Wish You Were Here (the song) appreciation thread

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LemonMelon

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Oh my, I love this song. It was my favorite Pink Floyd song for a while, but it just hit me how truly chilling the song is. :drool: There is nothing wrong with it at all. It's perfect. The acoustic guitars, the climax in the chorus, the lyrics! :combust: I dare someone to name a single weak moment in it.

So, so you think you can tell...
Heaven from Hell...
Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell a green field...
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade...
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange...
A walk on part in the war...
For a lead role in a cage?
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.


:sad:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1u7r_pink-floyd-wish-you-were-here
 
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This was one of the first songs I ever learned how to play flawlessly on guitar. It's still one of the only songs I know that I can pick up any guitar and play it through, start to finish (including the solos) without missing a note, and without sheet music of any kind.

There are some songs that I consider to be THE supreme examples of post-1950 songwriting. I call these songs "transcendental beauty" songs, because when you listen to them, you're transported to another world. You immediately know you're listening to something special that can't be duplicated. This list includes songs like Let it Be, Stairway to Heaven, The Great Gig in the Sky, Hotel California, Little Wing, The Wind Cries Mary, Where the Streets Have No Name, One, etc.

Wish You Were Here is on that list.

Even when Fred Durst and that guy from the Goo Goo Dolls did it during the 9/11 telethon, it still sounded good. If a song can still sound good when Limp Bizkit and Goo Goo Dolls are singing it, you know it's fucking amazing.
 
I know I'm going to get flamed for this post - Hey Lemon, where was that flame-proof suit you had?

Anyhow, I am not a huge fan of The Wall :reject: give me DSOTM any day. That being said I own The Wall simply for Wish You Were Here, one of their best IMO :up:

Finally, if anyone is interested in a half-descent cover of WYWH, The Catherine Wheel does a good job IMO.

Thank you, that is all :reject:
 
elevated_u2_fan said:
I know I'm going to get flamed for this post - Hey Lemon, where was that flame-proof suit you had?

Anyhow, I am not a huge fan of The Wall :reject: give me DSOTM any day. That being said I own The Wall simply for Wish You Were Here, one of their best IMO :up:



"wish you were here" is not on the Wall:wink:

two different records.
 
elevated_u2_fan said:
I know I'm going to get flamed for this post - Hey Lemon, where was that flame-proof suit you had?

Anyhow, I am not a huge fan of The Wall :reject: give me DSOTM any day. That being said I own The Wall simply for Wish You Were Here, one of their best IMO :up:

Finally, if anyone is interested in a half-descent cover of WYWH, The Catherine Wheel does a good job IMO.

Thank you, that is all :reject:

Wish You Were Here isn't on The Wall. :huh:
 
DaveC said:
This was one of the first songs I ever learned how to play flawlessly on guitar. It's still one of the only songs I know that I can pick up any guitar and play it through, start to finish (including the solos) without missing a note, and without sheet music of any kind.

There are some songs that I consider to be THE supreme examples of post-1950 songwriting. I call these songs "transcendental beauty" songs, because when you listen to them, you're transported to another world. You immediately know you're listening to something special that can't be duplicated. This list includes songs like Let it Be, Stairway to Heaven, The Great Gig in the Sky, Hotel California, Little Wing, The Wind Cries Mary, Where the Streets Have No Name, One, etc.

Wish You Were Here is on that list.


:up:
 
xaviMF22 said:



"wish you were here" is not on the Wall:wink:

two different records.

Wow... I'm on a stupid post-athon today. Please feel free to link this to "The Dumbest Post" thread :uhoh:

It's been a long day and it's only 10 am... :huh:

Well... I got flamed, in a way :wink: Why did I think it was on The Wall???

I think it's time to stop posting for today.
 
elevated_u2_fan said:


Wow... I'm on a stupid post-athon today. Please feel free to link this to "The Dumbest Post" thread :uhoh:

It's been a long day and it's only 10 am... :huh:

Well... I got flamed, in a way :wink: Why did I think it was on The Wall???

I think it's time to stop posting for today.

No worries. :wink: So wait, which is the album you don't like? Wish You Were Here or The Wall?
 
LemonMelon said:
Oh my, I love this song. It was my favorite Pink Floyd song for a while, but it just hit me how truly chilling the song is. :drool: There is nothing wrong with it at all. It's perfect. The acoustic guitars, the climax in the chorus, the lyrics! :combust: I dare someone to name a single weak moment in it.

Does not compute! Wish You Were Here is probably one of the few nearly perfect songs. Everything about it - lyrics, music, delivery, etc - is in its right place. It's not my favourite Pink Floyd song. In fact, if I were to try ranking the songs, it'd probably be 7th or 8th. I generally tend to prefer the more 'aggressive' Pink Floyd songs and albums. However, whenever I want to listen to 'mellow' Floyd, this is usually the song I put on.
 
Elevated you need a hug.
Wish You Were Here is from the 1975 album Wish You Were Here.

The Wall was released toward the end of 1979.

I love the song Wish You Were Here, but I usually just listen to the entire album. For me, the album is just one long song with several parts.
 
Wish You Were Here is probably Waters' finest lyrical moment, which is really saying something. This is a rare song that expresses genuine affection for another without being saccharine or cliched, and the acoustic guitar solo at the beginning is one of those enduring pieces that simply burns itself into your head. WYWH is probably in my top 3 Floyd songs, only to be outshone by Comfortably Numb and Shine On 1-5.
 
cdisantis83 said:
Wish You Were Here is probably Waters' finest lyrical moment, which is really saying something.

IMO, I'll take David Gilmour's Wish You Were Here over Water's any day. I love them both but Gilmour does far more for this song than Water's.
 
MrPryck2U said:
Elevated you need a hug.

A lobotomy is more like it :huh:

Anyhow, I just finished listening to The Wall, Wish You Were Here and Animals just for good measure :wink: And I have discovered 3 things:

1. It was The Wall that I don't like
2. The Wall isn't as bad as I remember :wink:
3. Pink Floyd Fucking Rocks! :rockon: Even their bad stuff (IMO) is better than most bands!

I'm going to go listen to DSOTM again just to finish off my day. :drool:
 
I'll always have a soft spot for the song since it was the first I ever learned to play on guitar all the way through.

Oh to be 14 again.



Actually, nevermind. That age sucked.
 
Screwtape2 said:
I think Wish You Were Here is one of the worst songs Pink Floyd ever wrote. Though you can't deny the beauty in those lyrics. :drool:

How so?

It's definitely in my Top 5 with Comfortably Numb, Sheep, One of These Days, and Breathe.
 
Wish you were here is sooo good. The intro with the guitars are great and when Gilmour are singing (yeah and Waters) and.. yeah everything. I think this was the song that got me into Pink Floyd. But all the songs on that album are great.
 
Screwtape2 said:


It's so boring. The acoustic guitar and main riff are so annoying. The vocalizations at the end are terrible. It is just a really dull song that doesn't do the lyrics justice. It also really weighs down the album.

:rant: :(

I don't think that Wish You Were Here is a perfect album though. Shine On is great, but could have been a bit shorter, especially with two parts (I prefer Shine On VI-IX...oh how I love that guitar jam :drool: ) and I really dislike Welcome To The Machine :reject: . I think the album could have used maybe two more songs for variety's sake. Still, Have A Cigar is awesome in every way, and of course Wish You Were Here is one of the best songs ever. It's not my favorite PF album, but at its best...wow. :love:
 
I appreciate. I should sit down and learn how to play it one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces.

Sorry, couldn't resist! :drool:
 
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