As far as the tributes to rock’s infamous drug casualties go, I reckon there is no match to this one emotional monolith from 50 years ago. On September 12th, 1975, PINK FLOYD released a dark and enveloping testament to the psychedelic genius of their early works, Syd Barrett, in the form of an immersive 2-part prog elegy that bookends the album, “Wish You Were Here.” Even the album title resonates with nothing short of a poignant aura, considering that Barrett, in fact, wandered into the studio during the recording sessions, unrecognizable to his former bandmates, trapped forever inside the LSD universe. This encounter has been recounted in myriad documentaries and biographies, and it sure left its mark on the album; it is basically just three songs sandwiched between the album’s two mournful monuments occupying more than half its running time. Now, 50 years and 20 million in sales later, “Wish You Were Here” is still slightly overshadowed by the massive, enduring success of 1973’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and the conceptual excess of 1979’s “The Wall,” but it is essentially every bit as cohesive as “TDSotM” and by far less self-indulgent than “The Wall.” Some fans go even as far as to claim that this album was the last consistently great album the band ever made.
Let’s look at those three tracks first. I guess it was an omen of what the band would have in stock for 1979 that two of these tracks were sardonic takes on the dehumanizing aspects of the music industry. “Welcome to the Machine” is characterized by its somewhat industrial-sounding synth throb, courtesy of the legendary analog synth, VCS3, which was used quite prominently already on “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Then, singer-songwriter Roy Harper lends his sneering vocals to “Have A Cigar,” another harsh critique of the exploitative nature of the music industry of the era. The song portrays a sleazy record-label executive offering hollow promises to naive musicians while manipulating them for profit. The third song, however, stands out in stark contrast to these cynical ruminations: the album’s title track is a poignant, acoustic mood piece, contemplating loss and disillusionment. The song picks up from where “The Dark Side of the Moon” left off, lyrically speaking. While some of its lines could be seen as tributes to Barrett, the song tackles the loss of a friend with a more universal point of view, although no less heartbreakingly.
The main dish on this album’s menu is the widescreen prog suite, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” As per the conventions of the genre, the song was subdivided into multiple parts, although on these new CD editions, the song is simply a 2-part suite, with its first part opening the album and the last bringing it to a haunting close. The opening part is a slowly evolving 13-minute sonic journey into melancholic reminiscing on Barrett‘s genius. Somewhere between the 4- and 5-minute marks, David Gilmour drops those four iconic guitar notes (Bb, F, G, and E), the “Syd Theme,” as it is referred to by some hardcore fans. Legend has it that this motif was created by accident. What a happy accident! Later in the song, keyboardist Rick Wright interpolates a motif from the band’s early, Syd-era hit, “See Emily Play,” as if to further drive the point home that this is all for Syd. The atmospheric arrangement leans heavily toward that 1973 landmark album, on which they cemented their signature sound for years to come. The latter part of the suite, closing the album, is a more diverse sonic cross-section of the band’s signature quirks – cinematic synth textures, funky riffs, and Gilmour‘s iconic guitar chops. Its overall sentiment is perhaps a tad less mournful, almost as if the band had finally come to terms with the loss and opted for embracing the legend that Barrett had become rather than wallowing in anger and grief. The song is mostly instrumental, and its coda concludes with a sense of reverence for the genius and memory of the band’s original, dark star.
Apart from the music, the album has gained a legendary status for its iconic Hipgnosis cover, as well. On the cover, an executive-looking gent greets his doppelgänger with a firm handshake while one of them is on fire. Hipgnosis, responsible for the majority of the band’s album covers, chose to shoot the photo so that the guy was literally set on fire instead of resorting to any darkroom gimmicks. Just recently, in August 2025, the stuntman on fire, Ronnie Rondell Jr., passed away at the age of 88, but he will live forever in one of the most legendary album covers ever. Shine on, you crazy stuntman!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (part 1)
- Welcome to the Machine
- Have A Cigar
- Wish You Were Here
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (part 2)
Lineup
David Gilmour – vocals, guitars
Roger Waters – bass
Rick Wright – keyboards
Nick Mason – drums
Label
Harvest (UK) / Columbia (US)
