Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) "The Dark Side of the Moon", but critics displeased about being denied access backstage savaged the performance. "Wish You Were Here" was sold in one of the more elaborate packages to accompany a Pink Floyd album. Storm Thorgerson had accompanied the band on their 1974 tour, and had given serious thought to the meaning of the lyrics, eventually deciding that the songs were, in general, concerned with "unfulfilled presence", rather than Barrett's illness. This theme of absence was reflected in the ideas produced by his long hours spent brainstorming with the band. Thorgerson had noted that Roxy Music's "Country Life"
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) 1997, and by 2004 has sold an estimated 13 million copies worldwide. "Have a Cigar" was chosen by Columbia as their first single, with "Welcome to the Machine" on the B-side in the US. The album was a commercial hit in Europe, topping Dutch, English and Spanish charts -in Spain, the album remained at number one for about 20 weeks. "Wish You Were Here" has been remastered and re-released on several formats. In the UK and US the album was re-issued in quadraphonic using the SQ format in 1976, and in 1980 a special "Hi-Fi Today" audiophile print was released