Have a Cigar

Last updated
"Have a Cigar"
HaveaCigar.jpg
Artwork for Belgian vinyl release [1]
Single by Pink Floyd featuring Roy Harper
from the album Wish You Were Here
B-side
ReleasedNovember 1975 (1975-11) (US)
Recorded10 March – 28 July 1975 [5]
Studio Abbey Road, London
Genre
Length
  • 3:30 (US promo edit)
  • 4:24 (Spain edit)
  • 4:50 (France edit)
  • 5:07 (album version)
Label
Songwriter(s) Roger Waters
Producer(s) Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd singles chronology
"Time"
(1974)		"Have a Cigar"
(1975)		"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
(1979)

"Have a Cigar" is the third track on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here . [8] [9] It follows "Welcome to the Machine" and on the original LP opened side two. In some markets, the song was issued as a single. English folk-rock singer Roy Harper provided lead vocals on the song. It is one of only three Pink Floyd recordings with a guest singer on lead vocals, the others being "The Great Gig in the Sky" (1973) with Clare Torry and "Hey Hey Rise Up" (2022) with Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The song, written by Waters, is his critique of the rampant greed and cynicism so prevalent in the management of rock groups of that era.

Contents

Composition and recording

The song's music and lyrics were written by Roger Waters in critique of hypocrisy and greed within the music business. Waters has frequently implied it to be a follow-up to "Money" with the lyrics representing the demands of a record executive after the runaway success of The Dark Side of the Moon .

The song is more straightforwardly rock-oriented than the rest of the album, and is the only one on the album that starts abruptly (the other four either fade in or segue from the previous song). It begins with a churning riff played on electric guitar and bass and is filled out with additional guitar, electric piano and synthesizer parts to create a rock texture.

"Have a Cigar" concludes with a guitar solo, which is abruptly interrupted by a synthesizer filter-sweep sound effect as the music reduces in volume to tinny, AM radio-like levels. Finally, the song ends with the sound of a radio being dialled off-station; this effect is used as a transition to the title track, "Wish You Were Here".

Harper's involvement with the recording arose from the dissatisfaction that Waters and David Gilmour felt with their own attempts to sing the lead vocal line. After trying it both separately and as a duet, with Harper still technically on the track singing vocals on the bridge (available on the 2011 Experience and Immersion editions of Wish You Were Here ), they turned to Harper to sing lead, who was recording his album HQ at Abbey Road at the same time as Pink Floyd. Harper agreed to sing the part as a way of repaying a favour to Gilmour, who had earlier provided him with some guitar licks ("...for a price"). [10]

In his book Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, author Mark Blake recounts that Gilmour had been unwilling to sing the lead vocal as he did not share Waters' opinions, as expressed in the lyrics, on the nature of the music industry. [11] Waters has since said he dislikes Harper's version, saying he would have liked it to emerge "more vulnerable and less cynical", adding that Harper's version was too parodic while Gilmour loved Harper's vocal delivery and called it the "perfect version". [12]

Reception

Cash Box said that it "sounds to us like a synopsis of some of the fingerpoppers who have probably tried to capitalize off the talents of the Pink Floyd group. We were wrong, no doubt, but the music is the thing here: a cerebral message." [13] Record World said that "These progressive pioneers mix ethereal keyboard sounds with crunchy guitar rhythms for a sound that many have attempted, but few have mastered." [14]

Live

Harper performed the song with the band on one occasion, the group's 1975 Knebworth Festival appearance, during the period Wish You Were Here was being recorded. The song was also performed on the band's 1975 North American tours sandwiched in between the multi-part "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", with Gilmour and Waters singing lead. It was last performed by the band on the 1977 In the Flesh tour, as part of the Wish You Were Here set with Waters on lead vocals, Gilmour on backing vocals and rhythm guitar and Snowy White playing the guitar solos.

Waters has also played the song on nearly every one of his solo tours, except for the 1999–2002 In the Flesh tour, the 2009–11 Wall tour, and the 2017 Us + Them Tour. [15]

Personnel

with:

Roy Harper reaction

In a 2011 video interview with John Edginton, Roy Harper said that he was unhappy he had not been credited by the band for singing the song "for the first 10 or 15 years" after it came out. He also said he was not paid the agreed payment; he wanted tickets for life to Lord's (cricket grounds) but received "a few hundred quid" instead. Harper had to go hire a lawyer to resolve his grievance, which he called "ironic" and said it made the song (which is about ripoffs in the music business) into a self-fulfilling prophecy by turning the collaboration among friends into "the dirty music business." [16]

Quotes

A lot of people think I can't sing, including me a bit. I'm very unclear about what singing is. I know I find it hard to pitch, and I know the sound of my voice isn't very good in purely aesthetic terms, and Roy Harper was recording his own album in another EMI studio at the time, he's a mate, and we thought he could probably do a job on it.

— Roger Waters, October 1975, Interviewed by Nick Sedgewick in the Wish You Were Here songbook [17]

"Have a Cigar" was a whole track on which I used the guitar and keyboards at once. There are some extra guitars which I dubbed on later, but I did the basic guitar tracks at one time.

— David Gilmour, October 1975, Interviewed by Gary Cooper in the Wish You Were Here songbook [17]

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.

— David Gilmour, December 1992, In the Studio with Redbeard for "Making of Shine On" and "Making of Wish You Were Here" [18]

Charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
US Cash Box Looking Ahead [19] 119
US Record World Singles Chart 101–150 [19] 126

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [20] Gold15,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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References

  1. ↑ Have a Cigar / Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part I) (Media notes). Pink Floyd. EMI / Harvest. 4 C 006-97357.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Side labels say SABAM.
  2. ↑ "Have A Cigar" (B-side single record label). Pink Floyd. US: Columbia Records. 1975. 3-10248 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ↑ "Have A Cigar" (B-side single record label). Pink Floyd. Italy: Harvest Records. 1976. 3C 006-97357 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ "Have A Cigar" (B-side single record label). Pink Floyd. France: Harvest Records. 1976. 2C 010-97.357 – via Discogs.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ↑ Guesdon, Jean-MIchel (2017). Pink Floyd All The Songs. Running Press. ISBN   9780316439237.
  6. ↑ Singh, Abhinav Jai (11 June 2018). "The Smashing Pumpkins, 070 Shake, Christina Aguilera — a playlist of the best new tracks from past week". Firstpost. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Wawzenek, Bryan (4 September 2018). "All 167 Pink Floyd Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 1177. ISBN   1-84195-551-5.
  9. ↑ Mabbett, Andy (1995). The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN   0-7119-4301-X.
  10. ↑ The Story of Wish You Were Here . 2012.
  11. ↑ Mark Blake (2007). Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd .
  12. ↑ The Story of Wish You Were Here.
  13. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 15 November 1975. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  14. ↑ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. November 15, 1975. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  15. ↑ "Roger Waters Setlist at Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford". setlist.fm. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  16. ↑ EDGINTON, JOHN. "ROY HARPER ON WHY HIS VOICE WAS ON PINK FLOYD'S 'HAVE A CIGAR'. NOT ROGER WATERS OR DAVID GILMOUR". YouTube. JOHN EDGINTON DOCUMENTARIES. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  17. 1 2 Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here Songbook. 1975 Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd., London, England. ISBN   0-7119-1029-4 (USA ISBN   0-8256-1079-6).
  18. ↑ "Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here-Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason - In The Studio with Redbeard". 6 September 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  19. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2015). The Comparison Book. Menonomee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 393. ISBN   978-0-89820-213-7.
  20. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Pink Floyd – Have a Cigar". Radioscope. Retrieved 20 January 2025.Type Have a Cigar in the "Search:" field.
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  28. ↑ Lemieux, Patrick; Unger, Adam (2013). The Queen Chronology: The Recording & Release History of the Band. Lulu. p. 132. ISBN   978-0-9919840-4-6.
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  31. ↑ "John Foxx & The Maths - Have A Cigar - News". Mojo4music.com. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  32. ↑ Leggett, Steve. "Gov't Mule – Dark Side of the Mule". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  33. ↑ Kaye, Ben (16 November 2014). "Gov't Mule to release Pink Floyd covers album Dark Side of the Mule". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  34. ↑ Haas, Anna (8 June 2018). "FIDLAR Drop Roughed-Up, Modern Version of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar"". Paste . Retrieved 2 February 2019.
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