WCSX Classic Cuts : Shine on You Crazy Diamond

WCSX Classic Cuts

Pink Floyd: "Shine on You Crazy Diamond"

The Hook: The late Syd Barrett influenced much of Pink Floyd's work even after he left the band -- especially "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."

Album: Wish You Were Here (an edit, though still long, appears on the compilation A Collection of Great Dance Songs).

Year: 1975

Writers: Richard Wright, Roger Waters and David Gilmour

Stats: Never released as a single A-side, although Part I appeared as the B-side of "Have a Cigar" in Italy and France.

Background: Pink Floyd wrote the epic "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" about their original guitarist and singer Syd Barrett, who died in 2006. Keyboardist Rick Wright, who died just two years later, once spoke about how Barrett's lasting contribution to the band.

The late Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright on Syd Barrett and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” OC:…to Syd. :14

“Obviously Syd influenced Roger. I mean, it was a tragedy what happened to Syd, ‘cause he was brilliant and he was a wonderful person. And I think underlying a lot of the Floyd writing, right from that time, was our awareness of what happened to Syd.”