Who is Roger referring to at the end of WYWH?

[moom]

DOH, isn't it obvious he's referring to Syd !?

[Yucateco]

DOH, isn't it obvious he's referring to Syd !?

if he´s only referring to Syd, why does he say "they"?

[Freddie Mercury]

What plays on the screen during this song? That might have something to do with it.

[moom]

DOH, isn't it obvious he's referring to Syd !?

if he´s only referring to Syd, why does he say "they"?

Probably all persons he'd lost or just missed, including Syd - probably in the first place, since the song was originally a reference to him. The other persons... father? Mother? Other deceased friends? This might actually remain a mistery, because sometimes we tend to dedicate what we say or do to someone secretly. Just us and them, all who knows.

[David Smith]

Probably all persons he'd lost or just missed, including Syd - probably in the first place, since the song was originally a reference to him.

Not strictly true.

The meaning Waters gives in interviews is that the song was about the state of the whole band at the time. They had just put out a highly popular album and figured that things would get easier for them all after this. Instead they found that when they focused on making the next one they were not all quite there. The success had changed them, things were all different and while they were all there physically, they weren't all together mentally.

The song is about someone divided and trying to unite it. A situation everyone can relate to where part of you is saying to the other part that they wish they were on the same wavelength. This is covered in most interviews you can find that deal with the album

quotes:
It could be any person or band who has made it big and is now out of the picture, mainly due to drug use or political issues within the music business. - Waters (wish you were here song book)

On the 30th Anniversary DVD for Dark Side of the Moon, David Gilmour makes a comment about the follow up album, and says "That's what the next album is all about -- Wish You Were Here...because we weren't".

[moom]

Good point indeed, thanks

Still, Syd is one of the A-list-wish-you-were-heres, especially in Shine On... Yes, Roger's explaination applies to this one, too, but this is all just my guess . Yet, in a guess there might be a truth .

[David Smith]

Still, Syd is one of the A-list-wish-you-were-heres, especially in Shine On... Yes, Roger's explaination applies to this one, too, but this is all just my guess . Yet, in a guess there might be a truth .

Of course Shine on is based on Syd. The lyrics are none too subtle about it ('You painter, you piper, you prisnoer and shine'). Just the title track isn't necessarily about him

[bassplayerforpulse]

I believe WYWH was originally written for Syd. " We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year ". After the song was written and released it has taken on a broader meaning. This is why Roger said " How we wish they were here ".

[mosespa]

I disagree.

To me, the phrase "we're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year" is a clear reference to what Waters refereed to as the two halves of a person in conflict within the same head.

Roger Waters has stated (and I believe that a close study of the lyrics bears this out,) that the SONG is about two conflicting halves within a person. One half wanting to grab all the goodies and the other half wanting to do the right thing.

The brilliance of the lyrics are that it never really says which side is addressing the other.

[bassplayerforpulse]

I agree, however, it also can be interpreted as Roger putting himself in Syd's place when he wrote the song, therefore making it a homage to his lost friend.

[mosespa]

Please elaborate on that. I'm not just trying to argue with you...I really cannot see how the song has anything to do with Syd.

If it DOES, it cannot be anything friendly-like as the first line of the song "So, you think you can tell..." is clearly confrontational. From that point on, the first verse clearly details a list of things that are pretty clearly different from one another, yet the person singing believes the person that he is addressing is incapable of distinguishing.

The second verse, beginning with "How I wish, how I wish you were here," is the singer wishing that the person he is addressing could see things from where he (the singer) stands.

In this light, if the song WERE about Syd, it would seem that Roger is mocking him for his inability to deal with the real world and expressing the desire that Syd could see the situation from Roger's perspective.

I'm honestly interested in what it is about the song that makes you think it's about Syd. I might be overlooking something.

[bassplayerforpulse]

I'm not arguing either. I see this as a friendly discussion, and I welcome your comments. There are certain lines in the song that seem to point to Syd. One in particular is "And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?" The "war" can be a reference to the pressures of life, the music industry, and drugs. A "cage" can be withdrawal and isolation. WYWH may not be directly about Syd, but I feel he inspired Roger to write it.

[AsydWaters]

Hmmm very nice discussion indeed.IMHO;Roger wrote the lyrics with honest intention of putting his feeling and loss of a good friend and how he wish Syd was there after Floyd became huge name.While all the "We" ;"You" are definitely not directly meant for Syd but as a homogenic word for all of us.It could be anyone.As for 2 lost souls ;it wont make ssense if he wrote "I'm" just a lost soul;it has to be a pair where one is missing the other.

[Vlad The Impaler]

For what it's worth I think Mossy and bassplayerforpulse are both right....I think the song is rather multi-leveled in it's way....though in Mossy's case I'm not sure the song when and if it refers to Syd is necessarily confrontational...maybe more observational and a tad presumptuous (if I spelled that right), in that the writer thinks he understands the other's situation....or maybe it's kinda of a question approach also as in "So, so you think you can tell?" I dunno....just throwing out an opinion.

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[Freddie Mercury]

I actually never thought this song was about wishing someone was there who wasn't. I always took it as the author first off saying how miserable he is, asking whether the listener really understands what pain really is. Then when the author sings "How I wish you were here" the author means he wishes the listener was in his place instead of him.

So "Wish you were here" means "I wish you were in my shoes" basically.

The way Dave angrily sings it on the album makes me think of the lyrics in this way. But when he sings it live, it doesn't have that sarcastic bite to it and then the meaning changes and does sound like he's really wishing someone was there who has left. So I don't really like many live versions of this song.

(The "Do you ever get tired of being in there"-type lines from "A New Machine" have a similar meaning, sort of wishing someone else could re-inhabit someone's body/life.)