Pink Floyd has announced they will be releasing “Wish You Were Here 50,” a deluxe box set to celebrate their legendary ninth studio album. The news came on September 12th, exactly 50 years after the record’s 1975 launch date.
“Out December 12th via Sony Music, ‘Wish You Were Here 50’ gives fans an exciting new perspective into one of Pink Floyd’s most iconic and best-loved records,” a press release explains. “The 50th anniversary edition features multiple discs of rarities – at the core of this special collection are six previously unreleased alternate versions and demos presenting Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album in a brand new way that demands repeat listening.”
The band previewed the upcoming release with a previously unheard demo version of what would become “Welcome to the Machine.”
“The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)” is shorter than the finished song, which sprawls to seven and a half minutes. This early demo shows how the piece was already structured and has the same soundscape. That’s because the song was written around the pulsating sounds of the EMS VCS 3, an early analog synth that featured a modular voice architecture. It evokes the sensation of being trapped in a machine while simultaneously being in outer space.
The song was written by Roger Waters, who brought it to the band with a simpler demo. It ended up being sung by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who explained how the track was realized in the “Wish You Were Here” Songbook.
“It’s very much a made-up-in-the-studio thing which was all built up from a basic throbbing made on a VCS 3, with a one repeat echo used so that each ‘boom’ is followed by an echo repeat to give the throb,” he wrote. “With a number like that, you don’t start off with a regular concept of group structure or anything, and there’s no backing track either. Really it is just a studio proposition where we’re using tape for its own ends — a form of collage using sound.”
The song bounces around between time signatures to great effect. Although much of the song is in 4/4, odd bars of 7/4 are inserted to fit the lyrics. It also gives an eerie feeling as it disrupts the usual rhythm. “The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)” is shorter than “Welcome to the Machine” partly because the instrumental section, which switches to 3/4, had yet to be written.
Both versions, however, attain their goal of creating an empty feeling. Waters has always written songs that feel like a punch to the gut, cutting to the core of modern society.
“‘Welcome to the Machine,’ sound-wise, comes as close to sci-fi as any Pink Floyd track,” American Songwriter succinctly explains. “But lyrically, it describes an all-too-human verity wherein a beautiful dreamer gets corrupted and used by those looking to monetize those dreams.”
Follow along with the sheet music for “Welcome to the Machine” from Pink Floyd’s 1975 masterpiece album, “Wish You Were Here”:
