LOSS AND ITS PRESENCE IN CREATIVE OUTPUT :THE STORY OF WISH YOU WERE HERE

Loss is something that everyone experiences at some point in their lives to varying degrees. When we lose something or someone, that loss takes its toll on all of us in different ways, but what happens when you mix the loss of a dear friend and a loss of innocence with one of the most popular bands of all time? This is the story of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.

Following the monstrous success of their album The Dark Side of the Moon, released in 1973, the bands’ emotional state had grown detached and exhausted, with the demand for the band’s next project getting higher and higher. Years earlier in 1968, the co-founder of the group, Syd Barrett, was kicked out of the group after their first two albums due to his deteriorating mental state derived from excessive use of psychedelic substances and potential schizophrenia. The still fresh loss of the group’s good friend would fuel the content of their ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here.

The album itself seems to present loss in a couple ways, the obvious one being the loss of their bandmate, which is a theme present in the majority of the album’s tracks, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5), Wish You critically acclaimed rock albums

Were Here, and Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9). The other aspect of loss explored within the album is a loss of innocence when it came to the music industry. With the group’s popularity growing expansively due to their previous album, higher ups and music executives wanted a piece of the group, yet they could not hide their true nature of only being interested in the money. This side of loss is present in the rest of the album’s tracks, Welcome to the Machine, and Have A Cigar.

The opening and closing tracks of the album, the lengthy multi-sectioned Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and the title track, directly explore the loss and grief for Barrett within the lyrics, acting as laments for the band’s fallen friend. Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar are both sung from the point of view of an industry higher up manipulating what could be a growing artist, reflective of the band’s status at the time.

In conclusion, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd is an album deeply influenced by shared losses among the group. Losses that would result in one of their more personal projects, and one of the most critically acclaimed rock albums of all time.