Cody Jinks Covers Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”
Some believe that Ft. Worth-based singer and songwriter Cody Jinks could be the next one to take the Sturgill Simpson track to country music stardom. Some wish it was Cody Jinks instead of Sturgill Simpson receiving all the big accolades and opportunities since they see Cody as a better representation of authentic country music. The comparisons between the two may continue as a groundswell similar to the one that propelled Sturgill begins to bubble up under Jinks, and now Cody’s doing something that helped Sturgill receive attention and respect out of the tightly-knit channel of country music fans—covering a well-known rock tune.
A week ahead of this release, Cody Jinks teased us by releasing a piece of cover art, which deserves its own mention for more than admirably encapsulating a theme and mood in visual form. Assumptions that the new song would be a country take on the Pink Floyd classic came out to be true, and if you’ve ever wondered what “Wish You Were Here” would sound like drenched in steel guitar and sung with a Texas twang, wonder no more.
It seemed like strange timing for Cody Jinks to be releasing a new song. It’s a bit too early to be thinking about the next record. But instead of a lead single, “Wish You Were Here” feels more like a standalone—a little morsel for fans to tide them over, not preceded or proceeded by some big promotional push, just something for core fans of Jinks to enjoy knowing this doesn’t signal some veering off the country music page, but doing something from his own passion that he wanted to share almost like a side project. Maybe it will show up on an album in the future, or maybe it won’t.
The prog rock stylings of Pink Floyd are probably not the first segment of classic rock you would pick for translating well into the country format, especially with so much old rock stuff now sounding more like country than the country music of today. But “Wish You Were Here” is an exception to that rule with its acoustic heart, and a forlorn mood and melody. Leave it to a traveling country musician who must be away from home more often than not to be able to put this song in a modern, country context.
Cody Jinks’ “Wish You Were” here is not a re-imagining of the song. It does its best to stick to the tempo, structure, and theme of the original tune. The song was the title track off of Pink Floyd’s 1975 followup to the blockbuster Dark Side of the Moon. Wish You Were Here was a concept record that was openly critical of the caustic nature of the music industry and the inherent greed that permeates it. The song “Wish You Were Here” specifically tackled the human toll that endless touring takes on relationships and the family with an unusually direct candor from the otherwise cryptic and fey writing Pink Floyd is primary known for.
This Cody Jinks cover doesn’t set any new land speed records and won’t become some landmark contribution to country music. But it shows both versatility and vision from Jinks to be able to take a song cast so rigidly in the minds of so many listeners, and make it feel compelling, fresh, authentic to country, and above a self-indulgence.
7.5/10
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January 22, 2017 @ 9:49 am
Huge fan of this. It seems wrong to cover a perfect song like this one but he did a great job and it’s very worthy of being released. I like that he stuck to the original song and just put his own little touch on it. I wish artists would do this more often. I love how the end of the song really ups the tempo and jams.
January 22, 2017 @ 10:21 am
Downloaded this yesterday. Love it. Nice homage to Cody’s past and vision of a great future ahead. Excellent cover of one of the best rock songs ever written.
January 22, 2017 @ 10:29 am
I like it.
Not groundbreaking, but really enjoyable.
Cody Jinks is on a roll. All of his shows next week are sold out. His sound is just damn good.
I’m looking forward to seeing him at the Troubadour on Friday. Epic venue – hoping for an epic show.
January 22, 2017 @ 10:40 am
I kind of liked it, but then listened to Hurt and realized just how high the bar is.
January 22, 2017 @ 10:52 am
I’m not sure this is as much of a stretch for a country artist as “In Bloom” was for Sturgil Simpson.
Now that Pink Floyd is fair game for country I can’t wait to see who has the chops to cover ‘Several Species of Small Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With a Pict”.
January 23, 2017 @ 8:06 am
I hope someone yells a request for that song. Let’s make it the new “Free Bird”
January 22, 2017 @ 11:02 am
I generally prefer covers to take the song in a different direction (like Crowbar’s cover of Remember Tomorrow) unless the orginal had production issues, but I enjoy this. My hope is people seek out the original if they haven’t already heard it.
January 23, 2017 @ 9:15 am
I love crowbar’s version of that song!
Everybody’s covered it but crowbar really made into their own!
January 22, 2017 @ 11:10 am
This song was made for steel guitar and this production is quite ethereal ..other-worldly….and decidedly NOT targeting mainstream country radio play …and likely wasn’t designed for that purpose .
The double time tempo in the outro is the saving grace for a an other-wise dirge-like song ( which it always was ,of course , as interesting as it may be ) written for stoner mindsets . The track would have been more effective as a country /rootsy version had that been the groove throughout. In fact , I’d go as far as to say that if this wasn’t a classic rock song already familiar to so many and had been written ‘last week ‘ , for instance , it might fall through the cracks with younger listeners conditioned to much more energetic fare and , in the case of most pop music , stronger melodies . But of course , this version wasn’t for them . I think it was for Cody first and as such , I think it was an astute observation by this artist to hear something timeless in this song . Your last paragraph above says it more succinctly , Trigger .
January 22, 2017 @ 11:18 am
Every beginner guitarist plays this song,,shows a total lack of creativity
January 22, 2017 @ 11:55 am
Exactly. Fuck Pink Floyd for writing a beginner’s song.
Idiot
January 22, 2017 @ 5:10 pm
Lol. But I do think untouchables are better reserved for the magic of a live show. I’ve seen some epic Floyd covers over the years by many bands and it’s cool having that moment you’ll never forget. I love Cody but not sure I record this as a single. Just my opinion. But he very well might be trying to reach out into the currrent movement and I get that.
February 3, 2017 @ 7:39 am
Yes every beginner guitarist can play the rhythm portion, but good luck with the lead!!
August 4, 2023 @ 12:59 pm
Yes, I can play the rhythm but not the lead.
January 22, 2017 @ 11:37 am
Dierks was covering this song 5 years ago, even did it on a late night show I think. He probably wasn’t the first one either.
January 22, 2017 @ 12:22 pm
EVERY bar band with a member over 35 years old and many younger bands have been covering ( jamming ) this song since the 1970’s . Few have recorded it , to my knowledge and I cannot recall a “country ” treatment , mush less one as effective as this one .
January 22, 2017 @ 12:39 pm
I’m not sure anyone is saying this is the first ever country music cover of “Wish You Were Here.” It is a song Cody Jinks released, there didn’t seem to be much press for it, so I wrote a review for it.
January 22, 2017 @ 12:39 pm
I like Cody but this ain’t a country song nor should it be. Stay creative and keep writing your own.
January 22, 2017 @ 3:07 pm
What’s wrong with the occasional cover song? I don’t see how that implies lack of creativity.
January 22, 2017 @ 10:28 pm
Waylon won song of the year by covering “Macarthur Park”. There is nothing wrong with covers. There IS everything wrong with making shitty music, of which this isn’t. The original is very country sounding, especially compared to country radio today. Instead of ridiculing the few remaining good artists, we really ought to be grateful for them.
By the way, did you hear the steel guitar?? It was absolutely perfect
January 23, 2017 @ 11:40 pm
Thank you.
People have been covering songs since the beginning of recorded music for Christ’s sake, Waylon not only covered Jimmy Webb, but also the Marshall Tucker Band, Neil Young, J.J. Cale, and Little Richard – to name a few rockers.
Oh, and not to mention that damn non-creative Patsy Cline covering Willie Nelson’s “Crazy”…and George Jones with his nerve all up in some Big Bopper’s “White Lightnin'”…
Jeez!
August 4, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Waylon did a great cover of Baker Street too.
January 22, 2017 @ 12:41 pm
Too much noise (production) and not enough voice.
January 22, 2017 @ 12:56 pm
Should have been comfortably numb
Love Cody Jinks. He is the real deal.
January 22, 2017 @ 3:09 pm
Some might also enjoy hearing the cover of “Wish You Were Here” The Milk Carton Kids released in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH8RIJAohrE&sns=em
January 22, 2017 @ 3:19 pm
maybe he’ll cover wagon wheel or sweet home Alabama next,,what a hack
January 22, 2017 @ 6:46 pm
Someone’s hating pretty hard here. Sour grapes much?
January 23, 2017 @ 6:31 am
Yep, one in every crowd. You’re it, Mo.
January 22, 2017 @ 3:47 pm
Love it. But the irony of your “some people think” comment is Cody is following the path guys like Sturgill have paved here. Huge fan of Pink Floyd and Cody Jinks. Good stuff.
January 22, 2017 @ 4:23 pm
Yes, I agree with big cat and the guys criticizing pink Floyd, not that I don’t like the song, original and cover. But this is about as basic as it gets, after the first decade of playing music, lots of guitarists cringe at the thought of playing this, simple man, sweet home Alabama, house of the rising Sun ect…
I liked it ok, started out sounding dangerously close to his cover of ‘way I am’. The artwork was really cool though, kinda made me expect something a little more avant garde, but it sounded like a country singer singing pink Floyd. I think this is just to keep interest in Cody Jinks up while new record is being prepared. Man if he comes out with his own version of ASGTE that will be it, I’ll be going back to straight classic country.
January 22, 2017 @ 5:25 pm
I think that’s dead on. I hate to keep mentioning Sturgill but I don’t know a better example. What he did with In Bloom and The Promise is what I consider transformative covers. I’m a huge Cody fan but to me that right there shows the comparison between those two and why I don’t thjnk CJ will ever tie SS shoe laces. Apples and Oramges…… I like both.
January 22, 2017 @ 5:38 pm
I think some folks are trying to take this as some sort of career-defining direction Cody Jinks is attempting to make when we don’t even know if this will end up on a record. He hasn’t made a big budget video for it like Strugill did for both “In Bloom” and “The Promise,” and pushed it far and wide through a publicity campaign. He never stated he was the first to ever cover this song, or even to cover it in country, yet some are using it as a criticism against him for being unoriginal. It’s just something Cody did between projects and released it directly to his fans via his Facebook page. For all we know, it was sitting on the cutting house floor after the last record, and he decided to release it for shits and giggles.
I also don’t understand folks criticizing the simplicity of the song. Isn’t that what country music is, 3 chords and the truth? I agree it’s not groundbreaking or wholly original, but let’s not assign ambitions to this song that don’t appear to be true.
January 22, 2017 @ 6:08 pm
Man, nobody should want to be the asshole making the S.S. comparison, but you have to admit he made it easy to do.
And wish you were here is the most covered pink Floyd song there is, I’ve played and heard it played 10,000 times, terrible versions, great versions, slow, fast, on a mandolin, and just about every way you can think of, so for me the song is played out. If he had done an abridged version of shine on you crazy diamond or comfortably numb and dragged the hidden country out of those songs kickn and screaming I would have been impressed. Wish you were here already coulda been a country song, just too predictable. Still it wasnt bad, Cody still the man.
January 22, 2017 @ 4:38 pm
Not a covers person. 9/10 I’ll stick to the original. However, during concerts, they are nice bathroom breaks/ beer runs.
January 22, 2017 @ 4:57 pm
Phish covered the entire Pink Floyd album at s Halloween show many years ago.
I have the bootleg of the show.
I like Cody a lot.
Can’t wait for the next CD.
January 22, 2017 @ 9:14 pm
Sometimes a cover song is just that, or the original has special meaning to the artist covering it. I am glad to have something new from Cody, thanks for letting us know about it.
I would like to hear a country cover of Floyd’s “One of These Days” since the original had some nice pedal steel on it from Gilmour.
January 22, 2017 @ 11:58 pm
Firstly, there are a lot of real hating whiners on this page. Thank you.
Secondly, it ain’t that deep folks. Man puts a cover out quietly on the side. It’s a good thing to do for uber fans. The song is really good cos Cody’s voice gives it a whole different texture, which is what you gotta do if ur covering a classic. I also bet Gilmour would appreciate it as he plays quite a bit of pedal steel on record & in concert.
Cody posted his bgv cutting Megadeth’s Train of Consequences, which should be a blast to hear. So whether it’s a set of one-offs or a covers album, I’m all in baby.
January 23, 2017 @ 1:25 am
This article caused me to recall Waylon’s cover of MacAuthur Park and what a divergence it was for him.
January 23, 2017 @ 6:41 am
I thought of that also and that was one of Waylon’s best as far as I’m concerned, but, as I stated above, this has too much noise and not enough voice for my taste. Waylon’s version of MacArthur Park is the only version I ever heard and I liked it because I could hear his voice meaning I could hear the words. I’ve never heard any other version of this song and I don’t like it because I can’t hear Cody’s voice meaning I can’t hear the words. It might just be because I’m on my lap top.
I’m not criticizing his doing it, just that I can’t make out the words.
January 23, 2017 @ 7:03 am
Must be your laptop as it sounds fine on mine. Better through headphones.
January 23, 2017 @ 8:14 am
I like it a lot. 8.5 out of 10 for me.
January 23, 2017 @ 8:17 am
Never really been a fan of the Floyd, but WYWH is one of the few songs of theirs I actually sort of like, and I thought this was a nice version. 🙂
January 23, 2017 @ 8:32 am
Wish You Were Here is a song that I’ve loved in the past, but that I’ve heard so many times now that I’ve grown weary of it. Cody does a nice job on it here, but I don’t know that I’d want to return to listen to it too much.
January 23, 2017 @ 7:21 pm
The steel guitar riff is so hauntingly beautiful. Holy hell.
January 23, 2017 @ 9:59 pm
A countrified version of Comfortably Numb would be absolutely fantastic…the money I’d pay to see Sturgill and Laur Joamets take on that song live.
January 24, 2017 @ 9:09 pm
Sounds damn good to me! CJ is probably my favorite artist currently recording, since David Eugene Edwards’ work with Wovenhand is less my speed than the old Sixteen Horsepower albums.
April 8, 2017 @ 6:20 pm
WTF. WYWH is not about touring. It’s about Syd Barrett’s schizophrenia and drug probkems. It about losing a friend and a creative force to things that you can’t control.