"Wish You Were Here" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Incubus and the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''

Morning View ''Morning View'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Incubus, released October 23, 2001, through Epic Records. A companion DVD, '' The Morning View Sessions'', was released on May 29, 2002. Continuing the move away from nu metal, th ...

''. Released on August 14, 2001, it peaked at number two on the US ''

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Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart and number four on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart that year. "Wish You Were Here" would become one of the band's most well known songs and be included on the 2009 greatest hits compilation ''

Monuments and Melodies ''Monuments and Melodies'' is the first greatest hits compilation album by American rock band Incubus released on June 16, 2009, through Epic Records.Donkey Konga 2 is a GameCube rhythm video game series starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. The series' games are intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo dru ...

.'' The song was also used on then

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affiliate KAQY's station IDs in the early 2000s (the station is now known today as MeTV affiliate KMLU in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

Background, music, and lyrics

Prior to release, the track was played during

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

's Area:One summer festival in 2001. It was announced as ''Morning Views lead single in June that year. Guitarist

Mike Einziger Michael Aaron Einziger (born June 21, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Incubus, and has also co-written, produced and collaborated with a wide array of a ...

noted that "Wish You Were Here" was one of the last songs written for ''Morning View'' and that "the content is about being happy living for the moment and not looking forward to the future as some event."Moss, Core
Incubus Name New Album, Plan Video, Tour
MTV.com (July 26, 2001). Retrieved on February 5, 2011. Vocalist Brandon Boyd also elaborated on its meaning:Robinson, Iann
Incubus: The ''View'' from Here
MTV.com (2002).

"The song wasn't specifically about a person. It was about me acknowledging a very brief moment in my life and in my experience with all of these guys in making this record. In that moment, I wish that I had somebody to go, 'I love you, man.' I was wishing that there was someone there to share that moment with."

Music videos

A music video for "Wish You Were Here" was scheduled for an August 2001 shooting with director

Phil Harder Philip Harder is a music video director and commercial director represented by Bob Industries in Santa Monica, California.Bobcentra ...

. Einziger anticipated finishing everything within a single day like previous Incubus videos had been made. Although it could be streamed from the band's website, in light of the recent

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

where victims leapt from the Twin Towers, the original "Wish You Were Here" video would be rejected. Boyd remarked on the video's controversy: The second version, which found substantial airplay upon its late September premiere, has the band performing in front of a white backdrop, a light breeze blowing toward them. The quickly composed substitute mixed the Phil Harder white-backdrop footage with various "home video"-styled footage shot and edited by Brett Spivey of the band members during album production at their Morning View house, including in their control room, at their swimming pool, playing ocean-view lawn golf, and enjoying other summer activities. By December 2001, it reached number eight on MTV's ''

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''. In May 2002, the original "bridge jump" version as well as behind the scenes footage would be included on the '' Morning View Sessions'' DVD. The video would also air years later on

Fuse TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyl ...

Live performances

"Wish You Were Here" was performed on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' on November 1, 2001. Upon winning ''Billboards Modern Rock Single of the Year for "

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," Incubus performed "Wish You Were Here" at the award show.

Cover versions

*In 2015,

Lower Than Atlantis Lower Than Atlantis were an English rock band from Watford, Hertfordshire. They formed in 2007 as a hardcore punk band and gradually shifted into a rock sound over five studio albums, their last being 2017's '' Safe in Sound''. The band consiste ...

released a cover of the song on the 2015 reissue of their self-titled album.

Track listings

Australian CD single # "Wish You Were Here" # "Mexico" (live) # "The Warmth" (live) # "

" (live) European CD single # "Wish You Were Here" # "Drive" (live) European CD EP # "Wish You Were Here" # "Mexico" (live) # "Drive" (live) # "The Warmth" (live) # "Wish You Were Here" (live) UK CD single # "Wish You Were Here" (live) # "The Warmth" (live) # "Mexico" (live) UK DVD single # "Wish You Were Here" (video—live at 'The Morning View Sessions') # "Wish You Were Here" (audio) # "A Certain Shade of Green" (audio) # "A Certain Shade of Green" (video) # "Pardon Me" (video) # "Stellar" (video) # "Take Me to Your Leader" (video)

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"Wish You Were Here" music video (second version)
{{Authority control 2000s ballads 2001 singles 2001 songs Incubus (band) songs Music videos directed by Phil Harder Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Songs written by Alex Katunich Songs written by Brandon Boyd Songs written by Chris Kilmore Songs written by José Pasillas Songs written by Mike Einziger Epic Records singles Immortal Records singles