Wish You Were Here

Wish You Were Here after (Roger Waters) Is it just about approval?

Approval from one’s Father?

Mom would always give it and hold out the love Even if it was in smaller doses than I needed But my Dad was a different matter I wanted him to say “Well done son” I wanted him to approve of my “Walk on part in the war” I wanted to see he was proud of me To hear him say “This is my son” Just as they sing in the words “How I wish you were here” Here to see and say you approved To say you understood me To say you knew what I was going through To hear you tell me it’s alright How I wish you were here To ask all those things and share my son To ask is this how it was for you?

Is this how it felt?

Too late now as always You were gone too soon Before the cracks appeared for a second time Before my contribution could take its form If you could only see him A chip off the old block Doing what men do I guess?

Approval now is what I need from him now Maybe it’s gone full circle without me knowing I have fled the trenches and hide behind a shaking face To raise it above my sadness would Open my heart to ridicule and I would be Blasted by my unforgiving peers So I skulk in avenues of shadow Cover my tracks with deleted heartache You were my hero “How I wish you were here” John Bishop 4th December 2014