In the original album version, the song segues from "Have a Cigar" as if a radio had been tuned away from one station, through several others (including a radio play and one playing Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony), and finally to a new station where "Wish You Were Here" is beginning. Gilmour performed the intro on a twelve-string guitar, processed to sound like it was playing through an old transistor radio, and then overdubbed a fuller-sounding acoustic guitar solo. This passage was mixed to sound as though the guitarist was sitting in a room, playing along with the radio; it also contains a whine that slowly changes pitch—emulating the heterodyne between two drifting AM radio signals.
The intro riff is repeated several times and reprised when Gilmour plays further solos with scat singing accompaniment. At the end of the recorded song, the final solo crossfades with wind sound effects (reminiscent of "One of These Days" from the 1971 album Meddle), and finally segues into the second section of the multi-part suite "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
How I Wish You Were Here
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 fishbowl
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 © Ultra Tunes, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Sentric Music, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: David Gilmour, Roger Waters
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nepalicomedy420
Stop asking who’s still listening, we never stop listening
PEACE
@diesellacrosse8613
Preach my nigga ✊🏾
@stevedouglas8387
Bind me Hollywood...... XXXx69
@molnarcsaba3537
Evergreen.
@Taylor-ur7wl
Amen
@astutewalnut3277
say no mo
@BrickSauceYT
My brother and I always joked that we were "two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year". Wish you were here baby brother..
@SpiritusMundi4EVER
♥♥
@id10t98
My sister's baby brother is here to say "Hello!"
@EH-sp4gp
Your heart is now the fish bowl where you two are lost swimming, lots of love from Florida❤️❤️❤️