Song of the Day: ‘Have a Cigar’ – Pink Floyd

The British rock band agreed to sell their recorded music and name-and-likeness (merchandise, theatrical etc.) rights, although the songwriting rights remain with the individuals writer.

Following this development, the Song of the Day had to be one of their legendary creations – “Have a Cigar”.

“Have a Cigar” was the first track on the second side of their album Wish You Were Here, released in 1975. The song was written by Roger Waters as a critique to the greed and hypocrisy of the era’s music industry.

David Gilmour recounted in a 1992 radio interview, “We did have people who would say to us “Which one’s Pink?” and stuff like that. There were an awful lot of people who thought Pink Floyd was the name of the lead singer and that was Pink himself and the band. That’s how it all came about, it was quite genuine.”

Richard Wright’s iconic synth riff throughout the song, joined by Gilmour’s guitar solo towards the end brings goose pumps to anyone who hears it.

Interestingly enough, “Have a Cigar” is one of only three Pink Floyd recordings with a guest singer on lead vocals. Gilmour refused to sing the lyrics, not agreeing with Water’s cynical description of the music business, while the latter couldn’t quite get the pitch right. The role, instead, was given to English folk-singer Roy Harper, who did the song great justice.