DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Wish You Were Here

In 1975, Pink Floyd returned to the studio after time off that followed their mega-hit album Dark Side of the Moon. The band had been a bit of cult-band before Dark Side of the Moon, and the album's extraordinary success weighed a bit on the band. They really didn't set out to be that successful. It was more about the music.

While the song was somewhat about Syd Barrett and Rodger Waters grief over losing him due to former's addiction to LSD and subsequent debilitating mental illness, the song also had a long-range social message.

One of the key parts to the song was this stanza:



I think this speaks to how things can start out as a good cause and then get convoluted as time progresses. We have seen this countless times in so many situations.

I think the focus on taking a lead role in a cage over a walk in part in a war is essential in understanding the essence of the message. Think about it. Are you part of a movement to fight the battle or are you limited in what you say because your side has set boundaries on what you can say and can't say.

Water's is on record that he believes more in a walk on part in a war because he did not like the political control of it all, but instead wanted to be engaged in the real movement.

I get that some of you won't get what I'm saying. Reading can be hard. Others won't even try to understand, because they are living in a cage.

Moving on, check out the beginning of the song. David Gilmour's first guitar piece sounds "crackley." That's probably not a word, but maybe you get what I mean. It's like it is playing from an old radio. Then, a second guitar comes in and is free of imperfections. The original guitar solo is just a ghost and is replaced by a new version that is polished and crystal clear.

That move is not only symbolic of Floyd's progression from a cult-band into a huge commercial band which ultimately destroyed the band, but it is also symbolic of how some of us have tried to help the movement to support minorities and how it has morphed into something commercial and popular. It's my contention that the results will be the same as they were w/Floyd.

You should never lose touch w/the true cause. Purity is supreme.

I think I have lost a couple of friends here on DawgTalkers due to our different interpretations of how to combat racial relations. That is rather sad. And so is this song.

The best lyrics of the song....

we’re just two lost souls swimming in a Fishbowl Year after year....

Love the album, it was about Syd...

And what Roger without his ego can be....

Saw them at Blossom in 74. Dark side tour. Awesome show.

Oh we understand perfectly. You're even willing to pervert and distort some of the greatest lyrics ever written to make your point.

And let's not lose sight of what has happened here. It is you who chose to abandon friendships due to political differences. When you throw something away it wasn't lost. Losing something isn't a choice.

You're on a roll, Hoss. Wrong again.

It's more something I use when I'm not sure if someone is serious or trying to be a comedian. I'm trying the give them the benefit of the doubt and consider it humor.

What was so hysterical? That is an actual quote from Rodger Waters.

But it's not his twisted interpretation of what it means.



This was the point at which things began to become hysterical.