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You wrote some cracking lines on this journey
while the train sped to London and back. Now,
as the station’s distorted announcements
recall the noise that launched the Piper’s songs,
I notice that the world mirrors your art
– which was never much like reality.
I guess you had fun scribbling on this train
as the flat, drained fen went wearily by.
Tunes, words and images were just playthings
you twisted deliberately to make
us laugh. You knew the right time to snap the
rhyme or to lop the melody’s head off,
reminding us that music has no end.
In this life, you ventured further than most.
Your colours were vivid, your senses keen,
your shadows dark, your vanishing point near.
Leaving London, you were not too shattered
to walk the long fifty miles home again
and remain as you were: an artist.
Recorded on April 11, 1969 and unreleased until 1988, this was the very first solo Syd Barrett song I ever heard. A decade later in Amsterdam, I came face to face with “Opel.” “Wheat Fields with Crows” was not Vincent Van Gogh’s last work, but it hangs with mysterious originality against the very end of his life. Painted in mid-July 1890, Vincent would embrace a bullet on July 27, 1890. Syd would conclude his formal musical career exactly 80 years later, when the Barrett recording sessions ended on July 17, 1970.
An insidiously dichotomous work, “Wheat Fields with Crows” rewards your innocent first glance with a vast and luscious landscape of sweeping, glistening gold. Your eye falls naturally upon a narrow path, bordered by inviting greens but striking a mysteriously solitary tone by narrowing subtly into the distance. You instinctively follow the path deeper and onward with your eyes, only to suddenly notice that you’ve fallen forever into the scene; you’re standing all alone at the edge of a gentle turn that leads beyond all knowing. Looking up, you are overcome by twisting dark clouds drawing now into your very spirit, and blackest crows, flying low over the landscape, scattered, calling, calling your name, calling you into an eternal mystery that just moments ago was only a dream…
On a distant shore, miles from land,
Stands the ebony totem, in ebony sand
A dream in a mist of grey,
On a far distant shore…
Syd pulls us into his own painting, and we follow his words to that distant shore, miles from land, into his dream, into his mist of grey…
The pebble that stood alone,
And driftwood lies half buried
Warm shallow water sweep shells
So the cockles shine...
A pebble stands alone. That pebble is you, it is me, it is Syd, it is everyone. We see the driftwood, our dreams buried and washed in the sand. The water is so very warm and we see the shells and the cockles do shine. They shine in the sun. The alliteration in the line, “Warm shallow water sweeps shells, so the cockles shine.” is simply beyond compare in the folk/rock idiom. Lennon, Dylan, Waters… Behold the master.
A bare winding carcass, stark
Shimmers as flies scoop up meat, an empty way...
Dry tears...
The dark clouds and the crows are descending. A dream, a soul, a spirit laid bare in the glistening sunlight, fallen, helpless, treading the sand, fed upon by parasites, an eternity of tears shed in a moment, now dry upon the face of a life that is no more. The eye’s gently close, the ears yet hear… the mind alone speaks…
Crisp flax squeaks, tall reeds
Make a circle of grey in a summer way, around man
Stood on ground...
One of the finest poetic phrases ever turned by a human being, “Crisp flax squeaks, tall reeds, make a circle of grey, in a summer way, around man.” Nearly embraced by the circle of grey, Syd stands his ground and bravely faces the gentle turn that leads beyond all knowing.
In these scant few lines we are treated to the soul of a timeless poet and the undiminished, calling voice of a master wordsmith. Each word, each syllable, each enunciation is perfect, present and English. Syd offers this naked song to us with love and pride and sublime confidence. This work is new, it is a new song, but it embodies a fully matured confidence and style we first heard in “Lucy Leave.” This is a master offering his masterwork, and he knows it.
At 1:58 the strumming begins, progressing through change after change, rising and falling, carrying us along in its wake. We can only wonder what he planned for these unaccompanied bars, though they exist perfectly in and of themselves. Listen closely, as something magical occurs between 3:16 and 3:24. His strumming softens and what can be described as a rhythmic resonance pattern emerges between the chords. He settles into this trancelike pattern for only 8 luscious seconds, but it somehow resolves what came before and prepares us for the end.
Syd builds the song again; chord by chord and at 3:50 his voice bites into the silence and into our lulled minds, flashing like an unexpected dream, a twilight hallucinatory specter projecting from some alien dimension… Syd has entered the circle of grey and now sings from that dreamscape. In this realm, time dilates and each phrase stretches to the very edge of infinity, unfolding in slow motion and sending synchronistic ripples shimmering forth into the coincidental ether. Listen to the far-away, insanity-laden dissonance Syd creates with the chord ringing behind “iiiiiinggggg.” Its feel is very reminiscent of Gilmour’s opening motif for “Shine On.” Calling across inner and outer space, each word comes to life, trying to echo eternally inside our heads, only to fade helplessly into silence.
I’m trying,
I’m trying,
To find you,
To find you,
I’m living,
I’m giving,
To find you,
To find you,
Hypnotized, we’ve followed him into the dreamscape, into the circle of grey, where the dark clouds threaten. Syd approaches the distant, gentle turn and taking pause, he calls out one last time... He calls to his fading dreams; Calls to his fading self; Calls to his fading youth; Calls to love lost; Stranded and pleading, trying desperately to find his former self, searching the narrowing path for just a glimpse of the life that so quickly drifted beyond the horizon, beyond view, becoming only an impulse. Somehow, these plaintive calls become our own.
At 5:09 the chords soften and his voice transmutes into a distant chant.
“I’m living, I’m living, I’m trying, I’m giving…”
Unanswered, his final word fades slowly into silence. Alone, Syd turns toward the horizon, toward the distant landscape where his dreams may be found, and then disappears forever.
At the beginning of 1970, Syd Barrett's song "Dark Globe" (produced by his ex-bandmates David Gilmour and Roger Waters) first appeared, on Syd's album 'The Madcap Laughs'...
What follows is an attempt to trace Barrett's influence on the world-renowned music of Pink Floyd--after his departure from the group. It is not an attempt to deny the great talents of the other members.
Syd's time with the band he named and led was relatively brief (early 1965 -- early 1968), yet it represents a broad spectrum of work. A single year (1967) produced two long improvisations on film (see the 'London 1966-1967' DVD), three singles, a full album, Barrett's original artwork for Pink Floyd releases, three tracks on the next album, promotional films, two radio sessions (10 titles), various TV broadcasts, interviews, and many live shows in Britain, America, and Scandinavia... Additional 1967 material includes unissued studio works: "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Vegetable Man", "In The Beechwoods", "She Was A Millionaire", "John Latham", and other original songs and instrumentals.
In an interview not long after Syd's death, drummer Nick Mason (the only person to play on every Pink Floyd record) remarked: "...if it hadn't been for Syd, we wouldn't exist in the form we do, or probably any form."1
Of their first meeting, Nick wrote: "His reputation as a real talent was intimidating but he proved delightful... He went on to front the band and was for his entire tenure its creative center, writing the songs and devising most of the music. Thanks to Syd, by early 1967 we had a recording deal, two hit singles and had appeared on television."2
Organist Rick Wright: "It was great when Syd joined. Before him we'd play the R&B classics, because that's what all groups were supposed to do then... With Syd the direction changed, it became more improvised around the guitar and keyboards."3
Musically, and by way of concept and presentation, the band continued to develop, with Syd's imagination, training in visual arts, and love for literature profoundly affecting their direction. As Barrett predicted: "in the future, groups are going have to offer much more than just a pop show. They'll have to offer a well-presented theatre show."4
'Games For May - Space Age Relaxation For The Climax Of Spring' (12 May 1967) delivered such a show, involving multiple stage props, costumed extras, unique pre-recorded material, and the now-famous quadrophonic sound system's public debut. Mason later identified the concert as "the beginning of the concept that we ended up spending the next twenty-odd years doing"5, and "one of the most significant shows we have ever performed", with "elements that became part of our performances for the following thirty years."6
Of its musical content: "Everyone remembers Syd for his songwriting, but he probably deserves equal credit for his radical concept of improvised rock music."7
"Syd was responsible for 'Interstellar Overdrive', which was improvised, lengthy, no lyrics, atmospheric, and actually ran through a whole series of sort of musical ideas in one piece."8
During this time, the group continued to prepare their first LP 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' (1967), a rare example of a pop album with literary merit and myriad artistic dimensions. Again, Nick would observe: "With Piper, there are elements which continue through to Saucer, Meddle and on to The Dark Side Of The Moon."9 Reminded of 'Piper' a quarter century after its release, Roger Waters commented: "Well, that was Syd. Syd was a genius."10
Without question, original artwork on Pink Floyd releases--notably that of Barrett's friends and sometime flatmates Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey "Po" Powell, aka design team Hipgnosis--was an essential element of the band's success. However, before Hipgnosis even existed, Syd's own artwork had adorned the sleeves of UK singles11 "See Emily Play" and "Apples and Oranges", as well as the back cover of 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'. This remained an outlet for Syd the visual artist, with a French "Octopus" single sleeve in 1969, and both his solo album covers in 1970.
Barrett left the band six months after the release of 'Piper', about one year after the group had signed with EMI. With Syd out, Pink Floyd continued to use his songs: in new promo films, TV appearances, concerts, on albums 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' (1968), 'Ummagumma' (1969), and collections 'Relics' (1971, most tracks date from the Barrett era) and 'Masters Of Rock' aka 'The Best Of Pink Floyd' (1974, mostly Syd's songs). "For years after he left," David Gilmour admits, "Syd was the elephant in the room when it came to Pink Floyd."12
Early in 1968, two Barrett-led versions of "Interstellar Overdrive" (recorded in late 1966 and early 1967) arrived on movie soundtracks, in Peter Whitehead's feature 'Tonite Let's All Make Love In London' and the underground short 'San Francisco'. Following his departure, the band continued in this area, their next completed project a soundtrack for the film 'The Committee' (1968).
In fact, Syd had already recorded his own soundtrack for 'The Committee', with unidentified backing musicians (not Pink Floyd) on 30 January 1968. The producer and director listened to playback backwards (how Syd wanted it played), decided it wouldn't work for the film, and recruited Pink Floyd instead.13 Excellent work notwithstanding, the band's introductory music for 'The Committee' does play backwards; they went on to make various successful soundtracks in the future.
On Pink Floyd's first record without Syd--a single, issued 12 April 1968--similarities to his lyrics are marked and many:
Barrett songs (1967)
Julia Dream (Waters, 1968)
"lying on an eiderdown" (Flaming)
"lighter than an eiderdown"
"trees in sorrow" (See Emily Play)
"weeping willow"
"misty riders climb up higher once upon a time" (Matilda Mother)
"misty master break me, will the key unlock my mind"
"I love the queen, and what exactly is a dream" (Jugband Blues)
"Julia Dream, dream boat queen, queen of all my dreams"
All lines compared above:
1. rhyme
2. use the same image
3. have the same alliteration
4. have the same number of syllables
Ostensibly the A-side, Rick Wright's "It Would Be So Nice" uses a subtle lyrical variation on Syd's "See Emily Play":
"no one knows what I do today
there can be no other way" (Wright, 1968)
"there is no other day
let's try it another way" (Barrett, 1967)
Subsequent album 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' included the absent Syd's rendition of 'Jugband Blues' and his slide guitar on "Remember A Day". Much of the rest of the album showed Barrett's influence as well:
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (Waters) -- recorded 8 August and 23 October 1967 with Barrett, space-themed (like Astronomy Dominé and Interstellar Overdrive), lyrics derived from Chinese poetry (like Chapter 24).
Corporal Clegg (Waters) -- a kazoo section strongly resembles the same on "Jugband Blues", especially in the Barrett song's Top Gear arrangement. Lyrically:
"received his medal in a dream, from her Majesty the Queen" (Waters, 1968)
"and I love the queen, and what exactly is a dream" (Barrett, 1967)
A Saucerful Of Secrets (Waters/Wright/Mason/Gilmour) -- recorded 3-5 April 1968 as "Nick's Boogie," largely a faster version of the original "Nick's Boogie" with Syd, as filmed on 11 January 1967.
Another single, "Point Me At The Sky" (1968), found the group in a familiar space rock mode, and somewhat reminiscent of "Flaming" ("streaming through the starlit sky", 1967). B-side "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" had originated as early as 17 December 1967, as an instrumental with Barrett on the program 'Tomorrow's World'. "Careful", "Set The Controls" and "Saucerful" became mainstays of Pink Floyd's live show, all the way into the 'Dark Side Of The Moon' era.
For their first live concept after 'Games For May'--'The Massed Gadgets Of Auximines' aka 'The Man'/'The Journey' (1969)--the band included entire pieces which originated in the Barrett era. "Beset By Creatures Of The Deep" duplicates the 1967 'Tommorrow's World' instrumental; "The Pink Jungle" revives "Pow R Toc H", and "The Labyrinths of Auximines" grew out of a section from "Interstellar Overdrive".
The concept itself, a dual saga of an ordinary day and a night's dream, corresponds exactly with James Joyce's 'Ulysses' and 'Finnegans Wake', respectively. As a Cambridge teenager, one of Barrett's earliest compositions had been an adaptation of poem number V from Joyce's 'Chamber Music', first recorded by Syd in 1968 ("Golden Hair").
As it happened, members of Pink Floyd kept actively involved with Syd through his albums: in a production role on 'The Madcap Laughs' and as producer/performers on 'Barrett' (both 1970). While half the group appeared on the latter, Syd in turn attended--yet did not play on--sessions for 'Atom Heart Mother'14 (their first UK #1, 1970).
The early '70s marked a period of technical transition for the band, though aesthetic debts to their former leader remained strong ("Interstellar Overdrive" stayed a concert staple until late 1970, "Astronomy Dominé" a standard show-opener well into 1971). Intriguingly, the mood, setting, and imagery of Pink Floyd opus "Echoes" seem foreshadowed in Syd's song "Opel":
"On a distant shore, miles from land
stands the ebony totem, in ebony sand
a dream in a mist of grey
on a far distant shore
the pebble that stood alone
and driftwood lies half-buried
warm shallow waters sweep shells
so the cockles shine" (Opel, 1969)
"Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
and deep beneath the rolling waves in labyrinths of coral caves
the echo of a distant time comes willowing across the sand
and everything is green and submarine
and no one calls us to the land
and no one knows the wheres or whys
something stirs and something tries
and starts to climb towards the light" (Echoes, 1971)
further:
"hangs motionless upon the air"
"hanging in my infant air" (Matilda Mother, 1967)
"and everything is green and submarine"
"and the sea isn't green" (Jugband Blues, 1967)
"no one calls us to the land, and no one..."
"no one in the land, no one" (Waving My Arms In The Air, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
In January 1972, Pink Floyd began in earnest to develop what would become their most pervasive work: 'The Dark Side of the Moon' (1973). As a finished record (and live set piece for years), its use of female vocals and saxophone recalls a suggestion by Barrett...
Roger Waters: "Syd one day decided that the answer to the band's problems was to introduce two saxophone players and a girl singer. We said 'Yeah, yeah. Good idea Syd.'"15
A bit differently:
"Syd had other ideas: he wanted to get in two sax-players and a girl singer. To which we resolutely said no!"16
Some probable Barrett influences on 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' (titles in parentheses composed by Syd Barrett):
Speak To Me
Includes clocks--softly, as the first words are spoken--and looped laughter (both heard in the coda of "Bike", 1967). Concludes with screams (as does the band's "Pow R Toc H", 1967).
Breathe
"I breathe as water streams over me" (She Took a Long Cold Look, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
"Leave but don't leave me"
"Leave when I ask you to leave... I just can't breathe" (Lucy Leave, 1965)
"look around and choose your own ground"
"looking all over the place for the place for me" (Vegetable Man, 1967)
"I stomped around... where the trees touch the ground" (She Took A Long Cold Look, produced by Gilmour and Waters, 1969)
"all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be"
"all the lot is what I got... it's what you see, it must be me, it's what I am" (Vegetable Man, 1967)
"all I'll ever be forever, all my life you did see... all I know" (Dolly Rocker, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
On the Run
"She's on the run" (Apples and Oranges, 1967)
Time
Introduction includes clocks and chimes (as does the 1967 "Bike" coda).
"time is with the month of Winter Solstice" (Chapter 24, 1967)
"on time again" (Apples and Oranges, 1967)
"she hasn't time... lay out the time" (She Took A Long Cold Look, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
"wasting time... time goes by" (Dominoes, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"half of your time... I feel the time" (Milky Way, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
"waste the hours in an off hand way"
"wasting time on dominoes, a day..." (Dominoes, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"half a page of scribbled lines"
"read the lines of scribbly black" (Matilda Mother, 1967)
Breathe (Reprise)
"Home, home again, I like to be here when I can"
"see yourself at home, nice to be at home" (Dolly Rocker, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
"far away across the field"
"to glad fields in an echo for your way" (Dominoes, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
"tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful"
"bell that rings" (Bike, 1967)
"bells ringing, the angel" (Feel, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
The Great Gig in the Sky
Features a female vocalist, as Syd suggested in 1968.
"light in the sky" (Long Gone, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
"up into the sky" (She Took a Long Cold Look, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
"pie in the sky" (It Is Obvious, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
Money
Features saxophone, as Syd recommended in 1968.
"gold local stocks... interest bullock market... silver" (Word Song, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
"my gut and my wallet are fat, make a whole lot of dough" (Bob Dylan Blues, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
Us and Them
Includes saxophone and female vocals, as Syd advised in 1968.
"me and you, God only knows"
"you and I, and dominoes" (Dominoes, produced by Gilmour/Wright)
"its only round and round"
"you're spinning around and around" (No Good Trying, 1969)
Any Colour You Like
"The strongest image I always have of Syd is of him sitting in his flat in Earlham Street with his guitar and his book of songs, which he represented by paintings with different coloured circles"17 -- Peter Jenner
Brain Damage
Return to a theme of madness (and repeated inclusion of laughter) reflects 'The Madcap Laughs'.
"I tattood my brain all away" (Dark Globe, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
"The lunatic is in the hall, the lunatics are in my hall"
"Maisie lay in the hall" (Maisie, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"sleep in the hall" (It Is Obvious, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"shoulder pressing in the hall" (I Never Lied To You, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"thunder in your ear"
"thunder in the earth" (Chapter 24, 1967)
"And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes" "forget that old band... what a boon this tune" (Here I Go, 1969)
Eclipse
"All that you touch, all that you see... all you feel"
"all I'll ever be forever, all my life you did see... all I know" (Dolly Rocker, produced by Gilmour, 1970)
final lyric: "the sun is eclipsed by the moon"
"I never knew the moon could be so big... I don't care if the sun don't shine" (Jugband Blues, 1967)
Also, if the sun is eclipsed by the moon, the result would seem to be a "Dark Globe" (1969, produced by Gilmour/Waters).
Waters: "I'd always credit Syd with the connection he made to his personal unconscious and to the collective, group conscious... some of the work is staggeringly evocative... It's the humanity of it all that is so impressive. It's about deeply felt values and beliefs and feelings. Maybe that's what Dark Side Of The Moon was aspiring to. A similar feeling."18
Just as 'Dark Side' evokes Syd's "Dark Globe", the album title 'Wish You Were Here' (1975) answers the Barrett song's alternative title: "Wouldn't You Miss Me". These consecutive albums largely complement one another, illustrating the dark side of presence and the bright side of absence.
An epic tribute to Barrett, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" overarches the entire 'Wish You Were Here' album. The group even played Syd's recording of "Dark Globe" during early live performances of "Shine On..." in November 1974; just a few months earlier, Syd had made his final recordings at Abbey Road.
In perhaps the greatest irony of the band's career, Barrett would arrive unannounced (and at first unrecognised) at a "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" session, and express what sounds like a wish to perform after years away. Rick Wright recalled:
"Shine On was in the process of being recorded, the lyrics about Syd were written... Then at one point he stood up and said, 'Right, when do I put the guitar on?'"19
The suite's first lyric mirrors Rick Wright's "Remember a Day" (which had featured scintillating slide guitar by Syd):
"Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun" (Shine On You Crazy Diamond, 1974)
"Remember a day before today, a day when you were young... try to catch the sun" (Remember a Day, 1967)
A great contributor to "Shine On...", Rick would add a wistful reminder of Syd's "See Emily Play" melody near its conclusion.
Title song "Wish You Were Here" displays Barrett's influence in lyrics:
"from a cold steel rail"
"on to the steel rail" (If It's In You, produced by Waters/Gilmour, 1969)
"we're just two lost souls swimmming in a fish bowl"
"we're the fishes and all we do, move about is all we do" (Terrapin, 1969)
"running over the same old ground, what have we found"
"padding around on the ground, he'll be found" (Lucifer Sam, 1967)
"pressing my feet to the ground... what's meant to be" (Waving My Arms In The Air/I Never Lied To You, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
Following the success of the previous two albums, 'Animals' (1977) is perhaps more Syd-influenced than it appears: the 1970 'Barrett' album had three different kinds of animals in its song titles, just as 'Animals' would.
'Barrett' session tape, EMI Studio 2, Abbey Road, 7 June 1970:
Gilmour: "What's it called?"
Barrett: "Well, I suppose it's called 'Rats' at the moment. I don't really... Dig the animals. It's irrelevant. It's about animals, my own fetish."
Pigs On The Wing - Part One
"If you didn't care what happened to me, and I didn't care for you"
"I don't care if nothing is mine, and I don't care if I'm nervous with you" (Jugband Blues, 1967)
"occasionally glancing up through the rain"
"looking high up into the sky, I breathe as water streams over me" (She Took a Long Cold Look, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969).
Pigs On The Wing - Part Two
"You know that I care what happens to you, and I know that you care for me too"
"I don't care if nothing is mine, and I don't care if I'm nervous with you" (Jugband Blues, 1967)
"I really love you, and I mean you" (Terrapin, 1969)
"I know this I know I never lied to you" (I Never Lied To You, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
"I don't feel alone, or the weight of the stone"
"when I was alone, you promised a stone" (Dark Globe, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969)
With the landmark double album 'The Wall' (1979), some felt the group's music had transformed beyond recognition, yet its title, design, recurring symbol, dominant image, and frequent narcissism all hark back to a line from Pink Floyd's first release: "On the wall, hung a tall mirror" (Arnold Layne", 1967). Some songs may also have earlier counterparts:
The Thin Ice
"Oooh baby blue"
"see through baby blue" (Arnold Layne, 1967)
Mother
(Matilda Mother, 1967)
Goodbye Blue Sky
"you hear the falling bombs... beneath a clear blue sky... goodbye blue sky"
"the fights between the blue you once knew" (Astronomy Dominé, 1967)
Empty Spaces
"empty inches" (It Is Obvious, produced by Gilmour/Wright, 1970)
Don't Leave Me Now
"now Lucy leave" (Lucy Leave, 1965)
"why'd you have to leave me there" (Matilda Mother, 1967)
"please leave us here" (Octopus, produced by Barrett, Gilmour, and Waters, 1969)
Hey You
"you touch me... I'm coming home"
"you feel me... I want to come home" (Feel, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969).
Nobody Home
Recalls Barrett himself in lyrics:
"I've got a little black book with my poems in"
"I've got elastic bands keeping my shoes on" (Mason remembered Syd sporting this style on the 1967 American tour20)
"I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm"
"I've got wild staring eyes"
"to get through on the telephone"
"traveling by telephone" (Flaming, 1967)
Waiting For the Worms
Includes the extensive use of a megaphone (in 1967, Syd asked manager Peter Jenner to speak through a megaphone on "Astronomy Dominé"21)
Stop
"I wanna go home"
"I want to go home" (Feel, produced by Gilmour/Waters, 1969).
The Trial
"the prisoner who now stands before you... was caught... I sentence you... tear down the wall"
"on the wall... now he's caught... they gave him time" (Arnold Layne, 1967)
After Waters' exit in the mid-'80s, the group continued in a nebulous conceptual vein with albums 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' (1987) and 'The Division Bell' (1994). The latter contains acknowledged Barrett references (in "Poles Apart"), and even quotes him in the final lyrics sung:
"the endless river, forever and ever" (High Hopes, 1994)
"float on a river, forever and ever" (See Emily Play, 1967)
On extensive 1994 tours--documented by the 'Pulse' album and film--the band opened each show channeling Barrett, either with his "Astronomy Dominé", or in "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Nick Mason: "Astronomy Dominé was chosen as a tribute to Syd, who continues to be an inspiration to us."22
Barrett's artistic relationship to Pink Floyd had become one of unparalleled irony in the music world. After his uncanny appearance at the "Shine On..." session in 1975, Syd the man vanished from the music business itself, eventually retiring to private life in his native Cambridge.
Thirty years later (in 2005), Waters and the other three members reunited for a short set at 'Live 8' proceedings in London. During "Wish You Were Here", Roger acknowledged both the ideological and personal symbolism of the occasion: "It's actually quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys after all these years, standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we're doing this for everyone who's not here, but particularly of course for Syd."23
Waters: "What was so stunning about Syd's songs was, through the whimsy and the crazy juxtaposition of ideas and words, there was a very powerful grasp of humanity. They were quintessentially human songs and that is what I've always atttempted to aspire to."24
In 2006, Gilmour and Wright embarked on tour together, staging well-received shows in the UK (including one with Mason), Europe, and North America. First in a series of resultant releases, the yearend issue of a live "Arnold Layne" EP featured longtime Barrett enthusiast David Bowie's guest performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Wright provided lead vocals on a second version of the song, his keyboards a unique stamp of authenticity.
As a balance, Gilmour's elegiac and impromptu rendition of "Dark Globe" proved especially moving, David having produced his old friend's original version 37 years earlier. Liner notes concluded with the legend: "DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF SYD BARRETT"
To date, the last public performance by Pink Floyd (introduced as such by their first producer, Joe Boyd)25 occurred as part of the 'Madcap's Last Laugh' tribute at London's Barbican Centre on 10th May 2007. Gilmour, Wright, and Mason played "Arnold Layne", then joined in a large ensemble singalong of "Bike" for the show's finale.
On the day Barrett died (7 July, 2006, not widely announced for several more days) a news item ran in the Belfast Telegraph, headlined "Pink Floyd: the greatest show on earth"26. It included an interview with Rick Wright about the band, on the brink of a DVD release for their Earls Court concert film 'Pulse'.
"The greatest show on earth"...?
Syd does shine on.
1 The Sun, 14 September 2007, "Just for kicks... Pink Floyd make merry in the Sixties" By Simon Cosyns.
2 Time magazine (online), 17 July 2006, "Appreciation" by Nick Mason.
3 MOJO, May 1994, "The third coming, Pink Floyd", Robert Sandall
4 Melody Maker, 9 December 1967, "Hits? The Floyd couldn't care less" by Alan Walsh.
5 MOJO, July 1995, "The 30 Year Technicolour Dream".
6 Mason, Nick. Inside Out p 73, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2004.
7 ibid. p 73
8 'Seven Ages Of Rock' documentary -- 'White Light White Heat: Art Rock', BBC, 2007
9 The Sun, 14 September 2007.
10 Q magazine, November 1992. "Who The Hell Does Roger Waters Think He Is?" by Tom Hibbert.
11 MOJO, September 2006, photo caption, p 52.
12 Uncut, October 2008
13 Late Night Magazine, Number 4, 1999, producer Max Steuer.
14 Schaffner, Nicholas. Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, p 153, Harmony Books, New York, 1991.
15 Smith Joe. Off The Record: An Oral History Of Popular Music, p 359, Grand Central Publishing, New York, 1989.
16 Q Magazine, August 1987, "Over The Wall: An interview with Roger Waters" by Chris Salewicz.
17 MOJO, May 1994; "The Manager's Tale" by Robert Sandall
18 Q Magazine, August 1987.
19 MOJO, May 1994, "The Third Coming, Pink Floyd" by Robert Sandall.
20 Mason, p 94.
21 Uncut, October 2008)
22 Mabbett, Andy and Miles. Pink Floyd - The Visual Documentary, Omnibus Press, London, 1994.
23 'Live 8' video, 2 July 2005.
24 Rolling Stone, 19 November 1987, "Pink Floyd--The Inside Story" by David Fricke.
25 Joe Boyd newsletter, June 2007
26 Belfast Telegraph, 7 July 2006, "Pink Floyd's historic concerts were true spectacles. Andy Gill chews over a new DVD with keyboardist Richard Wright".
Excerpt from 'I Never Lied to You' - A Novel in Progress by JG Royer
I sometimes feel so depressingly alone. And cold. Like dead, and yet living.
I remember marvelling as a kid at the pictures in my catechism book illustrating
heaven. And freezing at the next page. Hell. So many artists have toiled to make it
take shape, devising its geography, imagining its landscapes, its buildings, its
leader, its people. Funny to think, with hindsight, how much more credible their
visions remain, howsoever hideous, howsoever superstitious, howsoever naïve, as
compared to its beautiful counterpart. I mean, who would fall for heaven? The land
of plenty, the everlasting feast.
