Wish You Were Here

[Waldo]

So today I was working on one of my many projects this summer and decided to listen to some AIO (which has been pretty common this week), so I picked up "Wish You Were Here" since it is one of my newer, and therefore, less listened to albums.

I never knew this album was so important. As I was listening I realized how much I enjoyed it.

It starts off with a road trip with Bernard and Eugene. I love these two together, their banter and personalities are just perfect together and pretty much always make a good episode. But not only are they enjoyable to listen to, they are really good episodes. "The Fifth House on the Left" especially stood out to me today. Bernard's witnessing to Tammy is simply inspiring, the willingness from our Odyssian friends to help others in need is also inspiring. Eugene made really good points to Kelsey about being fake and artificial. There was just so much that stood out to me. The other episodes are also good and they have also revealed a lot to me the other times I have listened to them.

Eugene seems to start going through his character development/Christian journey in this album. He is on a quest to find himself, he is soul searching the Eugene way and I think he really learned a lot. This is the beginning of his change in personality in my opinion.

Not only this amazing stuff with Bernard and Eugene, but this album also introduces Jack and Jason. (I actually haven't finished the album tonight, but I will tomorrow, it's too late for me to continue with my project. But I had to post!). But Jack helps us deal with change and points out that there may be something better for us, if we just accept change in our lives. Another important lesson for me.

Other than the before mentioned awesome things. This album has some of the best adult characters, Jack, Bernard, Tom, Eugene, Connie, and a little Harlow and Bart (from what I have heard tonight) and some lovable kid characters that can be overlooked, like scrubs.

Anyways, what do you all think of Wish You Were Here? Any important lessons you have learned, or things you have thought of? What's your favorite episode from the album? Thoughts, comments, ideas?

[Sage]

Waldo, this is SUCH an excellent post! Rarely have I ever heard that album mentioned. Maybe because the humor is ever so slightly on the adult-side....which is fitting to the seriousness of the times...with Hal Smith passing. Wish you Were Here is one of the most vital and quotable albums! It's perfect for road trips! Or just driving to the grocery store or dentist and not wanting to hear your siblings fighting in the back. (Unlike George Barclay, that's something I don't mind them growing out of.) I love the episode with the speeding ticket...err...going too slow ticket. "With all these maniacs flying by me at a 100 miles an hour, you're giving ME a speeding ticket?" "Well, uh, Mr. Walton, if I were to allow you to get away with breaking the law, what would that communicate to everyone." The transition from kissing his computer goodbye, to missing people who end sentences with prepositions was bigger then you could imagine. Eugene finally meets like-minded people that are equally intelligent...and he chooses his 'country bumpkin' friends over there close-knit circle. WOW! A big step for someone that Connie had previously called a walking encyclopedia. Perhaps we can even go as far as to say that this trip prepared him for meeting Katrina? Maybe without these experiences he wouldn't have been able to open his heart up enough to let love in. Eugene became more in touch with his feelings and finally closer to his fair cousin Bernard. Bernard is living it up...the invisible and silent Maude is visiting relatives, and he gets to go to plumbing conventions, see Hip Hopson's house, experience the thrill of the open road, go to jail...all that fun stuff. We see Jack take the place of Whit, Scrub lose a tooth....

And if you listen to the much newer episode 'Two Friends and a Truck'...you will wipe a tear as Bernard prepares to sell the truck that survived a California earthquake...and realize the hilarity of the situation when he's afraid Eugene will damage it. "Your truck survived a California earthquake, I doubt I can do worse harm" Something like that.

[MeltsnerGirl91]

This album has always been one of my favorites because it's one of the first ones I owned (so I listened to it a LOT and could quote from them easily at one point). I love the dynamic between Bernard and Eugene. For those few episodes, you really didn't need any other of the regular characters, and a road trip is such a fun idea to explore. I love how the episode titles also increased numerically (First Hand Experience, Second Thoughts, etc.).

As for the lessons, I think each one taught me something special. Specifically, "Fifth House" had a lot to say about the vanities of the Hollywood life, and Bernard's courage to witness to Tammy was inspiring. "Gone..." and "But Not Forgotten" are powerfully bittersweet about life and death too.