A poem inspired by Pink Floyd’s landmark album Wish You Were Here has been shared by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.
Dear Pink Floyd has been unveiled ahead of the Wish You Were Here 50 Deluxe Box Set, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1975 LP by the prog rock icons, due December 12.
Included in the box set, the poem “pays homage” to late frontman Syd Barrett’s “creativity”.
A press release adds that: “Syd’s presence in this powerful piece of writing is also intentional. The poem captures the unique power of Pink Floyd’s music and Wish You Were Here’s themes of absence and transience.”
Armitage said: “I was thinking about the album and their noise, and what effect that has had on people right across the globe. I didn’t know whether I could put into words what that music sounded like. I only get involved with projects if I think I can’t do them, so this was a natural invitation.
I wanted to write something that was album-shaped, that would fit onto the side of an LP and bleed right to the margins of a square. I was trying to mimic the noise of Wish You Were Here – there are no gaps in it. Like a wall of warm sound. I wanted the text to be a physical manifestation of that.
The bigger voice in the piece is all fans in the world trying to say something. I was the generation that caught the tail end of punk – a sort of a musical resetting of the clock, for me. That’s how I wanted everything at that time. Then eventually you get to 17, 18, and you want something more introspective. That came in the form of Pink Floyd. It was so profound, so thought provoking. There aren’t many artistic experiences in the form of noise that send shivers up my spine and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But when I put Wish You Were Here on as a record, and it begins, I get that feeling every single time.”
The Comfortably Number hitmakers recently shared an unheard demo of Welcome To The Machine, dubbed The Machine Song (Roger’s demo), by Roger Waters. Five further alternate versions and demos are included in the box set.