According to Waters it was decided that it would be insulting to credit Grappelli in the sleeve notes for something so inaudible, although he did receive the agreed-upon fee. Ultimately during mixing it was decided to almost remove his contribution, although it can just be heard around 5:21. Grappelli duly obliged (Menuhin declined) on arranging a session fee of £300, equivalent to £2,500 in 2019. Gilmour had suggested that there be a little 'country fiddle' at the end of the song and invited them to participate. A jazz violinist popular at the time and well known for his collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin, both violinists were recording in a downstairs studio at Abbey Road at the time. 'Wish You Were Here' was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, as part of the sessions for the entire album.Ī noted part of the song was a planned contribution by Stéphane Grappelli. I'm very happy about it.' David Gilmour has playfully called 'Wish You Were Here' 'a very simple country song' and stated that 'because of its resonance and the emotional weight it carries, it is one of our best songs.' Recording Roger Waters has noted that the collaboration between himself and David Gilmour on the song was '.really good. īoth David Gilmour and Roger Waters have praised the song as one of Pink Floyd's finest. Waters later adds that the song is nevertheless open to interpretation. Gilmour, on the other hand, recognizes that he does not ever perform the song without remembering Syd Barrett. Being present in one's own life and freeing one's self in order to truly experience life is a main topic in this song. Waters, who mainly wrote the lyrics complementing Gilmour's initial riff idea and subsequent joint composition, describes the lyrics as being directed at himself, as his lyrics often are. However, on the documentary The Story of Wish You Were Here, Gilmour and Waters separately describe the original concept that differs from this interpretation. Lyrically, the song is often considered to be a direct tribute to Syd Barrett. At the end of the recorded song, the final solo crossfades with wind sound effects, and finally segues into the second section of the multi-part suite 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. A third verse follows, featuring an increasingly expressive vocal from Gilmour and audible backing vocals.
The intro riff is repeated several times, before Gilmour plays further solos with scat singing accompaniment. As the acoustic part becomes more complex, the 'radio broadcast' fades away and Gilmour's voice enters, becoming joined by the full band. This passage was mixed to sound as though a guitarist were listening to the radio and playing along. He performed the intro on a twelve-string guitar, processed to sound like it was playing through an AM radio, and then overdubbed a fuller-sounding acoustic guitar solo. The radio was recorded from Gilmour's car radio. 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 the opening of the finale movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony), and finally to a new station where 'Wish You Were Here' is beginning. 324 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. David Gilmour and Roger Waters collaborated to write the music, and Gilmour sang the lead vocal. ' Wish You Were Here' is the title track on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. 5:21 ( Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd version).