# Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd) Dies at 60 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019 "2006-07-11T13:47:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/1 "2006-07-11T13:47:16Z")
Or so Agence France-Presse is reporting, citing a spokeswoman for Pink Floyd. No web link available. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/2 "2006-07-11T13:49:04Z")
[BBC link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5169344.stm) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/3 "2006-07-11T14:07:41Z")
The Founder of Floyd has finally passed on, but his mind left us long ago. Parts of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here were both somewhat about him. He went so far around the bend that he never came back. A long time ago I read an interview he did for High Times. I would guess this was the late 70’s. His mind was already completely Obscured by Clouds. He talked to the reporter brief on his front steps and then got lost looking at the clouds. His Mum told the the reporter that was it and she spoke to the reporter for a few more minutes. I believe he was brushing his teeth the entire time the interview went on. I guess I feel like he left us long ago and this is just the husk that has pass away. Jim ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/4 "2006-07-11T14:10:43Z")
Shine on, Syd. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/5 "2006-07-11T14:26:08Z")
What sad news. I hope he was happy in his final years. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/6 "2006-07-11T14:36:35Z")
Super frowny face so very sad. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/7 "2006-07-11T14:52:38Z")
His music lives on. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/8 "2006-07-11T15:04:24Z")
I wonder what happened with all the paintings that he made in his later years? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/9 "2006-07-11T15:18:34Z")
Poor old chap. Reckon he’d have cracked anyway, even without the bucketloads of LSD? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/10 "2006-07-11T15:36:49Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Poor old chap. Reckon he’d have cracked anyway, even without the bucketloads of LSD? [/QUOTE] I have heard he was a little odd from the early on. Maybe a little crazy. From Wiki: > [@](#): > > There has been much speculation concerning the psychological well-being of Syd Barrett. Many believe he suffered from schizophrenia, though he didn’t totally fit the typical profile for that condition. Additionally, some have suggested that Barrett had traits associated with Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition most often placed on the autism spectrum. > > Barrett’s use of recreational drugs, especially LSD, during the 1960s is well-documented. Some believe that Barrett’s drug use helped trigger (or at the very least inflame) his mental illness. In an article published in 2006, Gilmour was quoted as saying: “In my opinion, his breakdown would have happened anyway. It was a deep-rooted thing. But I’ll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don’t think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it”. > > There is also the possibility that the sudden death of his father (a respected pathologist) when he was 11 caused him considerable anguish and left emotional scars that probably sowed some of the seeds of his later malaise. The subject matter of a lot of his songs, the nursery rhymes and fairy tale fantasies, were reminiscent for him of a “happier” period of his childhood before his father’s passing. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/11 "2006-07-11T15:45:00Z")
A shame. Just as an opening for a new Depends spokesperson opens up, bang…he goes and drops dead. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/12 "2006-07-11T15:59:28Z")
Since my thread got deaded for duping this one I’ll chip in here. [QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I wonder what happened with all the paintings that he made in his later years? [/QUOTE] And his early years too. I wonder if they’ll be made public now? > [@What Exit?](#): > > I guess I feel like he left us long ago and this is just the husk that has pass away Same here, when John Peel died I did feel sad, but the Syd that sang Arnold Layne (or even the half-gone one that sang Octopus and Baby Lemonade) has been gone a long time. Hard to feel strongly about the strange old chap who had abandoned his past. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/13 "2006-07-11T16:07:47Z")
interestingly, [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/11/britain.floyd/index.html) chose an exerpt from _Bike_ in their article… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/14 "2006-07-11T16:24:26Z")
His ghost has haunted the band for nearly 40 years–what a bittersweet day it must be for Dave, Roger, Nick and Rick. I imagine he’s gone to a better place now. RIP, Syd. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/15 "2006-07-11T17:23:07Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] His ghost has haunted the band for nearly 40 years–what a bittersweet day it must be for Dave, Roger, Nick and Rick. I imagine he’s gone to a better place now. RIP, Syd. [/QUOTE] Bittersweet??? Er… are you sure about that? I recently bought the import box-set at Virgin in Chicago. I love Syd’s material. What a sad day. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/16 "2006-07-11T17:54:32Z")
My apologies for a dup. thread. Anyhoo, very sad indeed, and, according to David Gilmour, Syd wasn’t really happy in his post-Floyd years. My guess is his diabetes was caused in large part by antipsychotic meds., and it’s likely he battled severe metal illness up until his death. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/17 "2006-07-11T17:55:45Z")
_No_! Aw shit! ☹ I mean, I know… I guess I just had always hoped… Aw, shit. ☹ I will miss you. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/18 "2006-07-11T19:41:17Z")
[QUOTE=TheBoneyKingofNowhere] Bittersweet??? Er… are you sure about that?. [/QUOTE] Wrong word, I guess. What I was getting at was that the rest of the band is riding pretty high these days, with both camps having sucessful tours, the long-anticipated release of the Pulse DVD, and the incredible buzz that was generated by the Live8 appearance. The news of Syd’s death must have surely hit them like a ton of bricks. ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/19 "2006-07-11T21:34:21Z")
_Wish you were here_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019/20 "2006-07-11T21:38:10Z")
R.I.P. You crazy diamond. A sad end for a psychedelic master. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syd-barrett-pink-floyd-dies-at-60/364019.md?page=2)