Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd first banded together in 1965 with Roger Barrett as the “creative force” behind the band (Barnes). However, drug and alcohol abuse led to his mental breakdown. His unreliability led to the band’s search for a new lead singer. The album cover and the song are both a metaphor for the band’s experiences with Barrett. Pink Floyd’s 1975 album cover of Wish You Were Here portrays artistic elements of light, destruction, and unique placement. They reflect the band’s skeptical feelings about the music industry, and the universal issue of man vs. self and the pain of longing.
The two designers of the artwork, Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson met with the band to generate ideas and create a cover that would have a stronger connection with the band while showing the contrasting elements of
The cover’s simplicity in coloring and placement adds to the artwork in that the dull pastel background colors contrast with the harsh black figures in the foreground. This draws the eyes towards the center and makes the observer focus on the similarities between the two men. In addition to the burning man’s darker complexion, his side of the street is dressed with shadows cast by the buildings. This adds to the darkness in the man’s presence and further conveys the idea that this light the man on the left once had can easily disappear with poor decisions. These poor decisions would only come back to greet him long after the fire had taken its toll. Syd Barrett’s mental imbalance created an inability to handle the pressures of leading a band to success in the music business. Barrett’s partying and drug abuse only made the matter worse and ultimately consumed this once successful musician. These contradictions show the impossible co-existence of tremendous talent, stardom, and