posted July 11, 2006 11:13 PM         

Syd Barrett dies aged 60

Syd Barrett, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd and one of the key figures of the 60s, has died at the Cambridgeshire home to which he retreated as a recluse more than 30 years ago.
The Guardian has learned that the singer, 60, who suffered from a psychedelic-drug induced breakdown while at the peak of his career, died last Friday from cancer.

His brother Alan confirmed his death, saying only: "He died peacefully at home. There will be a private family funeral in the next few days."

Born Roger Keith Barrett in Cambridge in 1946, he acquired the nickname Syd aged 15. He left Pink Floyd in 1968, just as the band was about to achieve worldwide recognition, and lived in the basement of his mother Winfred's semi-detached house, where he boarded up the windows to keep out the eyes of both the press and fans. He recorded two solo albums.

Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond, from the 1975 album Wish You Were Here, was said by many to be a salute to him. Barrett's use of drugs, particularly LSD, in the 60s, was well-documented and he was often described as the original acid casualty.

A statement issued on behalf of Pink Floyd said: "The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Dave Gilmour, the Pink Floyd guitarist drafted in to the band during a period in which Barrett was behaving erratically, said in an interview earlier this year that he thought that Barrett's breakdown would have happened anyway.

He said: "It was a deep-rooted thing. But I'll say the psychedelic experience might well have acted as a catalyst. Still, I just don't think he could deal with the vision of success and all the things that went with it."

- Guardian Unlimited

I heard about it on the radio tonight. I can't tell you how sad I am about this.

""Nobody knows where you are,
How near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers
And I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow
Of yesterday's triumph,
And sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child,
You winner and loser,
Come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!"

RIP, Syd.

posted July 12, 2006 01:48 AM         

To quote Tori Amos..."Happy Phantom"

.......Where Judy Garland's taking Buddha by the hand, and then the seven little men get up to dance,
I hear Confucius does his crossword with a pen......

posted July 13, 2006 01:25 PM         

One of my best friend's (who has also left this world) and I used to listen to him all the time.

In the sad town
cold iron hands clap
the party of clowns outside
rain falls in grey far away
please, please, Baby Lemonade

In the evening sun going down
when the earth streams in, in the morning
send a cage through the post
make your name like a ghost
please, please, Baby Lemonade

I'm screaming, I met you this way
you're nice to me like ice
in the clock they sent through a washing machine
come around, make it soon, so alone...
please, please, Baby Lemonade

In the sad town
cold iron hands clap
the party of clowns outside
rain falls in grey far away
please, please, Baby Lemonade

In the evening sun going down
when the earth streams in, in the morning
send a cage through the post
make your name like a ghost
please, please, Baby Lemonade

Birdy Hop - he do, he hop along
a lonely bird upon a window there
he, he, there he blow
a windy snow, he knew the snow,
I know the snow, a hoppy bird

The antelope ride around the parasole
just to see if he's a man
enough to meet you in the sandpit
on a flying kind of sign in a meddlesome way
you know the way - I see the flies
she's a little kite the sort
you think you might like to fly
and like a kite you get to see her
every night, you know the way
she's only paving her way -
hectochrome plane - I see the flies.

Birdy Hop - he do, he hop along
a lonely bird upon a window there
he, he, there he blow
a windy snow, he knew the snow,
I know the snow, a hoppy bird

posted July 19, 2006 03:36 PM         

I liked Syd Barrett.