“Wish You Were Here” is a song by Pink Floyd, written collaboratively by David Gilmour and Roger Waters for the band’s 1975 album of the same name. Gilmour sings the lead vocal and plays the song’s distinctive acoustic-guitar introduction. Waters wrote most of the lyrics, which he described as directed at himself, though the song is often understood as a tribute to former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett.
The original recording opens with the sound of a car radio tuning through stations before a twelve-string guitar, treated to resemble an AM-radio broadcast, states the intro. A fuller acoustic guitar joins, followed by a verse-based structure with three verses and a bridge. The arrangement gradually expands from acoustic guitar and voice to full band, with piano, bass, drums, pedal steel guitar and backing vocals. Gilmour’s closing solo gives way to scat singing and wind effects, segueing into “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Stéphane Grappelli recorded a violin improvisation for the session, only a small portion of which is audible in the original mix.
