On Syd Barrett.... (the Biographies)
It's in my opinion that the whole Syd Barrett story is horse shit.
It just doesn't add up. And without Syd Barrett's point of view the
whole story is totally incomplete. "Vegetable Man", the song wasn't about Syd himself like they said. It was about a generation of hipsters who were drugged out social drop outs that had little
or no brains, to justify their own lifestyles. "Vegetable Man" was purely antagonistic, and the whole purpose was to speak to all those late sixties hipster druggies who thought they were real cool, and modern, even though their path was futile, destructive and perhaps vain... They wouldn't tell you that in Syd's biographies because it was their little secret not to give away any information
that would entice people, or artists to know what makes a song intensely influencial, or just a prank, or a bad joke. The joke's on you, and you don't even get it... Regardless that Pink Floyd dressed like their fan base(to mostly attract, and lure a highly influenced, easily molded type of character such as a hipster), but were smart enough not to get into the drugs, which ultimately secured their success's as Rock Stars...
Obviously. Why they lied in his biographies was just
to make Syd out to be more interesting then he actually was, and his contributions were so small that to say he was a genius was to overestimate his prowess and contribute to him just being a commercial product. Although his solo work is fashionable, and well put together... I feel as though it says less logically, then most artist's work, and is more fragmented lyrically...
It doesn't communicate clear ideas. It's more abstract, and illustrative, but doesn't speak deep lyrical meanings with a sort of clear logic... Maybe he was truly schizophrenic...
Yes "Vegetable Man" was just poking fun, and Syd bit off more
then he could chew... He took on too much too soon... The pressure
and stress obviously took it's toll, and he medicated with drugs, while being accompanied by crazy hanger-on's, slipping LSD into his morning coffee... I can only imagine what jealous people can do to a very delicate, fragile individual under a lot of stress... He had too much...Too much talent, style, good looks, and ability for anyone to totally not be contemptuously jealous... You can look at it from 20 different angles what was the real cause of his breakdown, because there were several reasons... But no matter how many books you read about Syd to try to find the answers you will always still have a question mark, because without Syd's side of the story, or point of view, we will never really know, only from an outside perspective, which makes this subject perplexing... Syd was broken... too broken to have fought back, and told his side of the story... and in the end, his best way of handling the situation was to escape, disconnect, retreat, and just get away from all those people who suffocated him with questions, and put pressure on him to come up with a new hit single, or perhaps material that could make the record companies money...
I do believe Syd was a true Artist from what I read... he was not about commercialism, and definitely when Pink Floyd sold out to the commercial world, it bothered him... I keep telling myself that if Syd Barrett had the home recording devices we have now, he could have kept producing albums in the privacy of his own home at his own pace, experimenting...but the pressure of having to go to a real studio and work out ideas was too risky and too costly... I believe he wouldn't have ended up being such a casualty if there was an opportunity to pick up the pieces...
Back to the early days when he wrote "See Emily Play"...I asked some people what they thought that song meant... They always say "Tripping"... Well if you should know it's real meaning is about the mind games that women play... "Emily tries but misunderstands, she's often inclined to borrow somebodies dreams 'til tomorrow"...Which ultimately means she takes advantage of people who she's with..... "Let's try it another way, you'll lose your mind to play"... means the tables are being turned....
"Gazing in tree's in sorrow hardly a sound 'til tomorrow"... meaning she's sad due to the consequences of her actions... "Put on a gown that touches the ground", says she should be more modest, and "Float on the river forever and ever Emily"... meaning the protagonist of whom she's playing games wishes her dead after her downfall.... Such a Dark song... but a psychedelic pop song..... Syd was dark no doubt... There was underlying themes that really showed he was in fact a precursor to the whole Goth movement later, I am sure he had some sort of impact on later post punk bands....
It just doesn't add up. And without Syd Barrett's point of view the
whole story is totally incomplete. "Vegetable Man", the song wasn't about Syd himself like they said. It was about a generation of hipsters who were drugged out social drop outs that had little
or no brains, to justify their own lifestyles. "Vegetable Man" was purely antagonistic, and the whole purpose was to speak to all those late sixties hipster druggies who thought they were real cool, and modern, even though their path was futile, destructive and perhaps vain... They wouldn't tell you that in Syd's biographies because it was their little secret not to give away any information
that would entice people, or artists to know what makes a song intensely influencial, or just a prank, or a bad joke. The joke's on you, and you don't even get it... Regardless that Pink Floyd dressed like their fan base(to mostly attract, and lure a highly influenced, easily molded type of character such as a hipster), but were smart enough not to get into the drugs, which ultimately secured their success's as Rock Stars...
Obviously. Why they lied in his biographies was just
to make Syd out to be more interesting then he actually was, and his contributions were so small that to say he was a genius was to overestimate his prowess and contribute to him just being a commercial product. Although his solo work is fashionable, and well put together... I feel as though it says less logically, then most artist's work, and is more fragmented lyrically...
It doesn't communicate clear ideas. It's more abstract, and illustrative, but doesn't speak deep lyrical meanings with a sort of clear logic... Maybe he was truly schizophrenic...
Yes "Vegetable Man" was just poking fun, and Syd bit off more
then he could chew... He took on too much too soon... The pressure
and stress obviously took it's toll, and he medicated with drugs, while being accompanied by crazy hanger-on's, slipping LSD into his morning coffee... I can only imagine what jealous people can do to a very delicate, fragile individual under a lot of stress... He had too much...Too much talent, style, good looks, and ability for anyone to totally not be contemptuously jealous... You can look at it from 20 different angles what was the real cause of his breakdown, because there were several reasons... But no matter how many books you read about Syd to try to find the answers you will always still have a question mark, because without Syd's side of the story, or point of view, we will never really know, only from an outside perspective, which makes this subject perplexing... Syd was broken... too broken to have fought back, and told his side of the story... and in the end, his best way of handling the situation was to escape, disconnect, retreat, and just get away from all those people who suffocated him with questions, and put pressure on him to come up with a new hit single, or perhaps material that could make the record companies money...
I do believe Syd was a true Artist from what I read... he was not about commercialism, and definitely when Pink Floyd sold out to the commercial world, it bothered him... I keep telling myself that if Syd Barrett had the home recording devices we have now, he could have kept producing albums in the privacy of his own home at his own pace, experimenting...but the pressure of having to go to a real studio and work out ideas was too risky and too costly... I believe he wouldn't have ended up being such a casualty if there was an opportunity to pick up the pieces...
Back to the early days when he wrote "See Emily Play"...I asked some people what they thought that song meant... They always say "Tripping"... Well if you should know it's real meaning is about the mind games that women play... "Emily tries but misunderstands, she's often inclined to borrow somebodies dreams 'til tomorrow"...Which ultimately means she takes advantage of people who she's with..... "Let's try it another way, you'll lose your mind to play"... means the tables are being turned....
"Gazing in tree's in sorrow hardly a sound 'til tomorrow"... meaning she's sad due to the consequences of her actions... "Put on a gown that touches the ground", says she should be more modest, and "Float on the river forever and ever Emily"... meaning the protagonist of whom she's playing games wishes her dead after her downfall.... Such a Dark song... but a psychedelic pop song..... Syd was dark no doubt... There was underlying themes that really showed he was in fact a precursor to the whole Goth movement later, I am sure he had some sort of impact on later post punk bands....
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