Wish You Were Here

After having my mind being blown by Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, I was looking to listen to more of Pink Floyd’s albums. After having a chat with a friend talking about The Dark Side of the Moon he suggested to me to listen to Wish You Were Here. He said it was completely non-commercial just like Dark Side; one of Pink Floyd’s other avant-garde albums. Wish You Were Here was album made after Syd Barrett departure of the band. Syd Barrett was suffering through a rough LSD drug addiction and a decline in his mental state so Syd Barrett and the rest of Pink Floyd broke off. The other members of Pink Floyd were incredibly saddened by the loss of a great band member, one who mainly composed all the song in their first 2 albums. So this album was created as a tribute to Syd Barrett.

I have to say from the start this is another great album made by Pink Floyd, as with Dark Side of the Moon the entire album is one piece of work and not just a bunch of tracks put together. The lyrics are very sincere, reminiscing about the good times they had with Syd Barrett and sadness of the loss of incredible potential Barrett had. The most impressive song of the album was Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which is a 20 minute song divided into two parts. The song starts very spaced out similar to the sound of Dark Side then moves to very jazzy with the use of a saxophone and then has a rapid climax with funky melodies. Then there is my other favorite song in the album Wish You Were Here, which ironically sounds like many indie bands I listen to nowadays, very similar to artists like Bon Iver, Coldplay and many others. The guitar is amazing in this song; I really dig the acoustic sound. The lyrics in this song are simply beautiful. They express the sadness of losing a great friend, their frustrations for that loss, and their desire to have him back. This is a great album, filled with many memorable moments, if you like Pink Floyd or like slow and spaced-out music you should definitely give this album a listen.

Beautiful lyrics from the song Wish You Were Here:

“How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.”