Wish You Were Here

the take

Fifty years of discourse have left no stone unturned on this album — anything I could say has already been said, and said better so I will keep this review anecdotal. I listened to this piece heavily during a very tough time in my life, and it’s given me both hope & closure to the reality that everything is temporary (Shine On You Crazy Diamond), we’re to embrace the pain & things we cannot control in this world (Welcome to the Machine), attention to ulterior motives matters to our own happiness (Have a Cigar), and finally that all questions do not have an answer (Wish You Were Here). I think this work best encapsulates that last point. Everyone on this planet has one guaranteed similarity- we all grieve for things that have been lost and feel helpless to change the past. There is never a truly right answer, but always the slow, humbling acceptance that some voids cannot be filled, only felt. Wish You Were Here doesn’t offer comfort so much as it offers company. And sometimes, that is enough.