I've been listening to this song (and album) since I was a baby, but oddly I never listened carefully to the lyrics. I just sort of hummed them, singing along with the words I knew. The other day, as it was playing on the radio, I felt a great sense of discovery to learn the line..."Did you exchange a walk on part in a war for a lead role in a cage?" Why I think this line is so brilliant, I can't tell you. But it absolutely is!
In September, Waters will begin the Wall Tour 2010. And on my birthday, he'll be playing at a venue less than one mile from my house. So, if anyone wants to get me a really fantastic gift...
"Either the music comes first and the lyrics are added, or music and lyrics come together. Only once have the lyrics been written down first - 'Wish You Were Here'. But this is unusual; it hasn't happened before." - Roger Waters, October 1975 interview in Wish You Were Here songbook
FULL LYRICS
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 to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool 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 you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
