Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here Meaning

Song Released: 1975

Wish You Were Here 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...

1. anonymous

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   Aug 19th 2010 !⃝

   My interpretation of this song. The writer is trying to say that things aren't always as they seem. He is hitting on subject matter that ranges from heaven and hell, which is suppose to signify happiness from misery. Can you tell how someone feels in prison, can you tell if the bride is smiling under her veil, can you understand the pain of soldiers that fought for freedom to come back and not be considered as hero's. Were you so poor that you had to trade your dreams in for working to survive. Did your success bring you all the happiness you thought it would? And when you really look at your life, are you satisfied or still wanting more? after all the time you put into your life, career wise or otherwise, you are still the same. And have the same fears and weaknesses. They never really changed. And wish you were here is directed at the person that reflected his same thoughts. Be it a friend, his mom, a lover etc.
2. sydferret

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   Aug 16th 2010 !⃝

   Roger changes his versions as it regenerates interest.
3. bagel

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   Aug 11th 2010 !⃝

   This interpretation concerns the mysterious barely audible dialogue preceding the song and how it might apply to the unknown and what it represents. It took a nearly psychotic preoccupation with it's details but I believe it reads like this. "and disclipinary remains mercifully. "And would you date this star nonsense? Yes. What is it? I'm sure of it. Tracing stars and geneologies seems a sometimes judgemental habit of the analytical race. In probably more than one Pink Floyd light show, the Star of David hovers above the band and addresses for me the questions of David Gilmour's initial entry into the supergroup. As Syd Barrett's eventual successor, he claimed the fame, the coins, the glaring spotlight of public scrutiny and along with the author, a possibly feverish chair in Syd's kingdome. My mother used to use a quote that seems to shelter the entire band's situation rather well. " The man who knows best knows best how little he knows." To me, Roger Waters lyrics invoke a long suffering house of pain. It is possible that Syd's simple shady English paradise has concieved and fostered a cabal of willing and gifted rodents to annually live at the throne and mercy of those who still have doubts as to who they are.
4. anonymous

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   Jul 20th 2010 !⃝

   Lyrics can always be interpreted to meet the listeners view point or to describe something that the original writer never intended. The poignent Wish You Were Here was always to me about Syd.
   
   The came 911. Obviously Watters was not writing about 911 which would occur decades after the song was recorded. That said I invite you to listen to Wish You Were Here in the context of 911. I find it quite haunting
5. shercheee

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   May 13th 2010 !⃝

   i think this song is all about the band, people, environment the government and the changes in them...the writer is trying to differentiate the life he had before n after the fame...hes tryin to say is that the things has changed.theres only pain.noone can find heaven from hell.people get fascinated by the charm in the modern technology bt noone can bring the peaceful greenery back.the moment...a smile from a veil...everythings fake..and noone can knoe it whether its good or bad..it also talks abt honestly, like do u want to sell ur better side for something ur greedy desire and betray others...it also mentions abt the courage in getting the rights to live. to live free or jst to live cowardly under someone...this song is abt the life he misses and wish it to be back..or the person he spent most of the time with and knows all the things(same thing the writer know)
   
   ...he remembers the things in his past life and say these things..there maye be the talking of syd,the band life and the fans changing environment people and their mind..
   over all the song is full of life....
6. shercheee

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   May 13th 2010 !⃝

   i think this song is all about the band, people, environment the government and the changes in them...the writer is trying to differentiate the life he had before n after the fame...hes tryin to say is that the things has changed.theres only pain.noone can find heaven from hell.people get fascinated by the charm in the modern technology bt noone can bring the peaceful greenery back.the moment...a smile from a veil...everythings fake..and noone can knoe it whether its good or bad..it also talks abt honestly, like do u want to sell ur better side for something ur greedy desire and betray others...it also mentions abt the courage in getting the rights to live. to live free or jst to live cowardly under someone...this song is abt the life he misses and wish it to be back..or the person he spent most of the time with and knows all the things(same thing the writer know)
   
   ...he remembers the things in his past life and say these things..there maye be the talking of syd,the band life and the fans changing environment people and their mind..
   over all the song is full of life....
7. crazyeyes

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   Mar 28th 2010 !⃝

   The lead singers father died in i believe WWII and many of his songs are about the Military Industrial Complex and the cost of war on the families of dead soldiers and how BS war truely is. this song in particullar has alot to do with him his mother and him missing his father he never met
8. bingoberty

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   Feb 25th 2010 !⃝

   Even the best-laid plans go awry ...
   
   In my opnion,that is the message of the song, or the warning. Make sure you know the path you are treading is the one you intend it to be. Make sure you know that you can tell right from wrong before you make your decision as to which path to tread.
   Alternatives , such as: 'hot ashes for trees', 'hot air for a coolbreeze' :- Each of these can be preferable to the other in the right environment. Can you tell which ones is better??
   
   
   The verse ending with a summary of an obvious choice (as opposed to the confused choices prior) that 'did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage' for a left wing POV meanining did you exchange a small part of something meaningful for a grand titled job in a part of capitalist system which actually amounts to being a muppet for corporates.
   
   Wish you were here I think means 'I wish YOU were in my shoes - it is so hard trying to be true to yourself while also being tempted by the riches of and/or being under the strain of (record bosses forcing their direction) capitalism'. Two Lost souls swimming in a fish bowl are the main songs writers feeling under the eye of the aforementioned forces and having felt no change of personality after being made famous
9. anonymous

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   Feb 22nd 2010 !⃝

   I have a vast library of rock magazines from the seventies and early eighties. I have compiled a large stack of them with members from Pink Floyd interviewed. Most interviews touch upon the origins of inspiration for the whole album Wish You Were Here. All accounts give Syd full credit. If I did not fear copyright infractions, and if it was even possible on this site, I would scan, copy and paste these interviews with Waters, Gilmour, Mason and Wright, two with the producer, on this site and clear this up once and for all. IT'S ABOUT SYD!!! Next mystery please, THIS ONE'S SOLVED. MOVE ON PEOPLE!!! You can try Hit Parader, but the interviews do not appear to have been archived yet.
10. anonymous

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    Feb 16th 2010 !⃝

    I personally got this vibe over and over again: I think its about the hiding of emotion the fall from life. Literally the warmth being sucked out of everything. Its about watching someone change into an almost irecognizable state before your eyes and theres nothing you can do to help them.
11. ermes

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    Jan 11th 2010 !⃝

    Same, same but different.. I think the lyrics work on many levels!!
12. anonymous

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    Dec 14th 2009 !⃝

    The song is about Syd. Period. The story can change through the years, but it is about Syd. Each and every person involved with the creation of the album has acknowledged this numerous times throughout the years. The true irony you may find is the story about Syd actually being in the studio during the finishing touches on the very song about him. The band did not even recognize this "unknown", extremely bothersome man. It was not until they were told later did they realize how truly close they actually were to Syd during the creation of the album. I have a framed copy of a picture taken of Syd that day in the studio. It is widely available. He has a white shirt on, half tucked in, and what appears to be polyester "grandpa" pants on. Even with a shaven head and the added weight, it is clearly him. Do your research people, we live in the golden age of "google it!" As for switching themes in mid step, Pink Floyd did do that, just not for "Wish You Were Here" The album "Animals" really did begin with an animal theme. The references to the economic structure of their country at the time were added during restructuring of the album. It is clear that the final product is a finger in the face of Margaret Thatcher, and a musical representation of the metaphors that were used to represent the various roles people served in the economic food chain of The United Kingdom. Read some Orwell and see for yourself. Back to "Wish You Were Here", it was, is, and always will be about Syd. Google it!, or do what I do and go up in the attic and break out the archive of rock magazines that have dozens of interviews verifying what I have shared today. Need more proof? No, you have a sufficient amount now. Good day. Proceed in other interpretations and give this one a rest. The "riddle" has long since been solved.
13. anonymous2000

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    Dec 13th 2009 !⃝

    I think this is clearly about the artist's recollections about childhood juxtaposed with his thoughts and concerns about being a man, combined with him 'talking' to his dead father. The artist appears to be questioning himself not another. For example 'can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail'. I thought the 'smile from a veil' was more simplistic and referenced a bride and his failing marriage/love. I think Water's childhood without his father left a big gap and this song seems to be looking for approval/reassurance from a male role-model as he makes a big choice (possibly moving the band on from Syd - cold comfort for change). For example, 'Did you exchange a walk on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage' seems to be a direct reference to his father. Water's father was killed in the war and the cage reference appears to refer to Water's memories of him locked in a cage in his mind, fixed and imprisoned and not of those of him being a war hero as one may presume he may feel. After all it is his father's death and his limited part in his life that triggered most of the writing on The Wall. Just a thought . . .
14. lars

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    Dec 9th 2009 !⃝

    i feel that the lyrics represent conformity of ank kind. Idenity crisis per say. The loss of authenic self. I feel mabye the "you" is the authentic self.
15. lars

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    Dec 9th 2009 !⃝

    bule skies from pain is asking the question are you being real, or looking at your life through rose colored glasses because you can't deal with reality on any level. A survival mechinism i suppose i wish i had cause the pain of being a realist is excruciating!

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