull a full 180 emotionally.
But returning to the song being about Syd, what I like about the song is the contrasting in lyrics. The lyrics are inspired by Syd’s mental illnesses and drug issues that caused him to leave the band back in 1968. The lyrics are telling Syd that doing drugs are messing up his perception (such as mistaking a cold steel rail for a green field).
I’d say Wish You Were Here is a song that anyone can listen to and it can improve their mood dramatically. It’s certainly not as long or artsy as other Pink Floyd songs, but it certainly deserves to be considered one of their best songs, alongside those long, artsy compositions and suites. Wish You Were Here is a good introduction to Pink Floyd and it’s one of the greatest songs to be written on an acoustic guitar.
Currently listening to:
YAC: Faith No More - Ashes To Ashes
B: Yes - Close To The Edge
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