The song is, in my opinion, about sheer loneliness and isolation in the big city, when you know nothing and nobody. Silence is the most used metaphor for abandonment and disinterest in what one has to say. Paul Simon reiterated this message in another great song, "The Boxer", a year or two later.

To me this is the best song Dylan ever did, it is so in your face nasty, no hidden meanings in this song, other than somebody ticked him off and he is venting, in his own special way. This song is always on tap in my car stereo when somebody p*sses me off, especially a friend or a spouse (they can never be the same lol).

Saw Phil on a great show called "The Songwriters". Every week there were famous people on, Billy Joel, Elton John etc etc. Anyway the format was a lengthy chat and then some live music. Well Phil was asked point blank to explain the lyrics to "In the Air Tonight" and he said "No meaning whatsoever, the words came into my head and I wrote them down." That was all he said about the song.

Whlle I do think a lot of Floyd's songs were influenced by what happened to Syd i.e. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Brain Damage", "Comfortably Numb", to name a few. I am convinced "Wish You Were Here", is more in keeping with "Another Brick in the Wall", in that it was a direct bash at the '50s and '60s British education system, which I can also relate to. A lot of the bully male teachers in those days had seen military service in WW2, and brought their regimented ideas into the classroom. The key lines "walk on part in the war" is self explanatory if you subscribe to my theory, as is the next line. The "wish you were here" part is sarcasm, they wish their teachers were here to see the fruits of their violent teaching. If you think this a load of..., just listen to the little intro before the guitar starts the song. I think most of the other lines were fill ins and poetic license.