Did You Know How Close We Were to Never Having Pink Floyd?

After the success of "The Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd became global superstars. But instead of celebrating, the band felt disconnected, exhausted and alienated by sudden fame.

Meanwhile, their former frontman Syd Barrett was suffering a severe mental breakdown. His heavy LSD use had forced him out of the band in 1968. His two solo albums flopped, and it was like he just did not have it in him anymore.

When he visited the band during the recording sessions for their next album, he had put on so much weight that the others did not recognise him for several minutes. He had shaved his head, along with his eyebrows. It pained Roger Waters to see his friend so disengaged from the world that he broke down in tears.

Revolving around the theme of absence, "Wish You Were Here" illustrates the difference between the group's early years, when Pink Floyd was a band of brothers making music for a small but devoted audience, and the present. The guys had become multi millionaires in the wake of "Dark Side," but they had also become cash cows for a corporate label.

Often mistaken as a love song, it is about missing someone who is still alive and breathing, yet no longer the person they once were. It captures the quiet grief of watching your friend fade away, and the helplessness of being unable to bring them back.

In the end, "Wish You Were Here" reminds us that sometimes the most painful goodbyes happen without a single word being spoken.