Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Under Barrett's leadership, they released two charting singles and the successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind the band's peak success with the albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on The Wall, Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), won two BAFTA Awards. Pink Floyd also composed several film scores.
Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced two more albums—A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994)—and toured in support of both before entering a long hiatus. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a one-off performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River (2014), was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and these albums and Wish You Were Here are among the best-selling albums of all time. Four Pink Floyd albums topped the US Billboard 200, and five topped the UK Album Chart. Pink Floyd's hit singles include "See Emily Play" (1967), "Money" (1973), "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "Not Now John" (1983), "On the Turning Away" (1987) and "High Hopes" (1994). They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008, Pink Floyd were awarded the Polar Music Prize in Sweden for their contribution to modern music.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd
Studio albums
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
More (1969)
Ummagumma (1969)
Atom Heart Mother (1970)
Meddle (1971)
Obscured by Clouds (1972)
The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Wish You Were Here (1975)
Animals (1977)
The Wall (1979)
The Final Cut (1983)
A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
The Division Bell (1994)
The Endless River (2014)
Wish You Were Here 2013
Pink Floyd Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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?
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here
The song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd is a heartfelt tribute to the band's original lead singer, Syd Barrett. The opening lines of the song, "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?" are powerful in their simplicity. They suggest that life is more complex than we realize, and that we often mistake the good for the bad and the bad for the good.
The second verse shifts to a more specific narrative about Barrett. The lines "Did they get you to trade / Your heroes for ghosts? / Hot ashes for trees? / Hot air for a cool breeze? / Cold comfort for change? / Did you exchange / A walk on part in the war / For a lead role in a cage?" reflect on Barrett's departure from the band due to his mental health issues. The lyrics suggest that Barrett was lured away from his dreams and aspirations by the temptations of fame and the music industry, and that his eventual breakdown left him feeling trapped and isolated.
The chorus of the song, "How I wish, how I wish you were here / We're just two lost souls / Swimming in a fish bowl / Year after year / Running over the same old ground / What have we found? / The same old fears / Wish you were here," expresses a deep longing for connection and understanding. The fish bowl metaphor represents the feeling of being trapped and watched, while the repetition of "the same old ground" and "the same old fears" suggests a sense of stagnation and hopelessness.
Line by Line Meaning
So, so you think you can tell
Do you have the ability to distinguish
Heaven from hell?
Can you differentiate between good and bad?
Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell the difference between happiness and sadness?
Can you tell a green field
Is there a discernible difference between
From a cold steel rail?
two seemingly opposite things?
A smile from a veil?
Can you see through appearances?
Do you think you can tell?
Are you confident in your judgment?
Did they get you to trade
Were you convinced or manipulated into exchanging
Your heroes for ghosts?
your idols for phantoms?
Hot ashes for trees?
Did you exchange something valuable for something worthless?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Did you exchange something real for something fake?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you give up comfort for uncertainty?
Did you exchange
Did you give up
A walk on part in the war
A small, insignificant role in a conflict or struggle
For a lead role in a cage?
For a more prominent, but still trapped or imprisoned position?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
I really miss you and wish you were present
We're just two lost souls
We are two aimless and directionless people
Swimming in a fish bowl
We feel confined and trapped in our environment
Year after year
Over a prolonged period of time
Running over the same old ground
Doing the same thing repeatedly without progress
What have we found?
What have we accomplished or discovered?
The same old fears
We are still held back by the same anxieties
Wish you were here
I really wish you were with me
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
deniz yıldız
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?
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
And how we found
The same old fears
Wish you were here
Thank me later :)
deniz yıldız
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?
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
And how we found
The same old fears
Wish you were here
Thank me later :)
Melastruuril
Dzięki:)
themode00
Thank you (:
J Paul Getty
Thank You .
ROBERTO CARLOS CARUSO
Gracias
Monica Brown
Rest of the
Juan Guzman
The amount of childhood memories and good vibes this songs brings back
Jimmy The Clown
I remember reading a crazy story behind this song that actually happened
When the band was recording this song in the studio
Syd Barrett showed up unexpectedly, eating candy out of a bag
It's like he subconsciously knew he was being summoned
Incredible
R.I.P Syd 🙏♥️♥️🙏
Ulises Robledo
Está canción me recuerda a uno de mis mejores amigos que lamentablemente se suicidó. A veces me arrepiento de nunca haberle preguntado cómo se sentía que si todo está bien en casa, me hubiera gustado haber hecho algo al respecto para que el aún siguiera con nosotros. Solo pienso en que sus últimos minutos de vida estaban llenos de tristeza y sufrimiento, eso me parte el corazón, nadie merece irse de esa manera.
condog118
great song, hits that one meaningful spot inside