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.