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Rating: ...and Syd left.
This event caused a severe trauma in the band that, with Dark Side Of The Moon, had topped the world charts.
After their success, the four members of the group felt the need to "return to the fold," starting to talk again about the artist who is often forgotten even by the most ruthless record industry necrophilia.
Wish You Were Here can be defined as a concept album about absence: of the word, but also of the individual and thought.
The album is structured around a suite about twenty minutes long called Shine On You Crazy Diamond (SoYcD=SYD!!!), divided into two parts. One at the beginning and the other at the end of the album. The two pieces are separated by three other tracks, each about ten minutes long. The first two, Welcome To The Machine and Have A Cigar, speak with disdain about the showbiz "machine". The last one reinforces the concept of Shine..., absence. Even the LP cover was ideally absent according to Storm Thorgerson: a black cellophane was meant to cover the original album, whose cover would represent two ominous mechanical hands shaking each other. And the very act of introduction is, according to the cover designer, the emblem of absence. How often is that gesture used just out of routine while the mind is elsewhere?
This masterpiece only reinforces what the band already stated at the time of Dark Side: that Pink Floyd were, are, and always will be the group that achieved pure perfection, both musically and "textually".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Welcome to the Machine (07:26)
Welcome my son,
Welcome to the machine.
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been.
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time,
Provided with toys and Scouting for Boys.
You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
And you didn't like school,
And you know you're nobody's fool,
So welcome to the machine.
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar,
He always ate in the Steak Bar. He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome to the machine.
03 Have a Cigar (05:08)
Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar,
you're gonna go far,
you're gonna fly high,
you're never gonna die,
you're gonna make it if you try,
they're gonna love you.
I've always had a deep respect and I mean that most sincere;
the band is just fantastic, that is really what I think,
oh, by the way, which one's Pink?
And did we tell you the name of the game, boy?
We call it "Riding The Gravy Train".
We're just knocked out.
We heard about the sell out.
You're gonna get an album out,
you owe it to the people.
We're so happy we can hardly count.
Everybody else is just green,
have you seen the chart?
It's a hell of a start,
it could be made into a monster,
if we all pull together as a team.
And did we tell you the name of the game, boy?
We call it "Riding The Gravy Train".
04 Wish You Were Here (05:40)
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?
Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
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
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Other reviews
By charles
A few words on the matter are necessary to describe five tracks of rare perfection, of pure psychedelia.
When the stereo starts playing, it becomes clear why this album is a true milestone in the history of rock.
By Big D
Pink Floyd, what are they? They are a ray of sunshine in a messy room.
Only when you hear the four notes of 'Shine On' do you understand... that you have arrived... and have only just begun.
By Casacci91
Pink Floyd has never let us down.
Tell me, isn’t this the real music?
By SydBarrett
It was as if he had never left the group; indeed, he hovered like a ghost, bringing sad memories that then influenced, more or less, the songs and themes of Pink Floyd.
A masterpiece, giving chills even today, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful songs of all time.
By Fausto91
The emotions given by Gilmour’s guitar are impressive and indescribable. To be listened to at dawn.
The album concludes with the second part of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which in my opinion remains the most important reason to purchase this CD.
