Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) album closes with a reprise of "Shine On" and further instrumental excursions. "I had some criticisms of "Dark Side of the Moon"…" noted David Gilmour. "One or two of the vehicles carrying the ideas were not as strong as the ideas that they carried. I thought we should try and work harder on marrying the idea and the vehicle that carried it, so that they both had an equal magic… It's something I was personally pushing when we made "Wish You Were Here"." Alan Parsons, EMI staff engineer for Pink Floyd's previous studio album, "The Dark Side of the Moon",
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) into the lyrics for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier. Barrett is fondly recalled with lines such as "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun" and "You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon". "Wish You Were Here" is also a critique of the music business. "Shine On" crosses seamlessly into "Welcome to the Machine", a song that begins with an opening door (described by Waters as a symbol of musical discovery and progress betrayed by