}} "Have a Cigar is the third track on Pink Floyd s 1975 album [[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album)|Wish You Were Here]].It follows "Welcome to the Machine and on the original Gramophone record opened side two. The lead vocals of the song are provided by English folk singer Roy Harper and is the only other Pink Floyd song aside from "The Great Gig in the Sky to feature lead vocals by someone outside of the band.

Composition and recording

The songs music and lyrics were written by Roger Waters in critique of hypocrisy and greed within the music business It is sung, presumably, in the voice of a stereotypical music executive, shown to be quite incompetent and unaware (the executive doesnt understand where the name Pink Floyd comes from, assuming its the name of one of the band members). The music itself is more straightforwardly rock music oriented than the rest of the album, beginning with a churning riff played on electric guitar and bass guitar The track is filled out with additional guitar, electric piano and synthesizer parts to create a Rock music texture. "Have a Cigar" concludes with a guitar solo which is 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 dialed off-station; this effect is used as a transition to the following song, the albums title track, "Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd song) . On the original recording, the songs lead vocals are performed by an acquaintance of the band, Roy Harper Roger Waters intended to record the part himself, but had strained his voice while recording "Shine On You Crazy Diamond , and David Gilmour declined to sing. Harper was recording his album [[HQ (album)|HQ]]in Studio 2 of Abbey Road Studios at the same time as Pink Floyd were working in Studio 3; learning of the bands dilemma Harper offered to sing the lead. The song is one of only two songs by the band which is not sung by one of their permanent members (the other is "The Great Gig in the Sky ). Harper performed the song with the band on one occasion, the groups 1975 Knebworth appearance, which occurred during the period [[Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album)|Wish You Were Here]]was being recorded. The song was played on the 1975 and 1977 Pink Floyd tours. The 1977 performances had Roger Waters on lead vocals with David Gilmour singing backing vocals. During the bands 1977 tour the guitar solos on the song were played by Snowy White Citation needed|dateNovember 2008}}.

Personnel

Music and Lyrics by Roger Waters *Roger Waters - Bass guitar and Keyboard instrument *David Gilmour - Electric guitar , additional Keyboard instrument *Richard Wright (musician) - Wurlitzer electric piano ARP String Synthesizer Minimoog Hohner clavinet D6 *Nick Mason - Drum kit *Roy Harper - Vocals

Quotes

Cover versions

*In 1979, Warner Bros. Records released a 12" single containing a special disco mix of "Have a Cigar" by Rosebud, a studio group led by composer Gabriel Yared from their album Discoballs: A Tribute to Pink Floyd The song peaked at number 4 on [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]s Hot Dance Club Songs chart in June 1979. The B-side was a disco version of "Money (Pink Floyd song) . *In 1992, the band Primus (band) recorded a cover of the song and included it as the closing track to their Miscellaneous Debris EP. Their version features a slight lyrical change: "The band is just fantastic, of the town you are the talk/Man, but who the hells this guy they call Bob Cock " *The Foo Fighters recorded cover version on two occasions, once with Brian May and both with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on lead vocals. One version appears as an Amazon.com bonus track on their 2009 [[Greatest Hits (Foo Fighters album) |Greatest Hits]]album. *The album [[Instead (album)|Instead]] released in 2007 by Onetwo (band) contains a cover version of "Have a Cigar". *The main riff of "Have a Cigar" is incorporated into the song "Peruvian Skies" by progressive metal band [[Dream Theater]]on their 1998 live album [[Once in a LIVEtime]]and on the Live DVD Five Years In A LIVEtime

References

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]) Category:1975 singles Category:Pink Floyd songs Category:Songs written by Roger Waters ca:Have a Cigar cs:Have a Cigar da:Have a Cigar el:Have a Cigar es:Have a Cigar fa:دودی بگیر fr:Have a Cigar it:Have a Cigar ka:Have a Cigar hu:Have a Cigar no:Have a Cigar nn:Have a Cigar pl:Have a Cigar pt:Have a Cigar ru:Have a Cigar sv:Have a Cigar tr:Have A Cigar