Incorrect Pleasures: "The Interesting Case of Syd Barrett"

[Enish]

This is an interesting article that I just found about Syd Barrett dating back to November 7th, 2009, but was last edited with new quotes and sources in December 2010. It's an interesting study of some of Barrett's behavior before and during his involvement with Pink Floyd and his reclusiveness soon after, which the writer claims is caused by his Synaesthesia and possible brushes of Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. It's a lengthy read, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

There's also an intriguing comment made by someone who know Syd personally, which adds some insight to the article.

http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/ ... t-for.html

[thefinalcut]

Very interesting reading, thanks for posting.

"I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway..."

He couldn´t have said it better.

[Meandthem]

Very interesting reading (but to long for me to read before going to work!)
I'll read the rest when I come home - after walking the dog, feeding the family, doing my chores...

[Enish]

Very interesting reading (but to long for me to read before going to work!)
I'll read the rest when I come home - after walking the dog, feeding the family, doing my chores...

That's pretty much what happens to me every time I find something interesting to read on the Internet (minus the whole "Feeding the Family" part). I can relate. There's no rush.

I'm glad people are responding to this thread, though. I thought that it was going to collect digital dust on the forum.

[admiral panther]

i totally understand, dishes, laundry, mopping, no retirement,

[cool09]

Very interesting article.
I don't see any author's name for the article but he starts out with a peculiar sentence which sounds sadistic:
"For a number of years I have had fun maintaining and adding to my list of famous people who are, or were, or perhaps were, or perhaps are, on the autistic spectrum."

It says, "Barrett's sister's claim that Barrett was examined by psychiatrists and found to be not insane (Titchmarsh 2007)". I recently read a reputable article or interview somewhere that Barrett was taken to a Psychiatrist and the sister (or family) was told that he was incurable.

A few interesting things in this article:
"During his teenage years Barrett constructed (beautifully) some tetrahedrons from balsa wood"
"Professor Baron-Cohen would probably classify this hobby of polyhedron construction as an example of systemizing behaviour."
"Baron-Cohen has argued that autistic people are hyper-systemizers"
"Systemizers love gadgets, and Barrett was no exception"
"he (Barrett) would say that a sound was a colour to him."
"Barrett described (to Rado Klose, an early Pink Floyd member) a C chord as yellow"

[my breakfast.]

That website is fascinating, and I think it covers Syd's ailments a lot better than the psuedo-religious junk posted by some of the morons out there. "I had a dream about Syd maaaan...".

[Enish]

That website is fascinating, and I think it covers Syd's ailments a lot better than the psuedo-religious junk posted by some of the morons out there. "I had a dream about Syd maaaan...".

Yeah, I know. A lot of people see Syd as some demi-god or cult/hipster icon, when really, he was just a gifted songwriter with a lot of problems that prevented him from reaching his full potential as a musician. I don't think the article was written by a fan, per se, but someone who was interested in the psychiatric angle of Syd's mental breakdown. The article contains probably the most thorough analysis I've seen yet.

[PCM72]

I think it's a delicate subject. I hope we will not try to trivialize it. Handling it with due tact I think that sites like this (for instance) are fascinating too: http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/20 ... erception/
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to defend the value of the mental state of Syd Barrett or some rambling "junk" posted, it's just to not close the doors to fantasy worlds when we talk about music.

[cool09]

It's ashame. It's not trivial at all. He had several major problems: possibly autistic, AS and synaesthetic (merging of two senses) which I have never heard of before - he must have gone thru torture. I can identify being bipolar since 14 and on disability, not being able to work and what it's like not being able to stand large groups (over-stimulization), weak relationships, etc.
I still don't know why the group poked fun at him somewhat with "Shine on Crazy Diamond", etc. and why Waters grins or laughs when he's asked about Barrett ("VH1 Classic Albums: Dark Side of the Moon", etc.). It's no fun being dysfunctional let me tell you - in fact, suicide becomes a practical option on a daily basis at times.

Barrett had some other interesting quotes about himself. Seems he was fairly cognizant of his mental state and what it was doing to every facet of his life. I have nothing but sympathy for the guy.

I'm treading the backward path. Mostly, I just waste my time.

I'm full of dust and guitars.

[Enish]

Waters probably grins or laughs out of nostalgia. You might as well say that he sometimes fantasized about being Syd. He was practically obsessed with him throughout his career with the band, with the obsession reaching its peak with The Wall. I find his fascination with Syd a little creepy, to be honest. I understand he was close friends with him, but the way he talks about him at times kind of rubs me the wrong way.

And I wouldn't say that the group "poked fun at him" with "Shine On...", but put him on a very high pedestal. Had Syd been able to comprehend the meaning of the song they were recording while he visited the band in the studio, he probably would have been disgusted with it. As great as that song is, I thought the title track off of "Wish You Were Here" was a more fitting tribute.

Drugs aside, no one really knows what he had for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did have some form of AS or Synesthesia.

[my breakfast.]

I think it's a delicate subject. I hope we will not try to trivialize it.

No, I think it needs to be blown wide into the open. So much shit is posted about Syd, mainly by good natured if massively misled idiots. There is also the Daily Mail anti-drugs crowd who like to use his story to "prove" that LSD causes all manner of mental illnesses, even though these people have no idea how you would diagnose mental illnesses....

"Syd took LSD then tried to fly and peel his skin off and shit. He played his guitar out of tune then got schizophrenia, aspergers syndrome and became bi-polar. True story. My mate read it online."

Too much of this shit exists online that there needs to be a backlash. It is pretty shocking if people only listen to him because they want to poke into the inner workings of a 'diseased' mind because they think it is all wacky and cool and spiritual.

[Enish]

It is pretty shocking if people only listen to him because they want to poke into the inner workings of a 'diseased' mind because they think it is all wacky and cool and spiritual.

And if people only think it's "cool" to listen to the Syd era stuff because "no one else does".

I wouldn't be surprised if Syd had encountered one of those so-called Barrett cultists back in the day and deny all those claims that he's some "higher being". He just happens to have the uncanny talent of pairing words that sound like they're from a children's book with very good musicianship.

I will say, though, that it's interesting to listen to Piper and The Madcap Laughs back to back just to compare Syd pre- and post-breakdown. I have a hard time listening to the latter because it disturbs me to hear him struggling with something that came so naturally to him.

[danielcaux]

I wouldn't be surprised if Syd had encountered one of those so-called Barrett cultists back in the day and deny all those claims that he's some "higher being". He just happens to have the uncanny talent of pairing words that sound like they're from a children's book with very good musicianship.

There's a quote of his sister recalling how he use to wondered what was all the fuzz about those simple songs he wrote so long ago.

[Chris Moise]

I wouldn't say that the group "poked fun at him" with "Shine On...", but put him on a very high pedestal. Had Syd been able to comprehend the meaning of the song..

Quite likely Syd was well aware Shine On was about him. Perhaps he didn’t notice it the evening he turned up at Abbey Road but I’m sure if he heard it in subsequent years he grokked the obvious. He clearly suffered from some sort of disorder but the guy wasn’t a vegetable, he knew who he was. To give an example, in 2002 Syd told his nephew Ian that Mick Rock’s photos were his favorite pictures of himself.