Wish That You Were Here Lyrics
I tried to leave it all behind me
But I woke up and there they were beside me
And I don't believe it but I guess it's true
Some feelings, they can travel too
Oh there it is again, sitting on my chest
Makes it hard to catch my breath
I scramble for the light of change
[Pre-Chorus]
You're always on my mind
You're always on my mind
[Chorus]
And I never minded being on my own
Then something broke in me and I wanted to go home
To be where you are
But even closer to you, you seem so very far
And now I'm reaching out with every note I sing
And I hope it gets to you on some pacific wind
Wraps itself around you and whispers in your ear
Tells you that I miss you and I wish that you were here
[Verse 2]
And if I stay, oh, I don't know
There'll be so much that I'll have to let go
You're disappearing all the time
But I still see you in the light
For you, the shadows fight
And it's beautiful but there's that tug inside
I must stop time traveling, you're always on my mind
You're always on my mind
You're always on my mind
[Chorus]
And I never minded being on my own
Then something broke in me and I wanted to go home
To be where you are
But even closer to you, you seem so very far
And now I'm reaching out with every note I sing
And I hope it gets to you on some pacific wind
Wraps itself around you and whispers in your ear
Tells you that I miss you and I wish that you were here
[Bridge]
We all need something watching over us
Be it the falcons, the clouds or the cross
And then the sea swept in and left us all speechless
Speechless
[Chorus]
And I never minded being on my own
Then something broke in me and I wanted to go home
To be where you are
But even closer to you, you seem so very far
And now I'm reaching out with every note I sing
And I hope it gets to you on some pacific wind
Wraps itself around you and whispers in your ear
Tells you that I miss you and I wish that you were here
About
In “Wish That You Were Here”, Florence Welch finds that, counter to her expectation, she yearns for companionship. This reflects the themes of family in the film, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
In an on-set interview, Welch stated
“The idea of time and longing and loss and sacrifice, which are all themes I use a lot in my work… The heart of it is about love and about missing people… What do you do for love? What do you let go of? What do you leave behind? Is it safer to just be on your own?”
According to Rolling Stone, Florence Welch collaborated with the film’s director, Tim Burton, in the making of this track. Welch offered some insight into the lyrics:
Having been on tour, I’ve lived in a sort of magical time bubble, where the days almost blend together. It’s amazing, but it comes at a cost — a cost of leaving the people you love behind for a year or two. You kind of feel like if you could sing a song into the wind, maybe the wind could take it to them in a way that you can’t with a text or a call. You just want to send your love in a different way, in a way to somehow reach the unreachable."
“Wish That You Were Here” featured in the end credits of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children as well as other advertising material, including a commercial.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a statement on Pitchfork, Florence said that Burton feels like a “kindred spirit” and knew that they would get along really well.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Tim Burton’s. We have a very similar sensibility. It’s the kind of dark, dark romance of his work—so beautiful and whimsical, but with an element of darkness to it. That’s something that I always try and achieve in my work, too. I feel like we’re coming from a similar place of quite frantic imaginations trying to get the words out before the pictures in our heads disappear.
I actually sent him a note about six years ago. I was in Australia on tour there for the first time and visited an exhibition of all his work. I wanted to leave him a message and all I had on me was an x-ray of my hand, as I had just broken my finger. So I wrote on the x-ray and gave it to the gallery to pass on and never knew if he got it. When we met for the first time, he told me it’s been hanging up in his office ever since.