what do you make of syd's songs with the floyd?

white rabbit · Post by **white rabbit** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:20 pm

one of the things i instantly loved about the Syd Barrett Pink Floyd when i heard it for the first time (my first two floyd cd's were Piper and Animals), was that he songs were, apparently, about nothing. that's one of the things i about pop music, it's all love songs, none of Syd's stuff was really about anything. at least not on a concious level. then later on in the floyd, like Animals, they had a political tone, not that it's a bad thing, but i thought the dreamy/storybook songs they had about nothing in particular was refreshing change.

Piper · Post by **Piper** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:55 pm

Well Syd's songs were dominated by his whimsical imagery, inspired by his love of children's literature, English fairy tales, and psychedelia. The songs were "about" things IMO, not about any particular message but just about the world that Syd is trying to bring you into. What I loved about the Piper At The Gates of Dawn was how Syd's innocent yet mad lyrics mixed with the music, the music always seemed to add that extra layer of chaos and dementia. Without the music some of Syd's lyrics are just pleasant poems - take Lucifer Sam, just an ode to his cat, till you get that dark music which just adds a whole new dimension to the imagery.

white rabbit · Post by **white rabbit** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 5:17 pm

very well put

Tinkerbell · Post by **Tinkerbell** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 6:09 pm

Piper at the Gates, though my first Pink Floyd album, wasn't obviously the first thing I ever heard from the Floyd, so when I got this CD I was truly amazed, coz it was so different to what I had heard from the latter Floyd, and I even thought Syd's Floyd was not better, but much more pleasant to me.
Maybe it's that lingering feeling of childhood, in his tunes.
I gotta agree with 'Piper' here, I think Syd had his own little private world, and what he tried to do was to bring us a bit closer to it.
Maybe he didn't open a door, but at least he opened a window to let us sneak peek...

Anna-Roza · Post by **Anna-Roza** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:03 pm

Believe me that for people from outside England songs about "nothing" (about somebody's life or about existence in general - look at "Chapter 24, that is inspired by "I Cing", Chinese philosophy and so on) mean much more than songs about Margaret Thatcher or Mary Whitehouse ("Animals" is my favourite album, by the way).

Spinoza · Post by **Spinoza** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:18 pm

Anna-Roza wrote:Believe me that for people from outside England songs about "nothing" (about somebody's life or about existence in general - look at "Chapter 24, that is inspired by "I Cing", Chinese philosophy and so on) mean much more than songs about Margaret Thatcher or Mary Whitehouse ("Animals" is my favourite album, by the way).

Indeed, the universality of the early Floyd, and even from the Floyd up to Animals ( maybe The Wall ) was great. You loose that with e.g. ATD, where you need to have almost a degree in history to capture all the little references in the lyrics.Universal songs NEVER get dated.

madcap69 · Post by **madcap69** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 4:56 am

it was cool

RogerWatersGirl · Post by **RogerWatersGirl** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 11:32 am

I absolutely LOVE the Syd Barrett Floyd!
I think its so amazing, and fun! I'm facinated with the whole "fantasy world" thing about Syd...Because, yes, it does bring yuo into a whole other place almost....And, its just amazing! Playing the early stuff on bass is also really fun, and, its so much different than thier later basslines...
But, I love Syd Barrett and what he did to Floyd, its just a damn shame that everything turned on him, really. All Floyd is amazing, but, I truly love the early stuff like mad! And, Piper is such a great album!!!

PS: "PIPER" I really like yer avator!!!

Spirit Catcher · Post by **Spirit Catcher** » Sat Aug 16, 2003 12:04 pm

I like Syd's songs..