Okay, I admit it: Pink Floyd is bad-ass. Especially “Wish You Were Here.” I can’t stop listening to that goddamn song. Something about it just soothes me. It makes me think of an old friend that I never had yet I still wish was here.
When I first listened to Pink Floyd, I wasn’t terribly impressed, and I failed to see why everyone made such a big deal about them. But now that I’ve given them an honest shot, I’m a total Pink Floyd convert, or Pink Floydian, which I think is a better term for people who like Pinky and the Floyd (Narf).
My boss holysmith! is the biggest, most devoted Pink Floydian I know, and it’s because of him that I even have their music and know anything about them. He is constantly making Pink Floyd references, and no longer wanting to be kept in the dark, I knew I needed to become somewhat fluent in Floydish to catch at least a small portion of them.
I believe David Gilmour (should be spelled Gilmore, like Happy does it, but that’s another post) is the one singing in “Wish You Were” (correct me if I’m wrong here holysmith. Oh yeah… and don’t fire me). He sings that song like he really wishes that person was here, as if singing the song might somehow make his wish come true. I could be mental, but I can hear some pain and possibly heartache in his voice as he sings, which is another reason why that song rules.
From a musical standpoint, the guitars sound incredible. One of the guitars gets a special effect during the bridge that makes it sound like the guitar itself is crying. At the risk of sounding gay, I will also note that the fucking piano sounds beautiful. Nothing stands out about the drums or bass, but that’s the way it should be, as they mesh seamlessly with the rest of the instruments while providing that uniquely relaxing rhythm.
Anyways, I’m not much of a music critic, so you can lick my salty chocolate balls before you start giving me shit about my “Wish You Were Here” review. I just know that song rules, and not liking it is the equivalent of blowing 17 goats.
Well, isn’t this nice? It feels like that proud moment when your son brings home a smoking hot girl for the first time. I am sure Obi Wan felt this way when Luke finally figured out the Force.
Pink Floyd music is personal music and it usually takes a while of listening to it at work or while driving alone before it all sinks in and makes sense. Now you’re in, El Gammy.
“Welcome my son. . . Welcome to the machine.” (There, I did it again).
Just to fill in some of the blanks for you about WYWH: Roger Waters wrote the lyrics (and the album) with Syd Barret as the inspiration. He (Syd) had already went insane and been out of the band for some time by this point. Incidentally, this is also why holySmith! named his first ferret “Syd Barret the Crazy Ferret”.
Moving on. . .David Gilmour came up with the guitar riff and the music. You’ll notice a slight caugh at the beginning of the song – that’s Gilmour. He had a cold when they were recording, so his voice sounds a bit different on this song than others. As far as the ‘crying’ guitar, it’s actually a combination of how Gilmour bends the notes (very famous for this) and also by the fact that he plays the guitar notes and sings them at the same time….watch a live performance the song on YouTube and you will see what I mean.
Good work El Gammy.
I feel like I should have a pointless ceremony where I get a medal and then just awkwardly look at some of the people who helped me destroy the death star.
in the immortal final words of Star Wars: A New Hope…
raaaaaaaawrgh!
jeley looks and El Gammy’s blogroll, doesn’t see his blog listed and suddenly feels like the short fat kid always got picked last for dodgeball and first for smear the queer.
While El Gammy apologizes for his oversight, he will say this: judging as how this is the first time you’ve ever visited the ole’ Blog of Death, it was only fair that you earned your link in the Blogroll of Total Devastation with a simple comment. For El Gammy has been a long and worthy contributor to Chicken Effed Bacon, and therefore righteously earned his spot on your blogroll.
See? El Gammy can write in the third-person too.
in jeley’s defense, he has been around, read The Blog of Death and just didn’t post a comment. But now jeley is a seasoned noob and will pretend to be funny more frequently.
I’ve really been digging Floyd lately. Wish You Were Here has been near top of the list. A song that has randomly got my attention from them though is One Of These Days; (Right up your alley, with the only lyrics being “One of these days/I’m going to cut you in to little pieces.” Just an intense song. Check it out if you haven’t already.
And not liking Wish You Were Here isn’t equal to blowing 17 goats. I’d give it 15 horses, which is much, much worse. But hey, at least you could call in sick with, uh, strep throat, the next day…