Shine on forever: The history behind one of the most iconic rock albums.
- Paulina Wróblewska
- Oct 27
- 4 min read
September 12th marked the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s ninth album - “Wish You Were Here”. It was released in 1975 after the enormous success of “The Dark Side of the Moon”. “Wish You Were Here” stood out in the mid-1970s rock because of its deeply personal and controversial themes, such as grief, alienation and critique of the exploitation of artists. It became one of rock’s most celebrated and iconic records ever created.
Much of the album was a tribute to a former frontman and leading creative force Syd Barrett, whose mental health had deteriorated to the point where it forced him to leave Pink Floyd in 1968. He had been struggling with heavy drug use, mental exhaustion and alleged mental illness. The 13-minute opening track “Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Parts I - V” is a direct tribute to Barrett, it can be described as “watching someone drift away and being unable to do anything about it”. When the band was working on this song in June 1975 in Abbey Roads Studios in London Syd Barrett reportedly made a surprise visit. It took the band members a while to recognize him, because Syd was bald, obese and had changed a lot since they last saw him. He eventually left without saying goodbye and they have never seen him again.
After leaving Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett embarked on a short solo career that left a lasting mark on psychedelic music. In 1970,with an improved mental health, he released two solo albums “The Madacap Laughs” and “Barrett”. Although they lacked the polish of his work with Pink Floyd Madacap peaked at number 40 in UK charts. Unlike the conceptual albums Pink Floyd produced after his departure, his music felt raw and emotionally exposed. His unconventional song structures, erratic rhythms and vulnerable lyrics made his solo output arguably more authentically psychedelic than Pink Floyd’s later albums, especially since David Gilmour and Roger Waters pushed the band in the direction of progressive rock. In 1972 Syd formed a band known as “Stars”, they played a few shows however one of the performances led them to disband shortly after. After an unsuccessful attempt at recording a solo album, Syd left the music industry. He spent his days painting and making furniture in Cambridge. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, although he did not attend the ceremony. He died on July 7th 2006 due to pancreatic cancer. Although his solo career was short, it made him the pioneer of the psychedelic genre and influenced a lot of artists.
Another prevalent topic in “Wish You Were Here” is the critique of the corporate exploitation of artists and the greed of the industry. Challenging such issues through music was uncommon at the time so it influenced a lot of artists to reflect critically on the lack of morality in the industry.The songs “Have a Cigar” and “Welcome to the Machine” are sarcastic takes on how record executives only care about profit and do not care about the music and art in itself. It is highlighted by the line “By the way, which one’s Pink?” which implies that the record executive thinks that Pink, who is actually a protagonist in the band’s album “The Wall”, is one of the band members, which perfectly shows how the artistic expression in music is dismissed and artists are treated as a commodity by the industry.
The track “Have a Cigar” sparked a lot of controversy, but not because of the issue it tackled. The song was sung by a guest vocalist Roy Harper, and although he was a frequent collaborator with Pink Floyd he was not properly credited for his contribution to this album. It took him more than 10 years after the album came out to receive proper credit. In 2011 in an interview he said that he had not received the agreed payment, he had to hire a lawyer to resolve the situation. Roy also called the song a “self-fulfilling prophecy” because it had turned a friendly collaboration into “the dirty music business”.
“Wish You Were Here” also bent the rules for music and used advanced studio techniques to create a powerful listening experience. A lot of the techniques used were considered extremely innovative and ahead of their time. The use of spoken word samples, ambient sounds, sound effects, effects like reverb and delay as well as vocal layering later inspired many artists. The band used a lot of synthesizers and electronic effects such as VCS 3 synthesizers, direct injection and synthesizer tone control which brought these techniques to mainstream attention .
“Wish You Were Here” sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and was a number one album in the UK and USA when it first came out. To this day it is widely referenced in pop-culture and keeps inspiring many famous artists and bands, such as Radiohead or Porcupine Tree. Because of tackling heavy topics like alienation, grief and exploitation of artists and turning them into beautiful masterpieces with amazing instrumentals and vocals it still is one of the most iconic albums in rock’s history.
Page design: Antonina Szklarzewska
Bibliography
Payne, Laura. “Syd Barrett | Biography, Pink Floyd, Solo Career, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Aug. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Syd-Barrett#ref384927. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
“Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd Song).” Wikipedia, 15 Oct. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_(Pink_Floyd_song). Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
“Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd Song).” Wikipedia, 15 Oct. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_You_Were_Here_(Pink_Floyd_song). Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
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