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Kevin
Mathews:
December,
2001
PoPinions:
December, 2001
"I'm
almost obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here…"
The bald, fat man sat on the studio lounge sofa whilst his erstwhile band
mates played him their new song, coincidentally, a song written about
him. "Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky…" went
one lyric. The man in question seemed unconcerned, smiled, remarked that
the song sounded "old" and left as suddenly as he arrived, never to be
seen by his friends again to this day.
There is a new Pink Floyd retrospective collection out in the shops right
now called Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. Predictably, it made
its first appearance on the Billboard Album Chart at #2 before beginning
to make a quick descent. Which clearly indicates that almost 30 years
after its monstrous success with Dark Side of the Moon, the band's fan
base remains as dedicated as ever.
It is instructional perhaps to note that out of the 26 tracks selected
for Echoes, five bear the indelible stamp of Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett.
"Astronomy Domine," "See Emily Play," "Arnold Layne," "Jugband Blues"
and "Bike," not to mention the momentous The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
debut, were all zeitgeist defining moments in that flowering of psychedelia
in 1966-67.
The Pink Floyd, led by Barrett, was at the forefront of an alternative
rock movement that had the likes of Beatle Paul McCartney & a young David
Bowie swooning in adulation. Unfortunately, Barrett's fragile psyche &
a voracious appetite for LSD, quickly transformed him from an asset to
a liability to his band mates Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason.
By 1968, Barrett was unable to function as a contributing member of Pink
Floyd and he was soon kicked out of the band he created, to be replaced
by a hometown friend named Dave Gilmour.
Barrett's
"Jugband Blues" - included on the transitional sophomore effort, A
Saucerful of Secrets - reads as a farewell note to the band and proves
perhaps that Barrett was more keenly aware of what was going on than his
mates gave him credit for.
"It's
awfully considerate of you to think of me here And I'm almost 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?"
Whilst
the new incarnation of Pink Floyd, now led by Waters, would continue to
build its reputation as a frontline progressive rock band, Barrett's involvement
in the world of music would become increasingly peripheral, releasing
two albums (The Madcap Laughs & Barrett) before completely disappearing
from the public eye in the early 70s.
Until that is, on that strange day in the studios when Barrett made a
surprise appearance during the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here,
an album in part intended as the band's tribute to him. Dressed entirely
in white with shaved head and eyebrows, passing enigmatic remarks and
generally shaking up his former band mates, some even to the point of
tears (in Waters' case). Some have suggested that the whole episode emphasised
Barrett's deteriorated mental state whilst others have insisted that it
was an elaborate practical joke by the self-described Madcap.
In either case, it is clear that Pink Floyd has never totally escaped
the long shadow of Barrett's influence. However, by the time of the 1978
sessions for The Wall, Pink Floyd had truly epitomised the corporate rock
machine of the 70s with Waters firmly entrenched as CEO, booting out Richard
Wright and turning Barrett's creation of innovation and fantastical whimsy
into a vehicle to vent his own very personal complaints.
The
80s and 90s would witness more flaccid examples of the Floydian 'dead
horse flogging,' a bitter war between Waters and Gilmour for the Pink
Floyd brand name & least we forget, millions of dollars being spent by
the fan base sheep Waters once decried & derided in Animals.
In
the meantime, somewhere in Cambridge England, Roger 'Syd' Barrett is living
out his golden years, visiting the market, painting occasionally and generally
contented with his lot in life. In the eyes of the world, he is a rock
'n' roll casualty who tragically never fulfilled his potential but that
is only one (biased) perspective. At least, he has remained true to himself
- far from the exigencies and pressures of the corporate rock machine
AND has left behind a legacy of shimmering and unique music and that,
if nothing else, justifies the existence of the otherwise cynical exercise
that is Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. Shine on…
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