Wish You Were Here
 

I just downloaded this song last night because I wanted to hear some FM I hadn't heard yet...and I really like it.

The beginning piano riff sounds just a little like SS and the end guitar riff sounds a little like the one from As Long As You Follow.

Anyways...does anyone else like it? Is it about Dennis?

Re: Wish You Were Here
 

Christine uses a similar roll figure at the beginning of "Believe Me." The main difference is that "Wish You Were Here" arpeggios are inversions in one chord (Db) & "Silver Springs" intro is a I-IV (C-F) pattern of inversions. But it's the warm air mass inversion that really cooks that tune & launches it into the stratosphere.

I love WYWH. Always have, from day one.
God, I miss that woman.:(

I love that song, I think it's fantastic. One of my favorite tracks from Mirage, and one of the tracks that makes you forget that this is the same woman who wrote "Only Over You" which is a song that I respectfully hate. ;) The 'extended jam' between Lindsey and Christine makes an excellent way to end the album. :nod:

"Wish You Were Here" would be my favorite song on Mirage... if "Hold Me" wasn't there.


Song of the moment - I'd Rather Go Blind

I tend to disagree; I never liked WYWH that much, although I do like it more than Only Over You. Those two just never did it for me I guess.

I do, on the other hand, like the Pink Floyd song :cool:

I like Wish You Were Here....it's just Cool Classic Christine and my favorite of hers off of Mirage.

And Ryan...I LOVE Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here...

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 and how we found...
the same old fear
Wish you were here

Great stuff!!

I love "Wish You Were Here". It's my second favorite song on Mirage, after "Hold Me". I think it's also the perfect way to end the album, somewhat similar to "The Smile I Live For" on her solo album 2 years later.

The song can't be about Dennis Wilson since Christine didn't write the lyrics. She only wrote the music. Colin Allen wrote the lyrics.

Thank you for posting that! I've been wondering about those chords for a while now. I could figure out SS, but I didn't see WYWH was in Db.

Shamus:)

WYWH is my favorite Chris song on the album. I love the piano near the end & her voice sounds great.

- Jake

Re: Re: Wish You Were Here
 

Of course when the guitar riff of the original "Silver Springs" was replaced with the piano chords for the Dance version, it sounded like she was harking back to "Wish You Were Here". To these ears at least.

Well, just like our "discussion" over Save Me a Place, it's not really in Db. Again, it's Lindsey playing with the tape speed. It's somewhere in between C and Db. As close as my ears can get it in one pass, it's 34 cents sharp of C, and 57 cents flat of Db, so it's actually closer to C. :eek: And yes, I realize that's only 91 cents, whereas in theory it should be 100. Try playing along on a non retunable instrument (Hammond organ, for example), and you find yourself wanting to break whatever fingers Lindsey changes the tape speed with.:laugh:
Ever so anal retentively yours, Homie

I loooovvvveee that song! One of the best on Mirage!!

One of my all-time fave Chris songs...gorgeous. The jam between her and Lindsey at the end does totally make it.:nod:

Anal is good, Homer, when you're hammering out important Fleetwood Mac data like this. Maybe it's safest to put it this way: Christine is playing the piano in Db. Once her piano tracks pass out of her hands & into the hands of LB & his engineers, I dare not vouch for the key. Lindsey's a madman, as we all know, with his penchant for toying with pitch.

For those of you who want to hear a more specifically Db performance, I recommend the snippet of Mac doing it live during a 1982 rehearsal on the "Missing Links" set of underground demos.

I think that Christine "directed" Colin Allen to write the lyrics in a way that COULD be aimed toward Dennis. Isn't the song DEDICATED to Dennis on the Mirage liner notes somewhere? I could swear I remember reading "dedicated to DW" or something like that on the album (or maybe even the LP's label itself). :shrug:

Bring it on! Da link, dat is.:) I'd love to hear it. Pour moi, C is a little bit easier to play in than Db(probably because I'm a guitar player first{thus the tiny brain}, and keys second!). Mirage IS closer to C, I guess that's why I've ALWAYS assumed it was C, that LB twisted up!
Bring it on!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

"Wish You Were Here" is a great song... one of my favorites on 'Mirage.'

The instrumental outro is terrific, and I usually end up listening to it two or three times. :)

I was going to ask if anyone knew anything about Colin Allen (he's the fella who wrote the lyrics for "Wish You Were Here"... Christine only wrote the music), but I decided to look him up myself.
Turns out he was a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for quite a while, and has also worked with Bob Dylan, Donovan, Rod Stewart, and Robbie Patton (of "Smiling Islands" fame). He's also had songs recorded by Paul McCartney & Wings.

Not bad. :)

No, that was "Only Over You". Chris thanked Dennis for inspiration. It's in the liner notes. But, it is possible that Colin may have had Chris & Dennis in mind when he wrote the lyrics. I actually think the lyrics sound as if Chris could have written them.

Just before Mirage, Chris and Ken Caillat produced an album for Robbie Patton. Colin Allen played drums & percussion on that album. I'm sure that's how she hooked up with him for "Wish You Were Here".:)

Check yer e-mail. I need to eat crow or something -- they rehearsed it in C. All these years I've been playing in Db. Now I have to go learn it in C!

He co-wrote two songs with Wings' guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, "Medicine Jar" from Venus & Mars and "Wino Junko" from Wings At The Speed Of Sound. Both of them wildly about drug abuse, both of them sung by Jimmy McCulloch (not Paul); and the first one was his regular vocal outing during the Wings Over Europe/America mid-70's tours.

Weird thing is that Jimmy McCulloch died very young, around late 70's... and his death was related to drug abuse. Oh well.


Song of the moment - Earl Grey

:laugh: Would you like some ketchup with that, sir? :laugh:
Sorry, I sent you an email before I saw this. I was here a few minutes before you got here, then reading my emails while you were here.

I adore Wish You Were Here... It's a classic album closer. In my opinion, the instrumental outro makes the whole song. I think that it has to be one of Chris' best songs musically and vocally. Would have made a great single :)