Getting Depressed?

[GilmourGirl]

The tragedy lies in his creative musical flame being extinguished prematurely due to many factors that could have possibly been avoided, such as his friends and band mates casting him aside when he wasn't able or willing to perform instead of giving enough of a damn to get him help or just give him a break to ease the pressure.

this is what gets me depressed. all i can think about sometimes is the day they didn't pick him up and what must've been going through his head.

Oh c'mon! Barrett was prolly thanking them for doing him that favor!! Barrett did what he wanted to do, throughout his whole life. Stop trying to pick the man's brain and just be thankful that he lived as long as he did, THE WAY HE WANTED TO.

Btw, can someone PLEASE pm me the Late Night for the Barrett-obsessed address?? HP if you see this please help!!!

[bpmolder]

this is what gets me depressed. all i can think about sometimes is the day they didn't pick him up and what must've been going through his head.

Oh c'mon! Barrett was prolly thanking them for doing him that favor!! Barrett did what he wanted to do, throughout his whole life. Stop trying to pick the man's brain and just be thankful that he lived as long as he did, THE WAY HE WANTED TO.

I don't believe this to necessarily be true. Although he was probably better off for being left behind and living the rest of his life the way he did doesn't mean it couldn't have had some sort of negative impact when it happened. The one thing that people with problems like that fear most of all is change. Things are so uncertain to begin with. As a result, there is comfort in being able to count on some sort of absolute, or something close to that. So a person in his mental state had to fee a certain amount of loss of bearings when that happened. His increasingly erratic behavior during performances wasn't a showing if his ass because he didn't like doing it anymore but rather a cry for help.

When they just didn't pick him up that one day, it was an act of disloyalty. That's not how a friend is treated. It was abandonment. It's like a person divorcing a spouse after learning that he or she has terminal cancer and will die soon. People who care for others don't just up and leave them like that.

[GilmourGirl]

Whoa here! We're talking about a fledgling band (at the time)! Of course it was disloyal, but it was a liability to try and have Barrett perform at the gigs, was it not? Given his instability at the time, I'm pretty sure that it was one change that Barrett welcomed. Barrett was losing control of his mind, and he needed a break. That kind of stress and anxiety builds up over a long period of time, and along with his massive acid use, it was the best "change" to have happened to him. You can hear an obvious difference in the 'Madcap Laughs' and 'Barrett'.
How much more together he was on the latter album! It was much more creative and bright compared to 'Madcap'. Barrett was way way ahead of his time, therefore alot of people didn't get him, but it's usually the creative geniouses like Barrett that have the difficult minds. I'm just glad he wasn't a drug casualty like Jimi and the others, at least we were lucky to hear all Syd had to offer before he walked away from it all. And don't think for one second that he wouldn't have walked away from the Floyd, he pretty much already had. Looking at the way Barrett lived his life after Floyd, do you really think he gave a shit that they "didn't pick him up"? Let's let him R.I.P. and be thankful that he created the coolest band in the whole f-ing world!

[Duckboy]

i like look of the week

[my breakfast.]

I think any response in this thread can be nothing more than pure conjecture.

[greensubmarine]

Looking at the way Barrett lived his life after Floyd, do you really think he gave a shit that they "didn't pick him up"?

Initially? Yes. You're looking to far into the "later years" aspect of it. Yes, I believe Syd ended up living the way he wanted to which is great, but what about how he felt AT THAT MOMENT. You seem to be missing that point a bit, and you're defending that with how he ended up due to him not getting picked up. I'm not depressed about how he ended up, I'm depressed that they [dave, rick, nick, roger] dropped him so harshly, and they were his friends....they dropped him as that too...not just as a band mate. There are better ways to do things like that than just not picking him up.

And I believe I read somewhere that David didn't go to see him b/c it depressed Syd to be reminded of that part of his life....so them not picking him up had no effect on his emotions? I don't think so at all.

[theshockofthenew]

I think any response in this thread can be nothing more than pure conjecture.

Couldn't agree with you more...then again, every question and opinion about Mr Barrett's life is all conjecture anyway. It's important that we all realize this so all these silly rumours and innuendos stop becoming facts about his life.

Btw, I don't think anyone can dispute the fact that Syd wasn't upset about his departure from PF. After all, he was the integral force behind that band in its infancy and no doubt it became a part of who he was for a few years there. Still, I truly believe that the members of Floyd had no choice but to cut ties with him in order to press forward with their musical ambitions. I also believe that it was the best thing for Barrett as well. God only knows what his immediate future would have been like if he had stayed...he was clearly on a path of self-destruction and being in the lime-light only increased his self-destructive tendencies.

[Yucateco]

Still, I truly believe that the members of Floyd had no choice but to cut ties with him in order to press forward with their musical ambitions. I also believe that it was the best thing for Barrett as well. God only knows what his immediate future would have been like if he had stayed...he was clearly on a path of self-destruction and being in the lime-light only increased his self-destructive tendencies.

My thoughts exactly.

When they just didn't pick him up that one day, it was an act of disloyalty. That's not how a friend is treated. It was abandonment. It's like a person divorcing a spouse after learning that he or she has terminal cancer and will die soon. People who care for others don't just up and leave them like that.

i tend to disagree here. Being the pop star Syd Barrett obviously was one of the things that caused all the bad stuff to him. I think the rest of the band was clearly seeing this. So would it be loyal to keep him around when it was obviously bad for him? The cancer (to keep this image) for Syd was partly being a member of Pink Floyd, so getting him away from Pink Floyd was probably the best for him. In my opinion they did not pick him up, partly because they DID CARE about him.

[alma]

They used to be friends, o.k. so far.
But by behaving they way he did Barrett wore this friendship out. It was just too much for a group of young men to bear. The closest relationship may break up under current distress.

It's easy to analize the events from what we know now 40 years later but PF had to decide instantly in 1968 without being able to take a look into the future.

After all I think that Syd Barrett led the life he wanted to live. He had enough money, lived in his own house producing his art, had a family who cared for him... not so bad, after all.

[my breakfast.]

Yes but either way you cannot claim to truely know what went on.

[Idisaffect]

[When they just didn't pick him up that one day, it was an act of disloyalty. That's not how a friend is treated. It was abandonment. It's like a person divorcing a spouse after learning that he or she has terminal cancer and will die soon. People who care for others don't just up and leave them like that.

They felt like Syd up and left them
They didn't know he was that bad off.They probably thought he was on an ego trip. They were in their early 20's and did not understand the physical side of Syds problem. They didn't understand mental illness at that point in their lives. It wasn't as clear as cancer.
Comparing it to cancer is not fair,BP. I doubt they would have left him if a doctor told them he had cancer . C'mon, man.
When Syd is sitting there singing "have you got it yet?" It seems like he is giving you a bunch of shit and laughing at you. Mocking you. You don't think it's a mental breakdown at age 21. He still had the upper hand at that point. He was the leader and he was abandoning them. This was 1967...Madness was not that obvious.

Anyway...
Forgive them ...they learned from their mistake.
Syd did , too.
It's probably best that we don't spend too much of our own precious energy on details about another persons life. A very private person, I might add.

I'm sticking with Syds music. It never depresses me.

[princessDungan74D]

I have a light version of what he had............thats why I don't drink or do drugs.........

[mags]

I just miss Syd; even though he was not a "rock star", I knew he was there.
mags

[princessDungan74D]

I have a lighte version of what Syd had....please don't feel bad for me........Syd gave us good music.............have you seen a beutiful Mind..........he won an award that people rarely win and he was sick like Syd..............people with mental illness can do anything they put their mind too.........don't feel bad for us

[my breakfast.]

people with mental illness can do anything they put their mind too.........don't feel bad for us

Indeed, a lot of good art, literature and music came from people with mental illnesses. However, it is a rather trivial view to suggest that anybody with a mental illness is a creative genius. I read Grace Slick's autobiography, and she suggests that maybe we should envy the old acid casualties as they could have moved onto a much better world inside their own heads, and were now laughing at us. Its an interesting idea, but not one I wholey agree with.