Wish You Were Here

The band entered Abbey Road Studios during the first week of 1975 to begin recording on their follow-up to Dark Side Of The Moon. In the previous year, they introduced three new pieces to European audiences during the first sets of each show. Two of them, “Raving And Drooling” & “You Gotta Be Crazy”, were ultimately not recorded for Wish You Were Here, but re-shaped and recorded in 1976 for the Animals album as respectively “Sheep” and “Dogs”.

The third would take shape as the album’s centerpiece, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. During tour rehearsals for the previous year’s French summer tour, David Gilmour came up with the signature 4-note theme and the piece took shape from there. With the memory of former front-man/singer-songwriter/guitarist Syd Barrett fresh in his mind, Roger Waters wrote the lyrics as a tribute to his fallen friend, at the time already an reclusive figure.

In 1974, it would be performed as one uninterrupted piece. However, during the band’s tour of North America the following year, it would be split in two parts, sandwiching another new song, “Have A Cigar”. A funky guitar-driven piece, it would ultimately be sung on the final recorded version by Roy Harper, as Roger’s voice was in poor shape. This song, and the ominous “Welcome To The Machine” were written reflecting the band’s negative attitude towards the record industry. They also (with various instrumental parts of “Shine On”) feature synthesizers in a stronger fashion than previous albums, as well as the sound effects (provided by Nick Mason) that are signature to the Floyd sound.