Me too ana. I almost don’t want to type this since I’m almost in tears because there was always a minute hope that we’d get to see a real Floyd tour.
Gone to that great gig in the sky…
I read an article a few years ago in which Syd’s brother said that he destroyed most of his paintings as soon as he completed them.
I never had much hope of Barrett ever performing again, but I did often wonder what, if anything, he might have been up to in the 30-odd years he’d been living in self-imposed seclusion. Was he ever treated well enough to give a coherent interview? Did he write any more music, play, record anything? I kind of hoped there was a stash of unknown Barrett creations somewhere waiting to be released, and that he might emerge maybe once more to talk about them, if they existed. Not likely, I know.
“The band in Heaven plays my favorite song. They play it once again, they play it all night long…”
Shine on Sid, have some peace.
Bummer. Just a couple of years ago I rediscovered The Madcap Laughs, which I hadn’t heard since about 1990; spooky, fantastic music.
I’d held onto secret hope that he’d kept a stash of secret recordings too. I guess time will tell.
I haven’t listened to my Barrett albums for a long time (indeed, they’re on cassette), but it surprising how many big chunks of songs are going through my head today.
Poor Syd. He was long, long gone.
Syd reminds me of Peter Green, who played a similar role (founder dude loses his marbles) in Fleetwood Mac. As did Jeremy Spencer
Pink Floyd wrote this one for Syd:
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
Nicholas Schaffner included in the epilogue of his 1991 biography on the band, Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey, a moving description of Barrett:
"This portly, balding, middle-aged man is not entirely unaware of that other life he led as ‘Syd,’ or of the ongoing fascination with his extinguished alter ego’s work and legacy. But any lingering memories are rarely accompanied by any trace of pleasure or satisfaction – with the exception, however perverse, of America, which he is tickled pink as an old sailor to have gone so far as to visit. As for the rest, it was a difficult and demanding life that he would never again wish upon anyone, least of all himself …
While his family and few friends are grateful that he is ‘getting better’ with each passing year, it remains painfully difficult for him to relate to or communicate with other human beings on almost any level. But though he seldom ventures beyond the perimeters of his English garden, the man who was once Syd is settled and reasonably content – and almost determinedly ordinary as he shuffles through his simple daily routine.
Sometimes, he even dreams that he will soon be well enough to hold down a nine-to-five London office job, and commute every day into the big city."
Good book. It’s too bad that Schaffner passed away back in 1991. He never got a chance to update his history of the band; he could have easily written three or four extra chapters.
I feel differently, I guess. Syd’s death has me pretty saddened. Maybe part of it was my crazy hope that he’d get better again before he died. Maybe make an album with Brian Wilson or something.
I remember looking for some stuff about him online, and reading an article that said that he had taken up playing the acoustic guitar to himself.
I liked that book a lot as well. The best part was the part about Syd. It was obvious that the author wasn’t as interested in the later parts of the story.
One part I remember about the book is how LSD may have hindered his getting better. After leaving PF, he couldn’t really get a grip on reality because people kept giving him LSD, or spiking his food with it.
Goodbye Syd Barrett. Like it or not, you inspired, and will continue to inspire, many.
Roger Waters did say they came very close to asking Syd to appear onstage with them at Live8. He never would have agreed, but the fact that they even considered asking him is astonishing.
The obituary in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, by staff music writer Joel Selvin, states that Barrett died of cancer. Every other report I’ve seen says that the cause of death was undisclosed.
I’m pretty confident that they won’t find any secret stash of unreleased Barrett recordings, and I wouldn’t get too excited about the prospect anyway. I’d like to respect Syd’s decision to leave all that behind and treasure what he did give us in his few years of public life.
Huh. I’ve seen several references to complications from diabetes.
Especially Waters.
Waters met Barrett when they were both about 9 years old at a Saturday morning art class in Cambridge. As childhood friends it was especially difficult for Waters to see Barrett in such a state of disassociation when he started on drugs. He tried to persuade Syd to take therapy but never got him further than the doctor’s front door. Even more difficult must have been Barrett’s subsequent wish to avoid people from his earlier life, Waters included. I’m sure that Waters loved Barrett like a brother and did as much as he could to help him both when he was in the band and afterwards.
The paradox in the band’s continued homage to Syd, obviously justifiable in the context of his influence on Pink Floyd, lies in the fact that Barrett would not have wanted this attention.
I guess that nobody will ever get a handle on the true nature of Syd’s problems unless his relatives wish to speak out. I don’t think they will.
His funeral will be a private family affair hence no members of Pink Floyd, past or present, will attend.
This is very sad news. My commiserations to his family.
Roger probably was the closest to Syd, and Dave has always made a point of performing Syd’s songs as a tribute. (Not to mention added bonus of providing him some royalty money.)
I wonder if the remaining members of Floyd will get back together to do another tribute album to Syd? They could donate the royalties to mental health/diabetes foundations.
I’ve just watched (again) a tape of a BBC Omnibus programme about Barrett filmed in 2001. This features interviews with all Pink Floyd band members.
It’s worth recalling that the band were on their way to a gig sometime in 1968 when, mulling over Syd’s recent behaviour, they just decided not to pick him up.
While Nick Mason admits to feeling little if any compassion for Syd at this time, and Rick Wright is non-commital, there is a sense of unspoken guilt in Waters’ and Gilmour’s comments regarding Syd’s departure from Pink Floyd in this way.
On the other hand, a front man who stands motionless on stage not singing or playing has to be a liability for any band. One has sympathy for both parties.
Of course, it is always probable that if Barrett had remained with Pink Floyd after 1968 they wouldn’t have taken the direction they did.
And there would have been no Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here or * Meddle.*
I really don’t know quite how this happened, being an older fan of classic rock, but I’m a little embarrased to say I never knew about Syd or his legacy before. This thread has been an interesting read on the subject though and you can sure feel the love and appreciation. Sounds like his time was too short but that what he produced generated inspiration within and beyond Pink that lasts to this day. Very interesting… and a little sad.