Blog 6 version 2

WISH YOU WERE HERE- PINK FLOYD
Listen to this great song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPm4GH3UUC8



So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell?
Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cold breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here


Pink Floyd were an English rock band during the late 1960s, composed of four university students, mostly known for their psychedelic music and their progressive rock. Roger Waters Co-lead vocalist, bass player and the principal song writer, born in the year 1943 Surrey, England ,co-founded Pink Floyd in 1965 with Syd Barrett, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. "wish you were here" is the fourth track in the album wish you were here released on 1975 and it is a great example of how literary elements can be used to give the emotions and the opportunity to imagine the real meaning of the message this author is trying to communicate.

The song "wish you were here" is composed of four stanzas and it does not have a chorus, but the way it was desing, it allows readers and also the audience to understand the rhyme and rhythm that it has. The first stanza is composed of seven lines in which the rhythm sequence can be interpreted as AABCAAA, eight lines for the second stanza, it is interpreted as ABBBBBCB and the third and last stanza is formed by seven lines and its rhythmical structure is interpreted as ABACCAA.

“wish you were here” describes the a person’s feelings towards something that is somehow separated away from him. So, so you think you can tell ( line 1) the speaker is asking the audience or himself questions about the difference between good and evil, Heaven from hell? (line 2) blue skies from pain? (line 3) peace from stress, can you tell a green field (line 4) From a cold steel rail? (line 5) The peaceful natural attitude of human beings to the corroded mind that deteriorates humanity, a smile from a veil? (Line 6) Do you think you can tell? (line 7) the main point in this stanza is the difference between all the feelings that makes us good humans to the ones that can be interpreted as bad human qualities. And did they get you trade (Line 8) Your heroes for ghosts? (Line 9) Hot ashes for trees? (Line10) Hot air for a cold breeze? (Line 11) Cold comfort for change? (Line 12) And did you exchange (Line 13) A walk on part in the war (Line 14)
For a lead role in a cage? (line 15). In this stanza the author is focusing on two sides in which there is a kind of negotiation , lines 8 through 15 main point of view is to give the reader or the audience the clue of the trade of feelings from the bad side to the good side of the persons life. How I wish, how I wish you were here ( Line 16) We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl (Line 17) Year after year (Line 18) Running over the same old ground ( Line 19) What have we found? (line 20) The same old fears (Line 21) Wish you were here ( Line 22), basically the main image of this last stanza is the separation of two sides, the good and evil, in which they need each other to work better but can not get together.

The prevalent symbolism in this song can be found in every sentence because it has a good/happy lyric in exchange for a bad/sad lyric, so when broken down it reads, heaven, blue skies, green field, smile, hero's, tree's, cool breeze, change, lead role in a cage. And then, hell, pain, cold steel rail, veil, ghosts, hot ashes, hot air, cold comfort, walk on part in the war. The first nine words mentioned above symbolizes all the good things that nature can offer us to makes us peace- loving creatures and in the other hand the next nine symbolism also mentioned above are cold and dark words that creates the difference between the good and bad. “The war between forces of good and evil is one which has dominated the efforts of mankind since creation and, as both sides have demonstrated great powers capable of lasting through eternity, it seems that the war has no end in sight. Unrelenting, uncontrollable desire and skewed thinking processes bring men and women to commit wicked, unthinkable acts against even the most peaceful, amicable members of the human race-the forces of good, however, do not always take justice lightly” (Associatedcontent.com)

The author’s attitude, implied, towards the song can be identified as seriousness and bitterness, "The perfection of Diction is for it to be at once clear and not mean. The clearest indeed is that made up of the ordinary words for things, but it is mean... A certain admixture, accordingly, of unfamiliar terms is necessary. These, the strange word, the metaphor, the ornamental equivalent, etc., will save the language from seeming mean and prosaic, while the ordinary words in it will secure the requisite clearness. What helps most, however, to render the Diction at once clear and non-prosaic is the use of the lengthened, curtailed, and altered forms of words." (Aristotle).
Stanza number one, lines 1 through 8 in which the choice of setting, objects, details, images, and words all contribute towards creating a specific mood and a tone where it can be categorized of suspense and a little bit of mystery, where the author is trying to identify the differences between good things and the bad things, using words such as heaven and hell (line 1). In stanza number two, lines 8 through 15 the tone and mood still serious and with a mystery because the author is asking questions to someone, the writer's or speaker's attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself can shape the real meaning of this song, in this case stanza number two uses the same tone and mood as stanza number one. Stanza number three shows a little bit different tone and mood, lines 16 through 22 expresses the affirmation of the author towards his personal issue, how I wish you were here (line 16) is the acceptance that he needs someone or something in order to be a complete person, and lines 17 through 22 also uses a tone and mood of acceptance and affirmation where this author convince the reader and audience that he feels trapped in a fish bowl (line 18), but ending with the same message in an affirmative manner, wish you were here (Line 22).

In conclusion “Wish you were here” it's a schizophrenic song written by Waters about himself, on one side of his personality is the good, caring and giving part of his character and on the other side is the selfish, unforgiving and greedy side. It is a song about one side singing to the other, the bad side is calling to the good side saying how i wish, how i wish you were here (Line 17). This is made evident by the lyric.. 'We are just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl (Line 18), the fish bowl being his outer body exterior and the two lost souls being his inner. The inner souls are swimming around 'the fish bowl', one side is crying to the other 'i wish you were here', but unfortunately for waters the bad side prevails, the lyric “we're just two lost souls swimming a fish bowl (line 17) year after year (Line 18), running over the same old ground (line 19),what have we found (line 20),the same old fears (line 21),wish you were here. (line 22)”, basically in the literal sense it's saying that the good side of Waters character will never exceed the bad side.



Work Cited

-Exploring Themes of Good Vs. Evil in World Mythology by Robert Lewis www.associatedcontent.com, Published February 22, 2008.

-The Poetics, Aristotle on the Art of Poetry. Web, April 17, 2010
http://www.authorama.com/the-poetics-23.html

-"Wish you were here"- Pink Floyd. Wikipedia. April 17, 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Floyd

-Dictionary of symbolism.Web, April 17, 2010
http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/