musicloverShine on You crazy Diamond
September 17th 2006 11:42
On 7 July 2006, Syd Barrett, arguably the most intriguing and elusive character in the world of rock n' roll died. There is no shortage of musicians who have captured my imagination, but his enigmatic life puts him in a category of his own. We once had to write a paper on any musian for school, and I chose him. It was a decision I greatly regretted, beacuse I couldn't stop writing, unlike most school assignments, when I found myself endlessly bullshitting to fill up space. I don't think it is possible to do justice to the task of profiling Syd Barrett in the space of a single article, so I'm going to let lyrics do most of the talking. And let's face it, it's much easier to use other people's words than to think of your own.
Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd and largely responsible for their initial rise to fame, but soon a variety of mental problems led to his being kicked out of the band, and entering a phase of his life which would soon lead to seclusion. However, the remaining members of the band continued to write songs about him at regular intervals, the most famous of which is "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
There is no way I could have put it any better. As it was, he never did shine again, but his early work illustrated just why so many people wanted him to rise one more time. Here's a sample, "Lucifer Sam" :
Originality like that which Barrett provided has never been witnessed since, and given the tendencies of modern music, I wonder if it ever will be. Of course I haven't touched on his personal side, but having not known him, I am hardly qualified to comment. But again, I think he summed it up best when he said,
"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was play guitar properly and jump around. But too many people got in the way."
I listened to "Jugband Blues" by Pink Floyd while writing this, and if this article interested you at all, you will too.
Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd and largely responsible for their initial rise to fame, but soon a variety of mental problems led to his being kicked out of the band, and entering a phase of his life which would soon lead to seclusion. However, the remaining members of the band continued to write songs about him at regular intervals, the most famous of which is "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!
There is no way I could have put it any better. As it was, he never did shine again, but his early work illustrated just why so many people wanted him to rise one more time. Here's a sample, "Lucifer Sam" :
Originality like that which Barrett provided has never been witnessed since, and given the tendencies of modern music, I wonder if it ever will be. Of course I haven't touched on his personal side, but having not known him, I am hardly qualified to comment. But again, I think he summed it up best when he said,
"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was play guitar properly and jump around. But too many people got in the way."
I listened to "Jugband Blues" by Pink Floyd while writing this, and if this article interested you at all, you will too.
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