Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

I think most young men discover Pink Floyd in their late teens/early 20s. If not, they should. I don't know what it is about this band, but they just spoke to me so intensely in my angrier, disjointed years. They still do, but now I hear what they say from a different perspective. Now I appreciate the amazing talent and musicians that made up this group. No one really makes music like this anymore...epic and thematic.

Wish You Were Here is my favorite album from Floyd and features one of my favorite songs, the title track. The entire album is perfection, though. Bookended by two 12 minute-plus guitar opuses imploring misguided youth to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," the middle three tracks are a cautionary tale of rock superstardom, a familiar theme in Floyd's oeuvre. A young man with musical aspirations makes it big, becomes a part of the pop machine and is spit out the other side to look back on where it all took him. "Wish You Were Here" is the quiet contemplation on the other side, gently mocking the icon for selling out, if you will, but conceding in the end:

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...

This track is still a mix CD favorite for me...despite the story it tells, it works well as an ode to missing friends and lovers.

5/365