Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
This album is epic, not only did it solidify Pink Floyd in the Rock Legends department hall of fame, its composition and overall charm are second to none. Wish You Were Here is the 1975 follow up of Pink Floyd's mega-hit Dark Side of the Moon. The record itself is only 44 minutes long, but its lyrical power and the mellow song styling entices you to listen to the entire recording at once.
Wish You were here combines top notch soulful melodies with such well written lyrics to create a tremendous album. Wish You Were Here is a personal favorite of mine, and always will be. The lyrics to the title song are so well written, it really helps you understand their anguish (having lost their band mate Syd Barrett--if you dont know the story behind it look it up). Just look at some of the lyrics:
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 you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
The best songs seem to always be the ones you can listen to over and over and over again and not loose interest. Every time a Wish You Were Here song pops up on my Zune's shuffle I just cannot skip it. And its not just the title song, its the whole album (Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part 1) being another one of my all-time favorites). Pink Floyd is one of those bands that you have to get into at just the right time in your life, otherwise you wont appreciate it. Its the kind of music you associate memories to. If you haven't listened to Wish You Were Here, please do check it out. You'll thank yourself later.
