Wish you were here

Day 57 / 366

You know the thing about Floyd? Not only are they damn good, they sound better with every drink, like the singers designed them for alcohol. Like samosas-chutney, idli-sambhar, or rajma-chawal, Floyd and vodka are in a combo-class of their own. — Five Point Someone

Today I was listening to songs on YouTube on Autoplay, where I found an old favorite of mine again, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Any guy who has stayed in a hostel in an Engineering college would know about Pink Floyd and their songs. I knew about them from back in school when I read the above quote in a Chetan Bhagat book. And I agree, Floyd and alcohol do go well together.

But this particular song is special. I think your love for a song doesn't depend that much on how good it is, but on how you connect to it at an important phase in your life. So when you hear it, more than the lyrics or the melody, you enjoy reliving those memories. And I have so many core memories with this song.

This was the only Pink Floyd song that I could play on the guitar, and no drinking session would be complete without me playing this one and my friends singing along to it.

How I wish, how I wish you were here
We’re just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year

To me this song represents being stuck in your life, wanting that one thing that you just cannot get. You try to hold on to it for as long as you can, creating your little bubble and ignoring the world. But you know it won't last.

Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here

“This time it would be different” you try to convince yourself. But it never is.

On one such night back in college, I remember drinking with a friend who had recently broken up. And when these lines came, he broke into tears with his head on my shoulders.

People like to say that men don’t cry, but I can guarantee that every guy would have that one song that he cannot listen to without breaking down. And yet we still listen to those songs, as it gives us an outlet for our pent-up emotions. And the music just has this indescribable beauty in it, that gives us a reason to keep going on.