Understanding Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' Album (1975)
Hello, there! Today I decided to write a short piece on one of the albums that had profoundly marked my adolescence, more specifically Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here', which was released in 1975, two years after 'The Darkside of the Moon', yet another iconic LP of the band.
For those who aren't familiar enough with Pink Floyd, let me just mention the fact they are one of the highest-selling bands in the history of music, having shipped some hundred millions copies of their records globally during a career that spanned over half a century.
To head back to 'Wish You Were Here' though, it must be specified that after the tremendous success and worldwide-conquered fame that the band had achieved with 'The Darkside of the Moon', they were no longer going to be that group of brotherly friends they used to be in the past, just as in the words of bassist Roger Waters. This stems from the fact, by the release of 'Wish You Were Here', Pink Floyd achieved whatever they could have initially wished for: critical recognizition, global fame, and commercial breakthrough.
From that point forth, it was crystal clear that their mission as a collective musical entity would be by no stretch of imagination nearly as this was the way before. 'Wish You Were Here' was as such a reflection of that acknowledgement but also a tribute to the band's first frontman, Syd Barrett, who had unfortunately suffering from mental illness since he was kicked out of the group in 1968 on the grounds of his erratic behaviour and replaced with David Gilmour.
Funnily enough, at the moment when that crossroad had occurred, Syd was approached by the other band mates along with the group's managers to politely invite him in permanently quitting. In response, what he proposed at the time was that the most viable solution to put an end to that conflict would have just been to invite two girl saxophonists to perform along with them, thereby virtually enlarging their crew.
As years passed by, Syd's post-Pink Floyd life would be dominated by gradual social isolation, yet he still cultivated an enormously beautiful passion for gardening and painting. However, at a certain point in 1975, he decided to go back to Abbey Road studios where Pink Floyd previously recorded 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn', the debut album of the band, in 1967.
His apparition took place concomitantly with the other Pink Floyd members rehearsing for what will later be 'Wish You Were Here'. What's ironic though is the fact that Syd had physically changed so much that his former band mates would hardly recognize him anymore. The rest is history. For a more detailed overview on the history of 'Wish You Were Here', you can take a closer look down below. Please also subscribe and support the creator's channel if you enjoy this material. many thanks in advance!
Further reading: Wish You Were Here and Syd Barrett: http://www.moshcam.com/articles/26131/wish-pink-floyd-tragic-tale-syd-barrett Note: the image from the beginning of the article belongs to Wikimedia Commons but can be used elsewhere given its CC0 license (making it freely available in the public domain)
A great album. "The Wall" is also largely about Syd, but Roger mixes his own life experiences in on that album. The Wall is my favorite album of all time and of all bands.
Syd was a genius, and his songs were so good, but the acid is what knocked him off kilter. I read a book in which an awful thing was done to him by so-called friends who locked him inside a closet after he started freaking out on the acid they had added to tea they'd given him. Tripping and not knowing, being locked in a dark closet - and from that same book, it was suggested that these kinds of things were done to him a few times.
Definitely a sad story and a talent that died too soon.
How truly sad, I did not know about that... And, yes indeed, the gestalt character by the name Pink (which was played by Bob Geldof in the film The Wall) was enormously based on Syd and inspired from his nervous breakdown that subsequently led to schizophrenia.