Wish You Were Here
About The Song
“Wish You Were Here” is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as the title track of their 1975 album of the same name. Guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour and bassist/vocalist Roger Waters collaborated in writing the music, with Gilmour singing lead vocals.
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.
“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.Roger Waters based the song on a poem he wrote about Syd Barrett’s break from reality. In a 2022 interview on the Joe Rogan Experience, he clarified that “Wish You Were Here” was “partially” about Barrett, adding, “And I do wish he was here.”
Waters believes LSD fed into Barrett’s eventual insanity but wasn’t the sole cause, as he suspected Barrett was already teetering on the edge of schizophrenia. Waters watched Barrett slowly unwinding as the band rose to stardom, particularly after they released “Arnold Layne.”
One anecdote Waters recalls in the interview is walking with Barrett outside Capitol Records in Los Angeles. Barrett looked at him and said, “It’s nice here in Las Vegas, isn’t it?” His face then darkened, and he spat out the word, “People!” The moment was characteristic of the disjoined nature of Barrett’s mind leading up to his total break with reality.
Barrett’s decline was personally painful but also professionally frightening, as the band relied on him to write the bulk of their songs. When Waters realized they were losing him, he took control of the songwriting.
