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?
Did they get you to trade, your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? 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 are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.
Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by Syd Barrett (guitar, lead vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass guitar, vocals) and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). Under Barrett's leadership, they released two hit singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", and the successful debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). David Gilmour (guitar, vocals) joined in December 1967, while Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the primary lyricist and thematic leader, devising the concepts behind Pink Floyd's most successful albums, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The musical film based on The Wall, Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), won two BAFTA Awards. Pink Floyd also composed several film scores.
Following personal tensions, Wright left Pink Floyd in 1981, followed by Waters in 1985. Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd, rejoined later by Wright. They produced the albums A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994), backed by major tours, before entering a long hiatus. In 2005, all but Barrett reunited for a performance at the global awareness event Live 8. Barrett died in 2006, and Wright in 2008. The last Pink Floyd studio album, The Endless River (2014), was based on unreleased material from the Division Bell recording sessions. In 2022, Gilmour and Mason reformed Pink Floyd to release the song "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!" in protest at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
By 2013, Pink Floyd had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and these albums and Wish You Were Here are among the best-selling albums of all time. Four Pink Floyd albums topped the US Billboard 200, and five topped the UK Albums Chart. Pink Floyd's hit singles include "Arnold Layne" (1967), "See Emily Play" (1967), "Money" (1973), "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979), "Not Now John" (1983), "On the Turning Away" (1987) and "High Hopes" (1994). They were inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008, Pink Floyd were awarded the Polar Music Prize in Sweden for their contribution to modern music.
I'm pretty sure all of us 10-raters of this excellent song know all the words. It's not the quantity of words, more the quality.
It reminds me of the Abraham Lincoln anecdote, whereby he P.S.'d a letter he'd written with the apology "sorry for the long letter. I did not have enough time to write a shorter one."
Long Live RP!!
I could have also said something along the lines of: yeah, I know, a 9.2 average rating IS A BIT low....
I like to imagine, when this song plays, the hundreds of RP listeners who stop what they are doing, make a delicious break, thinking of all those years accompanied by this masterpiece.
incredible
10 x10 for me
In the tradition of Spinal Tap, I say we turn it up to 11.
I'm pretty sure all of us 10-raters of this excellent song know all the words. It's not the quantity of words, more the quality.
It reminds me of the Abraham Lincoln anecdote, whereby he P.S.'d a letter he'd written with the apology "sorry for the long letter. I did not have enough time to write a shorter one."
Long Live RP!!
Je vous écris une longue lettre parce que je n'ai pas le temps d'en écrire une courte.
Blaise Pascal (1656)
Now this is so meaningful to me, so painful, so hard to listen without really whishing him to be there, that it's not a song anymore....
It is more like a prayer...
Newsflash; Not all lyrics are intended to be taken literally. You thought Roger and David were talking about actually turning into fish and swimming around in an actual fishbowl? . . . Yikes.
J'aime imaginer, quand cette chanson passe, les centaines d'auditeurs de RP qui arrêtent ce qu'ils font, font une délicieuse pause, en pensant à toutes ces années où ils ont été accompagnés par ce chef d'oeuvre.
I like to imagine, when this song plays, the hundreds of RP listeners who stop what they are doing, make a delicious break, thinking of all those years accompanied by this masterpiece.
very nice imagination :-)
So I have been able to take a years-long break from Pink Floyd. Man, is this good shit. Thanks, RP.