Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' 50th Celebrated By UK Poet Laureate

By Shore Fire Media | Published: October 28, 2025

Dear Pink Floyd, a new poem written and performed by UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, inspired by Pink Floyd and their era-defining album Wish You Were Here, is revealed today. Dear Pink Floyd arrives ahead of the 50th anniversary release of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, out December 12th via Sony Music.

Dear Pink Floyd is one of the myriad of special collectors gems included in the upcoming Wish You Were Here 50 Deluxe Box Set release. Revealed today as a surprise to fans - Simon Armitage's Dear Pink Floyd presents an exciting fresh take on the Wish You Were Here liner notes.

The poem captures several points of view: from the unforgettable first listen, to five decades of affinity with a vital album that continues to soundtrack the lives of fans all over the world. Throughout the poem, in the same way that Wish You Were Here pays homage to Syd Barrett's creativity, Syd's presence in this powerful piece of writing is also intentional. The poem captures the unique power of Pink Floyd's music, and Wish You Were Here's themes of absence and transience.

Speaking about Dear Pink Floyd, Simon Armitage said: "I was thinking about the album and their noise, and what effect that has had on people right across the globe. I didn't know whether I could put into words what that music sounded like. I only get involved with projects if I think I can't do them, so this was a natural invitation.

I wanted to write something that was album-shaped, that would fit onto the side of an LP and bleed right to the margins of a square. I was trying to mimic the noise of Wish You Were Here - there are no gaps in it. Like a wall of warm sound. I wanted the text to be a physical manifestation of that.

The bigger voice in the piece is all fans in the world trying to say something. I was the generation that caught the tail end of punk - a sort of a musical resetting of the clock, for me. That's how I wanted everything at that time. Then eventually you get to 17, 18, and you want something more introspective. That came in the form of Pink Floyd. It was so profound, so thought provoking. There aren't many artistic experiences in the form of noise that send shivers up my spine and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But when I put Wish You Were Here on as a record, and it begins, I get that feeling every single time."

Wish You Were Here 50 gives fans a new perspective on one of Pink Floyd's most iconic and best-loved records. 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 first, a previously unheard early demo recording of 'Welcome to the Machine' originally titled 'The Machine Song', is out now (watch below). Shorter in length than the epic original, 'The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)' gives fans an exciting preview of what to expect from Wish You Were Here 50.

Other studio rarities include 'The Machine Song (Roger's demo),' the first home demo of the song that Roger Waters originally brought to the band, a previously unheard instrumental mix of the track 'Wish You Were Here' showcasing David Gilmour's pedal steel guitar, and for the first time, a complete 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9)' that joins together the two halves of the song, newly mixed in stereo by James Guthrie.

Wish You Were Here 50 will be released in multiple formats including 3LP, 2CD, Blu-ray, digital and a Deluxe Box Set. The digital release includes the original 1975 album, featuring a new Dolby Atmos mix by James Guthrie, whose work with Pink Floyd dates back to 1979's The Wall. It also includes 25 bonus tracks made up of nine studio rarities, and 16 live recordings captured by the renowned bootlegger Mike Millard at Pink Floyd's Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26th 1975, now receiving its first official release. The live audio has been meticulously restored and remastered by Steven Wilson. The Blu-ray edition also gives fans the chance to see three concert screen films from the band's 1975 tour, plus a Storm Thorgerson short film. The 3LP and 2CD formats include the original album and the nine studio bonus tracks. The Deluxe Box Set includes all 2CD, 3LP (on exclusive clear vinyl) and Blu-Ray material, plus a fourth clear vinyl LP, Live At Wembley 1974, a replica Japanese 7" Single of Have A Cigar b/w Welcome To The Machine, a hardcover book including unseen photographs, and Dear Pink Floyd, by Simon Armitage, a comic book tour programme and Knebworth concert poster. Exclusive 50th Anniversary Merchandise along with Limited Edition product releases will also be available at PinkFloyd.com.

Wish You Were Here has been a mainstay on all-time greatest albums lists for decades. The multi-Platinum-selling #1 hit record was Pink Floyd's first to reach the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming the band's fastest selling album. In 1973, The Dark Side of the Moon had taken Pink Floyd from a hugely successful breakout British band to one of the biggest rock groups on the planet. Wish You Were Here was the band's powerful response to their newfound global fame.

Featuring the multi-part eulogy to Syd Barrett 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', the hypnotic 'Welcome To The Machine', the scathing 'Have a Cigar' with its immortal line "Oh by the way, which one's Pink?" famously sung not by Waters or Gilmour, but by non band-member Roy Harper, and the essential title track, Wish You Were Here is undoubtedly one of the most important album releases in the history of popular music.

In 2025, the ardent support and fascination surrounding Pink Floyd's music remains. The newly restored version of their groundbreaking 1972 film Pink Floyd at Pompeii - MCMLXXII stormed box offices around the world, with the live album debuting at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, marking the band's first UK chart-topper in eleven years and the seventh in their career. The film was praised by critics and audiences the world over, with The Guardian describing it as a "mesmerically peculiar portrait of a band on cusp of greatness."

50 years since its release, Wish You Were Here sounds as resonant and vital as ever, and in reaching this milestone deserves to be celebrated anew. This special anniversary edition allows fans, for the first time, to delve deeper into a pivotal moment in Pink Floyd's history.