Syd Barrett
(6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006)
Remember when you were young?
You shone like the sun.
Missed his birthday a bit now it's been a tit more than a year since syd barrett was here, leader of the floyd's original lineup they lined up for, and died a hollow shell of a man battered by drugs and mental illness brain scratched by the terror of truth that lay behind all the black of the stars, bald and fat and childlike starved living in his mother's home refusing all contact with the outside world except to whirl in a studio one day with no hair on his face or anywhere and say nothing but turn round and spark up a fag in the lamplight and snap up a train back to dawn.
I thought I would leave some of his lyrics here to mourn his story, which for some of us is part of our story too and lives on... and on.
~
WINED AND DINED
wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
girl was so kind
kind of love I'd never seen
only last summer, it's not so long ago
just last summer, now musk winds blow
wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
girl was so kind
kind of love I'd never seen
chalk underfoot, life I should prove soon
dancing in heat, our love and you
TERRAPIN
I really love you, and I mean you
the star above you, crystal blue
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
I wouldn't see you and I love to
I fly above you, yes I do
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
floating bumping noses dodge a tooth
the fins a luminous
fangs all 'round the clown
is dark below the boulders hiding all
the sunlight's good for us
'cause we're the fishes and all we do
a-move about is all we do
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
NO MAN'S LAND
you would hold your head up high
you even try
you would hold another hand
oh understand
they even see me under call
we under all,
we all follow foot crawl
to hear my hour
come see me cry
just searching you even try
I can make you smile
if it's there will you go there too?
when I live I die!
they even see me under call
we under all
we all follow foot crawl
because of you
to see me be
OCTOPUS
trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
trip, trip to a dream dragon
hide your wings in a ghost tower
sails cackling at every plate we break
cracked by scattered needles
the little minute gong
coughs and clears his throat
madam you see before you stand
hey ho, never be still
the old original favorite grand
grasshoppers green herbarian band
and the tune they play is "in us confide"
so trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
isn't it good to be lost in the wood
isn't it bad, so quiet there in the wood
meant even less to me than I thought
with a honey plough of yellow prickly seeds
clover honey pots and mystic shining feed
well, the madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the talbot
"cheat" he cried shouting kangaroo
it's true in their tree they cried
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
the madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the talbot
the winds they blew and the leaves did wag
they'll never put me in their bag
the seas will reach and always seep
so high you go, so low you creep
the wind it blows in tropical heat
the drones they throng on mossy seats
the squeaking door will always squeak
two up, two down we'll never see
so merrily trip forgo my side
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
GOLDEN HAIR
lean out your window, golden hair
I heard you singing in the midnight air
my book is closed, I read no more
watching the fire dance on the floor
I've left my book, I've left my room
for I heard you singing through the gloom
singing and singing, a merry air
lean out your window, golden hair
SHE TOOK A LONG COLD LOOK
she took a long cold look at me
and smiled and gazed all over my arm
she loves to see me get down to ground
she hasn't time just to be with me
her face between all she means to be
to be extreme, just to be a thing
a broken pier on the wavy sea
she wonders why for all she wants to see
but I got up and I stomped around
and hid the piece where the trees touch the ground
the end of truth that lay out the time
spent lazing here on a painting dream
a mile or more in a foreign clime
to see farther inside of me
and looking high up into the sky
I breathe as the water streams over me
SWAN LEE (SILAS LANG)
swan lee got up at the running foot pow-wow,
pleaded from the fire to his waiting canoe
chattering squaw untied the wigwam door,
the chief blew smoke rings two by two!
the land in silence stands
swan lee, his boat by the bank in the darkness,
loosened the rope in the creek is entwined
a feather from the wing of a wild young eagle,
pointed to the land where his fortune he'd find
the land in silence stands
swan lee paddled on from the land of his fathers
his eyes scanned the undergrowth on either side
from the shore hung a hot, heavy, creature infested
tropic, swan lee had a bow by his side
the land in silence stands
swan lee kept time, half on land, half on water
grizzly bear and raccoon his fare
he followed his ears to the great waterfall,
swan lee knew deep down that his squaw was there
the land in silence stands
suddenly the rush of the mighty great thunder
confronted swan lee as his song he sang
in the dawn with his squaw, he was battling homeward,
it was all written down by long silas lang
FLAMING
alone in the clouds all blue
lying on an eiderdown
yippee, you can't see me
but I can you
lazing in the foggy dew
sitting on a unicorn
no fair, you can't hear me
but I can you
watching buttercups cup the light
sleeping on a dandelion
too much, I won't touch you
but then I might
screaming through the starlit sky
traveling by telephone
hey ho, here we go
ever so high
alone in the clouds all blue
lying on an eiderdown
yippee, you can't see me
but I can you
CHAPTER 24
a movement is accomplished in six stages
and the seventh brings return
the seven is the number of the young light
it forms when darkness is increased by one
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
the time is with the month of winter solstice
when the change is due to come
thunder in the other course of heaven
things cannot be destroyed once and for all
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
a movement is accomplished in six stages
and the seventh brings return
the seven is the number of the young light
it forms when darkness is increased by one
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
THE SCARECROW
the black and green scarecrow as everyone knows
stood with a bird on his hat and straw everywhere
he didn't care
he stood in a field where barley grows
his head did no thinking
his arms didn't move except when the wind cut up
rough and mice ran around on the ground
he stood in a field where barley grows
the black and green scarecrow is sadder than me
but now he's resigned to his fate
'cause life's not unkind - he doesn't mind
he stood in a field where barley grows
JUGBAND BLUES
it's awfully considerate of you to think of me here
and I'm much obliged to you for making it clear
that I'm not here
and I never knew the moon could be so big
and I never knew the moon could be so blue
and I'm grateful that you threw away my old shoes
and brought me here instead dressed in red
and I'm wondering who could be writing this song.
I don't care if the sun don't shine
and I don't care if nothing is mine
and I don't care if I'm nervous with you
I'll do my loving in the winter
and the sea isn't green
and I love the queen
and what exactly is a dream
and what exactly is a joke
SEE EMILY PLAY
emily tries but misunderstands
she's often inclined to borrow
somebody's dreams till tomorrow
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind at play
free games till may
see emily play
soon after dark emily cries
gazing through trees in sorrow
hardly a sound till tomorrow
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind in play
free games for may
see emily play
put on a gown that touches the ground
float on a river forever and ever
emily
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind and play
free games for may
see emily play
DARK GLOBE
oh where are you now
pussy willow that smiled on this leaf?
when I was alone you promised the stone from your heart
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a hand
I'm only a person whose arm bands beat
on his hands hang tall
won't you miss me?
wouldn't you miss me at all?
the poppy birds way
swing twigs coffee brands around
brandish her wand with a feathery tongue
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a hand
I'm only a person with eskimo chain
I tattooed my brain all the way
won't you miss me?
wouldn't you miss me at all?
(6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006)
Remember when you were young?You shone like the sun.
Missed his birthday a bit now it's been a tit more than a year since syd barrett was here, leader of the floyd's original lineup they lined up for, and died a hollow shell of a man battered by drugs and mental illness brain scratched by the terror of truth that lay behind all the black of the stars, bald and fat and childlike starved living in his mother's home refusing all contact with the outside world except to whirl in a studio one day with no hair on his face or anywhere and say nothing but turn round and spark up a fag in the lamplight and snap up a train back to dawn.
I thought I would leave some of his lyrics here to mourn his story, which for some of us is part of our story too and lives on... and on.
~
WINED AND DINED
wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
girl was so kind
kind of love I'd never seen
only last summer, it's not so long ago
just last summer, now musk winds blow
wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
girl was so kind
kind of love I'd never seen
chalk underfoot, life I should prove soon
dancing in heat, our love and you
TERRAPIN
I really love you, and I mean you
the star above you, crystal blue
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
I wouldn't see you and I love to
I fly above you, yes I do
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
floating bumping noses dodge a tooth
the fins a luminous
fangs all 'round the clown
is dark below the boulders hiding all
the sunlight's good for us
'cause we're the fishes and all we do
a-move about is all we do
well oh baby my hair's on end about you
NO MAN'S LAND
you would hold your head up high
you even try
you would hold another hand
oh understand
they even see me under call
we under all,
we all follow foot crawl
to hear my hour
come see me cry
just searching you even try
I can make you smile
if it's there will you go there too?
when I live I die!
they even see me under call
we under all
we all follow foot crawl
because of you
to see me be
OCTOPUS
trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
trip, trip to a dream dragon
hide your wings in a ghost tower
sails cackling at every plate we break
cracked by scattered needles
the little minute gong
coughs and clears his throat
madam you see before you stand
hey ho, never be still
the old original favorite grand
grasshoppers green herbarian band
and the tune they play is "in us confide"
so trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
isn't it good to be lost in the wood
isn't it bad, so quiet there in the wood
meant even less to me than I thought
with a honey plough of yellow prickly seeds
clover honey pots and mystic shining feed
well, the madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the talbot
"cheat" he cried shouting kangaroo
it's true in their tree they cried
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
the madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the talbot
the winds they blew and the leaves did wag
they'll never put me in their bag
the seas will reach and always seep
so high you go, so low you creep
the wind it blows in tropical heat
the drones they throng on mossy seats
the squeaking door will always squeak
two up, two down we'll never see
so merrily trip forgo my side
please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride
GOLDEN HAIR
lean out your window, golden hair
I heard you singing in the midnight air
my book is closed, I read no more
watching the fire dance on the floor
I've left my book, I've left my room
for I heard you singing through the gloom
singing and singing, a merry air
lean out your window, golden hair
SHE TOOK A LONG COLD LOOK
she took a long cold look at me
and smiled and gazed all over my arm
she loves to see me get down to ground
she hasn't time just to be with me
her face between all she means to be
to be extreme, just to be a thing
a broken pier on the wavy sea
she wonders why for all she wants to see
but I got up and I stomped around
and hid the piece where the trees touch the ground
the end of truth that lay out the time
spent lazing here on a painting dream
a mile or more in a foreign clime
to see farther inside of me
and looking high up into the sky
I breathe as the water streams over me
SWAN LEE (SILAS LANG)
swan lee got up at the running foot pow-wow,
pleaded from the fire to his waiting canoe
chattering squaw untied the wigwam door,
the chief blew smoke rings two by two!
the land in silence stands
swan lee, his boat by the bank in the darkness,
loosened the rope in the creek is entwined
a feather from the wing of a wild young eagle,
pointed to the land where his fortune he'd find
the land in silence stands
swan lee paddled on from the land of his fathers
his eyes scanned the undergrowth on either side
from the shore hung a hot, heavy, creature infested
tropic, swan lee had a bow by his side
the land in silence stands
swan lee kept time, half on land, half on water
grizzly bear and raccoon his fare
he followed his ears to the great waterfall,
swan lee knew deep down that his squaw was there
the land in silence stands
suddenly the rush of the mighty great thunder
confronted swan lee as his song he sang
in the dawn with his squaw, he was battling homeward,
it was all written down by long silas lang
FLAMING
alone in the clouds all blue
lying on an eiderdown
yippee, you can't see me
but I can you
lazing in the foggy dew
sitting on a unicorn
no fair, you can't hear me
but I can you
watching buttercups cup the light
sleeping on a dandelion
too much, I won't touch you
but then I might
screaming through the starlit sky
traveling by telephone
hey ho, here we go
ever so high
alone in the clouds all blue
lying on an eiderdown
yippee, you can't see me
but I can you
CHAPTER 24
a movement is accomplished in six stages
and the seventh brings return
the seven is the number of the young light
it forms when darkness is increased by one
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
the time is with the month of winter solstice
when the change is due to come
thunder in the other course of heaven
things cannot be destroyed once and for all
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
a movement is accomplished in six stages
and the seventh brings return
the seven is the number of the young light
it forms when darkness is increased by one
change returns success
going and coming without error
action brings good fortune
sunset
THE SCARECROW
the black and green scarecrow as everyone knows
stood with a bird on his hat and straw everywhere
he didn't care
he stood in a field where barley grows
his head did no thinking
his arms didn't move except when the wind cut up
rough and mice ran around on the ground
he stood in a field where barley grows
the black and green scarecrow is sadder than me
but now he's resigned to his fate
'cause life's not unkind - he doesn't mind
he stood in a field where barley grows
JUGBAND BLUES
it's awfully considerate of you to think of me here
and I'm much obliged to you for making it clear
that I'm not here
and I never knew the moon could be so big
and I never knew the moon could be so blue
and I'm grateful that you threw away my old shoes
and brought me here instead dressed in red
and I'm wondering who could be writing this song.
I don't care if the sun don't shine
and I don't care if nothing is mine
and I don't care if I'm nervous with you
I'll do my loving in the winter
and the sea isn't green
and I love the queen
and what exactly is a dream
and what exactly is a joke
SEE EMILY PLAY
emily tries but misunderstands
she's often inclined to borrow
somebody's dreams till tomorrow
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind at play
free games till may
see emily play
soon after dark emily cries
gazing through trees in sorrow
hardly a sound till tomorrow
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind in play
free games for may
see emily play
put on a gown that touches the ground
float on a river forever and ever
emily
there is no other day
let's try it another way
you'll lose your mind and play
free games for may
see emily play
DARK GLOBE
oh where are you now
pussy willow that smiled on this leaf?
when I was alone you promised the stone from your heart
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a hand
I'm only a person whose arm bands beat
on his hands hang tall
won't you miss me?
wouldn't you miss me at all?
the poppy birds way
swing twigs coffee brands around
brandish her wand with a feathery tongue
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a hand
I'm only a person with eskimo chain
I tattooed my brain all the way
won't you miss me?
wouldn't you miss me at all?
6 comments:
Aahh Syd...
Here is a strange little anecdote from 1979.
When I was twenty years old and a single parent on government handouts, I had a home visit from an official gentleman trying to ascertain whether or not I was entitled to my benefits. A humiliating and anger provoking experience at the best of times. (And that's Another Story)
When he was about to leave, this middle aged straight, told me that he now had to drive to Cambridge for his next home visit, and couldn't resist a breach in client confidentiality by telling me that he was about to go and see Syd Barrett from 'that pop group. The Pink Floyd.'
So there you are. Poor Syd and I both suffered an interrogation by the same person within an hour of one another. Small world.
Shine on, eh?
Small world is right, how strange Magdalene.
I believe his lyrics are just like dreams - hard to understand unless you were he. Is there music to his lyrics? I would guess so. I probably grew up with them and just don't recognize them. He died last year at the age of 60, too young.
Thanks for the comments and what a coincidence Magdalene! I'll bet you dollars to pounds Syd didn't actually answer the door that day.
Yeah, these were all songs, but I've a feeling they began life as poems for him - the opposite of how songwriting usually works. I have a really interesting video on him with all 4 members of Pink Floyd giving recent interviews (late 90s or 2000s) recalling Syd and that whole era.
These lyrics/poems are out of their correct time-sequence here, but two of the last three ("Jugband Blues" and "See Emily Play") were written when he was with the Floyd and in fact were two of their first three hits along with a song called "Arnold Layne". This was 1966 or '67, the years the Beatles were making Revolver and Rubber Soul, just to put things in perspective.
Here is a video (typical for it's time) for "See Emily Play."
In fact he wrote all but one of the songs on Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, PF's first album, as well as lots of B-sides and random things he planned to use some other time. He was the songwriter, the lead guitarist, and the lead vocalist... basically the soul and face of the band. He was quite handsome and into drugs, but naïve and too generous and too idealistic. He was probably also prone to what we might consider schizophrenia today, though it was not recognized at the time, and he seemed to be coping and just living an artist's surreal dream.
By the second album he'd only written one or two songs, and was effectively too ill ("mad") to tour, as he would stand frozen on stage for uncomfortable minutes without playing or singing, looking at the ceiling, or would go to the corner of the stage and curl into a ball. He'd come and go out of these fits, and was soon left out of their live gigs, with Roger Waters now handling songwriting duties as well as bass, and David Gilmour taking over on lead guitar and vocals (though Roger sang maybe 1/3 of the songs himself, and they harmonized on others).
Syd wrote the rest of the songs I've listed here, or, I think more likely, delved into his notebooks for many of them, and tried a year or two later to make a solo album. He actually made two, and they are very playful and haunting and strange as you might imagine. Dave Gilmour basically nursed him through the whole studio recording process and played guitar on most of the tracks, though Syd sang in his unique slightly ahead-of-tempo but yet perfectly timed way, and contributed some guitar work when he was able.
Dave later called those sessions the longest working days of his life because they'd literally do 20-30 takes of Syd's parts as he kept fading out or going into a new song halfway through while recording. On one song he couldn't get his guitar part even close to sounding right, so he told the studio engineer to just record what he played no matter how bizarre it sounded.
Then he told the engineer to run the tape backwards... and a strange but brilliant melody came from the studio monitor speakers, complete with accurate chord changes and small jam fills. (!!!)
To say the least he was one of the most fascinating and brilliant artists I've come across, but with one of the saddest stories. He was institutionalized and then at some point returned home, his family completely cutting off any press, fans, mailmen, and presumably dole door-beaters from seeing him.
For his part, this from a nephew who liked to visit him and is the only one from then on who ever really knew him AND would speak about it, he liked to weed the garden, paint nonsense (he was also a budding fantastic impressionist painter before he became a music star), and play with blocks or simple puzzles which didn't make noise, or have tea with people who weren't there (he'd set out extra sets).
But he would never talk about music, never listened to it, and didn't seem to understand he was ever in a band himself. Over many years he apparently improved enough to walk a block for cigarettes and a paper for his mom, he still stayed nearly always cloistered away, mostly for fear of fans which liked to lurk near his place to "see the great Syd Barrett," probably not even realizing he didn't know what they wanted and scared him when they would approach.
There is one last crazy but true story that I know of, and it was confirmed by all four remaining Floyd members so I have to believe it's true. About a decade after his breakdown, when the now-huge band were recording their iconic album Wish You Were Here (which followed up Dark Side Of The Moon), Syd walks into the studio out of nowhere, fat, wearing a sweatsuit, shaved bald and lacking all facial hair - yes, eyebrows too - and begins to totter about looking at things.
Wish You Were Here was Roger's tribute to Syd, as the title track implies, as does the 20-minute, 6-part opus "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." No one recognized him for quite awhile till finally I think it was Nick Mason the drummer who whispered to the others, "that's Syd." There was a dead silence, no one knowing what to say, and he wasn't paying them any attention anyhow. Then he left and returned home.
As far as I know, no one to this day knows how he got there or back, or how he knew, if he even did, that an album was being written about him (it was early and not at all public knowledge at that time); indeed, why he showed up at all when he could barely leave the house from dementia or paranoia - "insanity."
Some of these stories are on the documentary I mentioned. Earlier on this blog I attributed the song "Astronomie Domine" to Roger Waters, but it was in fact a Syd Barret composition. I'll fix that. Also, in the acoustic set that Gilmour did about 5 or so years back, which I sent to you (empath) though you probably don't remember, Dave says quietly at one point, "these are for Syd," and goes on to play "Terrapin" (lyrics featured here) and another great song of Syd's called "Dominoes."
And lastly, when I saw Gilmour solo last year with Taunya, he said that he'd decided to play "See Emily Play" and "Arnold Layne" for the first time live ever since Syd left the band and his songs were put away out of good taste. But with his passing, he decided they should be unearthed and with my binoculars I could see his eyes full of tears as he played them. He was Syd's best friend in the band; they'd been schoolmates together before that. Dave was the only one to write him a card every Christmas without fail, for over 30 years, though he'd never received an acknowledgment of any kind.
Now I'VE got watery eyes.
Wow. You are a walking music encyclopedia. Having read all this, I'll have to dig 'Relics' out today and give it a listen. It's been a while.
Here's one for you; Have you seen this little film?
Syd's First Acid Trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUliMqPcrW8
Yep, saw that a long time ago. Thanks. Relics is a good album if you don't have their first album and the non-album singles and b-sides from that time.
Hi dudes,
I used to get my very old valve amp, (for the anoracs, Selmer treble and bass 100) mended by the Jesse who used to do 'The' Pink Floyd light show when Syd was in them. One night his (Jesse's) table lamp attracted a moth which fluttered about and dropped into his cider.Waste not want not, he plopped it still wriggling between two slides and projected light over it onto the stage and Syd. A bit cruel but no moth ever died a more famous death, shone on, eh!!!
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