Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

“Wish You Were Here” – song by Pink Floyd from the album Wish You Were Here
Studio album by Pink Floyd
Released: 12 September 1975

This was a rare case of the Pink Floyd primary songwriters Roger Waters and David Gilmour mutually collaborating on a song – they rarely wrote together. Gilmour had the opening riff written and was playing it in the studio at a fast pace when Roger Waters heard it and asked him to play it slower. The song built from there, with the pair writing the music for the chorus and verses together, and Waters adding the lyrics.

“Wish You Were Here” is about the detached feeling many of us float through life with. It’s a commentary on how people cope with the world by withdrawing physically, mentally, or emotionally. The main inspiration was Pink Floyd founding member Syd Barrett and his ordeal with schizophrenia.

The song is popular on classic rock radio stations and remains a staple of Pink Floyd’s discography. It was voted the 18th best rock song of all time by listeners of New York City’s Q104.3, and ranked No. 302 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, both in 2021.] Billboard and Louder Sound ranked the song number one and number three, respectively, on their lists of the 50 greatest Pink Floyd songs.

In the original album version, the song segues from “Have a Cigar” as if a radio had been tuned away from one station, through several others (including a radio play and one playing the opening of the finale of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony), and finally to a new station where “Wish You Were Here” is beginning. The radio was recorded from Gilmour’s car radio. He performed the intro on a twelve-string guitar, processed to sound like it was playing through an AM radio, and then overdubbed a fuller-sounding acoustic guitar solo. This passage was mixed to sound as though a guitarist were listening to the radio and playing along. As the acoustic part becomes more complex, the “radio broadcast” fades away and Gilmour’s voice enters, while the rest of the band joins in.

At the end of the song, when the wind is blowing, you can hear the sound of a violin played by Stephane Grappelli, a French jazz musician who was recording in nearby studios. Pink Floyd asked him to play on the track when they found out he was there.

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Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here04:54

“Wish You Were Here” este melodia care titlu pentru cel de-al nouălea album de studio al grupului Pink Floyd. Albumul a fost lansat la 12 Septembrie 1975.

Melodia este compusă de David Gilmour și Roger Waters.

Piesa a fost inclusă într-un concert din 1977, când au cântat întregul album. Pentru următorii 10 ani, nu au mai interpretat-o niciodată într-un concert. Abia, în 1987 au reintrodus piesa în set-ul de concerte, fiind inclusă în aproape toate concertele care au urmat după ceea.

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – lead and harmony vocals, scat singing, six and twelve-string acoustic guitars, pedal steel guitar, tape effects
• Nick Mason – drums, tape effects
• Roger Waters – bass, tape effects
• Richard Wright – Steinway piano, Minimoog

Info sources: Songfacts and Wikipedia

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