Deathblog Special Edition:

Goodbye Syd.



Not really what I most wanted to hear yesterday morning.

Although to be honest, it's hard to really know what to feel about the death of someone whose life and personality has been a complete mystery for more than 30 years.

But still, let us not forget that beyond all the drug-related nuttiness with which he is immediately associated, Syd Barrett was and is an incredibly important figure as both the archetypal psychedelic hero and an amazingly imaginative guitarist and song-writer (not to mention a really cool-looking motherfucker) in the early Pink Floyd, and as the creator of a unique wealth of funny, moving and deeply odd songs during his solo career.

He took an approach to things that, for the time, was uniquely direct, honest, self-effacing and – dare I say it? – thoroughly punk rock, and I won't even bother trying to catalogue the array of notable bands and performers who have obviously taken him on board as a #1 inspiration in the ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s.

As I've said before and will say again, I think that, despite his troubles, Syd had the smartest career trajectory in musical history. I mean, think about it; he founds one of the most long-running and successful rock bands of all-time, masterminds their one truly great album, takes a shitload of drugs and indulges in crazy behaviour and gets himself kicked out before they turn crap, then records a couple of madly inspired off-the-cuff solo albums, thus forever guaranteeing his status as a cult hero, and proceeds to bugger about in his garden for the rest of his days, living off kick-backs from the massively successful band he started.

Face it, the guy was a genius.

Aside from anything else though, I'm content just to restate that every recording he lent his hand to remains startlingly, timelessly good, and although I guess in reality the chances of him ever breaking cover to say hello to the world were pretty slim, I'm still sad that this has to be the end of the story.

So, just for the hell of it, here are five of my favourite Syd songs;

“Here I Go” (from The Madcap Laughs)
Just a straightforward, flawlessly cool, funny song that cheers me up every time I hear it. Positive proof of Syd’s warmth, wit and skill as a songwriter, without a hint of druggy weirdness. And so un-self-consciously egomaniacal – “..she said ‘a big band is much better than you’!” – oh, the horror! His deadpan singing on this track is so perfectly phrased too – just unspeakably wonderful throughout.

“Lucifer Sam” (from Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
Not merely a song about a witch’s cat, but a FANTASTIC song about a witch’s cat, with mutant surf guitar, totally spaced out organ and some of the most peculiar noises and lyrics that ever found their way into a three minute 60s beat group song (no small boast); “Jennifer Gentle / you’re a WITCH!”

“Octopus” (The Madcap Laughs)
I’ve always wanted to unleash this upon a busy dancefloor just to see how people would react. True believers would get down to it I think. In terms of a hyperactive guy with an acoustic guitar just expressing his uncontrollable joy about, well… everything in the world, it remains unbeaten. Absolutely crazed guitar rhythm too – just try playing it! It seems like everyone in the land was churning out nutty, whimsical afternoon-tea-and-LSD styled nonsense songs circa ‘68/’69, and most of the results are just so much period cheese these days, but this track perfectly exemplifies what set Syd apart from that – he wasn’t just hamming it up in the accepted style of the day, he was really feeling this shit! Listen to him go!!

“Astronomy Domine” (Piper at the Gates..)
Well sometimes you’ve just got to, haven’t you? And if this isn’t Genesis in the bible of truly psychedelic rock, you can be sure it’s a pretty hefty chunk of Exodus. That chord progression is just SO wrong, and yet so right.

“Late Night” (Madcap..)
Just a beautiful, beautiful love song. To those seeking to establish the lineage of more recent wide-eyed, big hearted outsider folk spirits: begin your quest here. “..and the way you kiss will always be / a very special thing to me..”.

And gosh, that’s without even mentioning “Bike”, “Golden Hair”, “Love You”, “No Good Trying”, “Flaming”…. and there are plenty of good songs on ‘Barrett’ and even ‘Opel’ too, not to mention the joys of “See Emily Play” and “Arnold Layne”, but it seems it’s still ‘Madcap..’ and ‘Piper..’ I like the best.

So so long Syd – admittedly you weren’t really there since ten years before I was born, but I’ll miss you all the same.