Rock
Aaron Lum
The Motivations Behind "Wish You Were Here"
Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” album received a variety of mixed reviews at the time of its release. Making its debut in September 1975, the album explored ideas of loneliness, absence, and the disappointing departure of their former band member, Syd Barrett. In 1968, Barrett was forced out of the band after mentally breaking down from an over excessive use of drugs and LSD. This attributed greatly to his fall from reality and fame. The absence of Syd Barrett left a profound and deep impact on the rest of the band. The band didn’t know how to adjust to this major change after just releasing a successful hit album, The Dark Side Of The Moon. It had become one of the decade’s biggest hits and had finally launched Pink Floyd into the spotlight. Mainstream audiences began to realize Pink Floyd wasn’t just any ordinary rock band, but a group of musicians who gave a voice to the lonely and the misunderstood.
Roger Waters and David Gilmour, two other members from the band, were still reeling from Syd’s shocking fall to drugs. After three years of touring around the country, the band had decided to top their most successful album at the time. Waters and Gilmour wound up dedicating much of their new musical piece to Barret, who had still not recovered from his ordeal. In 1975, Syd made a surprise visit to the studio to try and restart his career. However, he arrived appearing overweight, balding, and extremely pale. No words could describe the band's complete shock and disappointment to have seen their old friend struggle with his addiction. And as a result, they made it clear that their next album was to be an ode to their former member, lamenting over his departure, and one who had seen much better days.
During a documentary of the making of the album, Roger Waters explained the song was to also “encourage myself not to accept a lead role in a cage, but to go on demanding of myself that I keep auditioning for the walk-on part in the war, ‘cause that’s where I want to be. I wanna be in the trenches. I don’t want to be at headquarters; I don’t wanna be sitting in a hotel somewhere. I wanna be engaged.” Funny enough, part of this quote became apart of the actual lyrics for "Wish You Were Here" as Waters describes his willingness to be active and to be heard. Unlike Barrett, Waters refused to let the lure and attraction of the seventies get to him and instead focused on his musical career. But this work mentality was nowhere to be found with the rest of the band during the recording process. At times, some members of the band rarely showed up to the recording studio. And if they did, none of them would arrive on time. The title of the song not only became a reflection of the band’s desire for Syd, but also a reflection of the band’s own deteriorating relationship with one another.
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