Pink Floyd

Released: September 12, 1975

Songwriter: Roger Waters

Producer: Pink Floyd

[Intro]

[Verse 1: David Gilmour]
Welcome, my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright, we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time
Provided with toys and 'Scouting for Boys'
You bought a guitar to punish your ma
You didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
So welcome to the machine

[Bridge]

[Verse 2: David Gilmour]
Welcome, my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright, we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine

[Synthesizer Solo]

[Outro]

Pink Floyd was a British rock band who managed to carve a path for progressive and psychedelic music in a way that was uniquely fascinating at the time and has remained equally momentous in the modern age. The name “Pink Floyd” came from two blues musicians that founding member Syd Barrett idolized—Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

The band was formed in 1965 London by Barrett (guitars, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass), and Richard Wright (keyboards). Sometime after releasing their debut album, 1967’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group saw the addition of a second singer-guitarist, David Gilmour. This acted largely as a means of replacing Barrett, who was forced to leave in 1968 for mental health reasons, resulting in Waters taking over as the main vocalist.

The band broke into the mainstream with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album that became one of the best-selling and most influential records in music history. Their follow-up efforts, 1975’s Wish You Were Here and 1977’s Animals, also sold well. However, the band started to see some in-fighting while making their next album, a rock opera about how Waters felt frustrated and detached from his audience. Waters seemingly became extremely controlling, firing Wright over disputes about touring and his contributions to the album. The result, 1979’s The Wall, became the best-selling double album of all time. It spawned iconic songs such as the #1 hit, “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” and the melodic “Comfortably Numb.”

more tracks from the album

Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition)

From the albums

Wish You Were Here (1975)
Shine On (1992)
Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition) (2011)

Pink Floyd popular songs

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Pink Floyd

Wish You Were Here (Experience Edition)