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Syd Barrett's Rock and Roll Meltdown
By Allen Arnold
His mind was tragically brilliant. The music he composed conjured up
images of demons torturing a hapless soul. His lyrics helped to facilitate
a whole generation to “drop in and tune out” to the British
psychedelic movement of the late 1960’s. How can an individual
with such whimsical creativity be lost forever?
Often alluded to in the past tense, Pink Floyd's founding member Syd
Barrett will forever remain a blip on the radar of rock and roll lunacy.
However, it seems that his mysterious disappearance from Pink Floyd
and further withdrawal from society has become a source of curiosity.
Syd Barrett's story on the surface seems to be that classic example
of a rock star who took too many drugs and couldn't handle the limelight.
Throughout the years, a cult following has grown around his creativity
and introverted behavior. There is even a Web site dedicated to recent
paparazzi pictures of his elusive mug. But the romanticized vision of
Syd Barrett the eccentric acid casualty could not be further from the
truth.
When Pink Floyd formed in 1966 it was very clear that Syd was its most
visionary member. Although he was never considered a guitar virtuoso,
he simply knew how to push the limits of traditional blues and R&B
music. His manic mix of ambience and sudden, often explosive change
became his trademark. Syd's bizarre, fairy tale lyrics were drastically
different from the majority of pop music at the time.
His first single with Pink Floyd was the quirky tale of his neighbor
“Arnold Layne.” Although the sound was indeed pop, the lyrics
centered on Syd’s neighbor who liked to steal women’s underwear
from clotheslines. The single was banned from the airwaves by Radio
London. After the release of Floyd’s second single “See Emily
Play,” the band went into the studio to record Piper at the Gates
of Dawn. Considered by Floyd purists to be their most significant album,
Piper echoed Syd’s masterful craft.
The success of the album in the U.K. led Pink Floyd to embark on a U.S.
tour in November of 1967. However, the tour was cut short after three
dates because of Syd's erratic behavior. When told to lip synch in a
television appearance on Dick Clark’s “Bandstand,” Syd
stood motionless on stage, miming nothing.
When he was interviewed during another television appearance, on “The
Pat Boone Show,” he responded only with a blank stare. It was becoming
obvious that something was wrong with Syd.
Back in England, Syd was no longer communicating even with his band
mates. He would go on stage with his guitar and play only one note for
an entire song, giving no explanation. Since the band figured that Syd
was losing his mind, they brought in guitarist David Gilmour to drown
out his experimental style. Pink Floyd's five-piece band lasted all
of four gigs before Syd was told to leave for good.
Syd always considered Pink Floyd his band. His two cats were named Pink
and Floyd. He had been childhood friends with the two other members,
Roger Waters and Nick Mason. Getting kicked out of the band that he
started seemed to be too much for Syd. Afterwards he retreated to the
bohemian lifestyle in London's southwest borough of Earl's Court. It
was here that Syd tried to piece together his own record.
After spending over a year recording, he released The Madcap Laughs
in 1970 with the production help of David Gilmour. The album itself
was never a success; however, it did capture the imbalance of emotions
that he was experiencing. Despite this, he was never to take the stage
again.
Rolling Stone's Mick Rock interviewed Syd in 1971 in an article named
“The Madcap Who Named Pink Floyd.” This interview would be
Syd's last. It explores the world of confusion and disillusionment in
which he was living. In the interview he states, “I’m treading
a backwards path. Mostly I just waste my time. But you know, man, I
am totally together. I even think I should be.” It was quite clear
that Syd was showing early signs of psychologically disturbed behavior.
Mick Rock described Syd as living in his cellar amongst his own artwork,
guitars, amps and records. He had become selfishly absorbed in his chaotic
mess of material possessions.
Syd had lost the desire to express what had come naturally to him his
whole life. At the end of the interview Syd closes, “I don’t
think I’m easy to talk about. I’ve got a very irregular head.
And I'm not anything that you think I am anyways.”
After this interview was published, Syd simply vanished from the public
eye. The blanks in the rest of Syd Barrett's life can only be filled
with rumors and hearsay. Nobody really knows what happened to him for
certain. Some of Syd's closest friends from that period in his life
are willing to share their opinions of him.
After Syd was kicked out of Pink Floyd he moved into his friend Storm's
flat. Storm recalls in Musical Express, “You see, I think you're
going to have to make a point that Syd’s madness was not caused
by any linear progression of events, but more a circular haze of situations
that meshed together on top of themselves and Syd.”
Not only was Syd severely depressed from being kicked out of the band,
but he also couldn't even muster the energy to recapture the music he
put together with Floyd. David Gilmour, who replaced Syd on guitar and
helped produce his solo album, believes, “It wasn’t just the
drugs – we’d both done acid before the whole Floyd thing –
it’s just a mental foible which grew out of all proportion. I remember
all sorts of strange things happening – at one point he was wearing
lipstick, dressing in high heels, and believing he had homosexual tendencies,”
he told Musical Express. Syd had clearly lost touch with reality.
Syd Barrett's rollercoaster ride to success and further downward spiral
could easily be a Hellenic tragedy. However, he will unfortunately always
be remembered for his infamous mental breakdown. The fact of the matter
is that he was simply an extraordinary talent who challenged the bounds
of rock ’n’ roll and left his mark on a generation forever.
The Madcap may have had the last laugh after all.
Long Gone
And I stood very still by the window sill
And I wondered for those I love still
And I cried in my mind
Where I stand behind
-Syd Barrett
Allen Arnold is a senior media studies major. Email him at jarnold2@ithaca.edu.
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