Wish You Were Here

[Lala]

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?

[David]

Originally posted by Lala
The beginning piano riff sounds just a little like SS

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.

[HomerMcvie]

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

[Cristian]

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.

"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

[ryan8472]

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

[laurie816]

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!!

[macfan 57]

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.

[ShamHy89]

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.

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

[darklinensuit]

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

- Jake

[face of glass]

Originally posted by David
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.

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.

[HomerMcvie]

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.

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. 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.
Ever so anal retentively yours, Homie

[littlelies7]

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

[EveryHour]

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

[David]

Originally posted by HomerMcvie
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. 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.
Ever so anal retentively yours, Homie

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.

[chiliD]

Originally posted by macfan 57
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.

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).