Pink Floyd - "Wish you were here"

The song is about the detached feeling most people go through life with. It is a commentary on how people cope with the world by withdrawing physically, mentally, or emotionally. Roger Waters (bass & vocals) has said this song was based on a poem he wrote about Syd Barrett's (former guitarist) fall from reality. It was said that Syd's friends would lace his coffee with LSD, which eventually lead to his mental breakdown.

David Gilmour (guitars) wrote the music based on Water's lyrics. It is one of the few Pink Floyd songs written this way, as Waters usually had music in mind for his lyrics when he took his songs to the band. Gilmour, who latched onto the elegiac quality of Waters’ lyric and fashioned a simple folky melody.

Syd Barrett, their old band mate, had been in seclusion for years due to drug induced psychosis. During the recording sessions, a fat, shaven-headed person wearing grey Terylene trousers, a nylon shirt and string vest wandered into the studio. The band ignored the visitor and kept on playing and it was the visiting Andrew King who finally recognised their guest: 'Good God, it's Syd! How did you get like that?' To which Syd replied, 'I've got a very large fridge at home and I've been eating a lot of pork chops.' The whole event was slightly un-nerving since the theme of the album was based on Syd and his subsequent madness."

The intro fades in from a car radio, as if the song was appearing from the airwaves, further accentuating the lyrical theme of dislocation and absence. David Gilmour then begins to play along to the radio - in stereo. Waters had the idea to "bunch up" the sound to mimic an AM radio, and Gilmour played along with it. You can hear extraneous noises from Gilmour, sniffling and others noises.
At the end, listeners with perfect hearing may just be able to discern a violin amongst the wind effects on the fade, performed by an un-credited Stephane Grappelli, famous jazz musician who was recording in nearby studios.
Musically, the song is in constant pivot between an optimistic G Major and a downcast E Minor. The song fades out before this change can ever be fully resolved.

It is the only song co-written by Waters and Gilmour that Waters continued to play at his shows after leaving Pink Floyd.

Available on the album "Wish you were here"