Locked in a Room with Syd Barrett (January, 1970)

January, 1970.
A few days after the release of Syd Barrett's first solo album "The Madcap Laughs", Melody Maker magazine arranges an interview with Barrrett. Why were the guys from the Melody Maker and Syd locked in a room? Watch and find out.

[@miltiadisathanasiou4058]

He was unbelievably handsome

[@georgemasonsghost4062]

So odd that he says I can't really sing. He had a great voice.

[@ashab1]

He also said his management were aliens and to get him, so…..

[@qbr3820]

syd, rest in high. you deserved better.

[@RaymondPeckIII]

God, this is heartbreaking. I saw the Their Mortal Remains exhibition of Pink Floyd artifacts in LA last year. At the very beginning there was a framed letter written by Syd to his girlfriend at the time. It may seem a bit silly, but it was incredibly moving to be inches away from something that he had written with his own hand. He is such a legendary person that he didn't really feel real to me until that moment, and I stood there for many minutes until I could pull myself away. After I finished the rest of the exhibition my last stop was to spend one last time with the letter.

[@whatevershebrings]

Considering the secondhand and highly speculative nature of Syd Barrett lore, it's great to hear his own words. Credit goes to Chris Welch, one of the finest Rock journalists, *and* the always excellent work of Yesterday's Papers!

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Thank you. I agree, Chris Welch was one of the greatest journalists of that era.

[@marrrtin]

I'm sold. This is awesome. The best use of old music papers ever.

[@plasteredbastard]

the last twenty years of his life were ordinary something he longed for when he was lauded and adored. he was deserving.

[@EmeraldWoodArchives]

Poor old Syd. Bless his soul.

[@thomasbrennan5194]

I often feel sorry for him . Be careful what you wish for is the moral of story.

[@sexobscura]

He's utterly famous with a cult following - yeah ... poor Syd

[@klym8_]

Syd Barrett was truly a beautiful man. Sad that we lost him

[@dr.buzzvonjellar8862]

Still, until today, Syd’s songs are incredibly novel and affecting. They seem to exist in their own time frame, without aging. It’s incredible art. I still visit it for inspiration. Of course we fans would have liked more, but I’m grateful for what he gave and glad he found contentment in later years. …. One wish, however. I’d love to hear a Gilmour sequenced and remixed version of TML, that includes Opel.

[@Goomer]

Such a great talent, handsome man. Don't let drugs destroy your life.

[@knickd1979]

i've read every single book on Syd and never once saw any reference to this interview!! why did it take so long for this to surface??? When you read books on Syd you CRAVE any actual dialogue from him post '67, its amazing to hear his answers to such questions posed in 1970 ! THANK U FOR THIS

[@SOTM73]

Beautiful man, and an enigma none of us are bright enough to understand.

[@johnhouse9983]

for those of us who dropped enough acid to slay a concrete rhino but came out the other side intact we can appreciate those who didn't , i can hardly stand up and make a cup of tea when tripping balls Syd wrote two top selling albums bravo i say.

[@nathanadnitt]

I drank a cup of tea on acid never again man🤣 yeah.. its a horrible substance if used by the wrong minded people, poor syd didnt have a chance bless him

[@user-jv3iy6pz5h]

How many would you say made it out vs how many who didn’t?

[@knickd1979]

As a person who has spent many hours (probably hundreds unfortunately) trying to figure out Syd's story and make some sense of what happened, I don't think he was capable of handling the pressure that came with pop stardom in mid-late 60s. Back then there was tremendous pressure to produce successful singles as you mentioned, basically they wanted one every 5-6 months! And by the time Apples and Oranges, Scream Thy Last Scream, & Veggie Man failed by Xmas of '67, it was just too heavy on his sensitive psyche. I could be waaay off, but I think his lyrics in Jugband Blues reveals something of where his mind was. "What exactly is a dream and what exactly is a joke?", as an example, could perhaps be his way of saying, "this dream of being a successful pop band and maintaining mainstream success is just a far-out dream, in fact its a joke, unrealistic so let's fess up". I've yet to see any great interpretation of that closing line, so if anyone has one I'm all ears?? Despite my fondness for LSD based on personal experiences, I can't imagine taking it too often or in large doses in such a set of circumstances with record company pressure and all the attention of the London underground, the media, fans and family. Some feel the drugs are a bit of a red herring in Syd's story, but I for one came come to the belief that acid + mandrax certainly hurt the young artist and robbed him of any ability to anchor his self/thoughts when the cold wind blew. I think the most telling evidence in Syd's story is the drastic, drastic difference in his speech from early '67 to late '67. Although there's not a ton of examples, there are enough interviews and recorded bits to see that his thoughts were fogged, far ranging, and ultra self-conscious compared to '66-early '67. this specific interview reveals a lot of his fears at the time if you listen closely, except that he addresses them in a positive way to mask them. For example, he speaks positively of the tour in the US which was a nightmare according to everyone else and he was sent to treatment upon return. He speaks about not being "depressed" or confused while he obviously is displaying paranoid/scared behaviors on that very afternoon. He talks about his feeling that he has "not been left behind" by the music scene while it is clearly weighing on him to some degree. the saddest part of his case is that the majority of attention Syd gets today focuses on the dark Syd instead of the Peter Pan Syd that shined so bright in the early Floyd days which were truly magical and fun. A haunting character is that Barrett fella.

[@krisdoggett483]

It didn't help matters that he was sharing a home with ppl who would be slipping LSD into his tea all the time without his knowledge and he probably did suffer from schizophrenia too, as it usually comes on in ppl who were in his age range.

[@mwmingram]

I don't think the underlying character of his personality is emphasised enough. It's a common age for young men to first experience schizophrenia.

[@Valientlink]

The mandrax was really the bigger issue I think. In that interview with whoever the guy was in August 1967, Syds speech is very, very slow. I almost guarantee he was on mandrax there. According to his bandmates his mandrax habit lasted into his solo career, well into 1970, and he took LSD with Mick Rock in 1971, so it seems he was still using it. Personally I think he also must have been dosed with STP at some point. I recall a story where his flatmates locked him in a cupboard while having a bad trip. Whether it was LSD or STP, that would really traumatize someone.

[@knickd1979]

@@Valientlink I appreciate your interest in Syd and your comment. I agree with your assessment that Mandrax might be to blame for his speech during that particular interview. However, the one part of your comment that I want to mention is the business of his flatmates locking him in a cupboard during a bad trip. This, I believe, belongs in the category of myths in Syd’s history. This came from a silly remark made to a naive reporter who was sniffing around for a scoop. The hipsters immediately recognized the green square for what he was and flippantly fed him that line about Syd being locked in a cupboard after some noise came from the floor above. The reporter then ran with it because there was no sighting of Syd that day and nothing noteworthy was gathered, so why give that ridiculous comment some weight and breath life into the fabrication of Syd the madman?!? Syd was never locked into a cupboard. I can’t remember their names, but the very people who offered that line have been asked on the record about it and admitted that it was a joke made and was never intended to be taken seriously.

[@wbh3952]

Some feel the drugs are a bit of a red herring in Syd's story? Doesnt it seem more likely that he simply damaged his brain with too much LSD?

[@JoeRivermanSongwriter]

Thanks for uploading this. Syd influenced people who don't even know he did. God bless him. 🙏

[@MrBooYa-yd5er]

I will simply always love him.

[@ahobimo732]

Perhaps it's naive of me, but I feel that Syd could have continued making music if he had just had someone who genuinely loved him, and was able to handle the business side of his artistic career. Syd was like a child. His genius was his ability to lose himself in purposeless play. If there had been someone in a parental role to care for and protect him, I think he could have continued making sublimely beautiful music his entire life.

[@lucygoudie6377]

No i agree with this! I think if he had someone who really did care for him and loved him and someone who persuaded him to come off drugs he would have had a much more longer and successful career

[@ahobimo732]

I wish I could have done that for him. 😞

[@MelModica]

For real, I love Syd’s groovy music, one of my biggest musical influences and I don’t think Pink Floyd would be what it is without Syd, I think every member of the band is extremely talented but even after Syd left their was still his influence in a lot of their music!

[@ahobimo732]

@@MelModica He really love his writing as well. He had such limitless creativity. Listening to Syd reminds me that there is no end to "make believe".

[@PAULLONDEN]

*@Mark O* The Floyd, especially David Gilmour were unconditionally supportive of Syd . His parents and sister "genuinely loved him" . That's the reason he was able to live as long as he did. With their support he was able to function at his own pace , yet was not interested and able to be musically creative anymore. On the other hand one might reason ..."how much pampering does one need ?" Sometimes it might be advisable the get a kick under the but ? Reading about his childhood , just like Nick Drake, he probably seldom heard "no". Just a train of thought . Some characters are beyond help ,especially when mind frying drugs are involved.

[@martshankleman]

Well done Chris Welch for writing such a sympathetic story about Syd from what was obviously a disturbing experience. I once interviewed Peter Green and had a similar experience of disjointed answers that were difficult to follow. Mentioned it to a psychiatrist who said it was a symptom of schizophrenic thought processes called ‘knights move thinking’.

[@thadonis.]

You interviewed Peter Green? Do you have any more information about it?

[@martshankleman]

@@thadonis. what can I say? It was around 1996, and he was making a comeback with the Splinter Group. I was working for the BBC. The interview was unusable because Peter was unable to sustain a train of thought. I’d ask a question and he would start to reply, then go off at one tangent, and then another one, and he didn’t make sense. He was obviously disturbed because he told me he still heard ‘voices, but he’d learned to ignore them.He did make 2 points clearly.He scoffed at my suggestion that he when he played with John Mayall he was as good (or better ) than Eric Clapton . He said that was ridiculous. And he said his inspiration for playing blues guitar was watching Sister Rosetta Tharpe, on tv. (U can google the clip of her. She plays ‘ Didn’t it Rain on a railway station platform around 1964. I worked out this had to be what he was referencing)

[@thadonis.]

@@martshankleman Thanks for replying. Was he still heavily medicated around this time? I recall in the Man Of The World documentary his biographer said that when he got him off the meds he greatly improved- and could talk fine/coherantly. Which I think was perhaps an exageration. I do think that documentary paints too much of a fairytale ending, as if Peter was fine and had rediscovered his creative genius, maybe around the time you interviewed him and throughout all his projects since. I think if we saw the unedited clips of that documentary, his replies might not sound as coherant as the film shows. Do you agree? Is your interview archived anywhere? Was it for print or video? I think the transcript might make for interesting reading, although I can understand why you don't want to release it out of respect, if his train of thought was as you said. However, what you said about his inspiration from Rosetta, have you thought of updating his wiki? Perhaps that information is already in his biography, which I am yet to read. If it isn't perhaps you could contact his biographer? He has published several revisions to the bio, the last being just last year I think. Sorry, lots of questions! Thanks for your time!

[@mackb909]

Roger Keith Barrett, best known as Syd. For my money, the creative soul and most interesting member of PF. Much speculation and many words have been disseminated over the years about what happened to him from spring '67 until his departure about a year later. Overwork? Too much pressure from the fan base and from his bandmates? Too much success at too young an age? Too much acid? An incipient, hereditary predisposition toward psychosis that was inevitably going to emerge sooner or later? All or none of these? Whatever; I don't know, but I do miss him. For my money, "Piper" and the early singles are worth far more to me than all the subsequent PF oeuvre put together. Shine on, Syd, whatever interstellar plane you're riding on now.

[@robertbruce6865]

I’m guessing, based on what I’ve read (I own 5 books written about a guy who spent roughly 5 years in the music business), that he was Autistic. I base this on my experience working with Autistic children as well as what I’ve read. I’m convinced that his father, a brilliant man, was also Autistic (a high functioning one; Asperger’s Syndrome was the old term, since retired). I disagree with Roger Waters that he was Schizophrenic. Listen to audio of Barrett speaking; the quirky patterns remind me of some of the Autistic children that I worked with over the years.

[@chriscatton705]

Wow. This was intensely beautiful and satisfying. thank you!

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Thank you for watching, glad you liked it.

[@nics0ul]

i feel this, I took too much acid and it was like being in a trapped scary confusing fun house with no way out. I’d never recommend it to anyone. Syds solo work is actually chill and artsy in my opinion.. it doesn’t need to be defined. It’s art ~ my favoriteeee is “octopus” 💜💜 love you forever, Syd

[@nathanadnitt]

I was doing it every weekend of this year.. shit fucked me up for months.. ive only just come down to reality recently

[@Libertyjack1]

What people tend to leave out in stories like Syd Barrett's, is that not all creative people are willing to pay the price for success. Perhaps he was one of them. Barrett was brought up in relative comfort, for a post War British kid, in a pretty privileged neighborhood. As much as we like to practice our talents and be rewarded for them, most people, in varying degrees, relish comfort. His fast decline, aside from the drugs, came with his taste of success. But think of what success would've implied for him. He would have had to have left the certainty and comfort of his surroundings, to live out of a patchwork of hotels, eating foods of varying qualityand form. He would likely have traveled three, or more, different time zones in a week. As chief songwriter, he would've been obliged to produce a certain quota of material in a certain amount of time. His band would've relied heavily on him, and he would worry about letting them down. He would've developed a huge fan base, some of which would cross the line of obsession, which he would find difficult to escape from. He likely would've spoken to distraughtened artists, like Brian Jones, heightening his fears of the unknown. These could cause anyone to lose sleep, and with the help of benzedrine and acid, anyone could've been broken down. Barrett had a reputation of self sabotage. Perhaps, his inability to gain success was not so much due to his mental state, as much as that he was unwilling to pay the price.

[@Innertame01]

Wow perfectly said!

[@markymarc9339]

A sad slow fade of a one time supernova who reached incredible creative peaks most performers/composers only dream about. Again like many of your videos, superb photos and added visual effects that enhance the aura of this incredible one of a kind psychedelic overlord.

[@AngelA-qj4jx]

This was done really well, incredible!

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Thanks!

[@dixgun]

Love the visuals and editing. LAUGHS. It was a strange sense of humour that he had, according to his sister, and he had it his whole life.

[@paulbeadle1714]

This guy brought the band who saved my life in my different ways there will never be another man or band like Pink Floyd ever again love all

[@victorformosa2825]

Love the original footage you provide with your content.

[@viciousdope66]

At the ripe age of 19, Syd Barrett was a GOD to me…I stumbled across his music because of the “Pink Floyd: Echoes” album, which came out around Xmas. As soon as “Astronomy Domine” came on I could feel/hear something different. Then I researched why the band had a different singer originally, and I found out about Syd blasting off into the psychedelic abyss and never returning…a sad story, really. There was a website dedicated to Syd (it may still exist, not sure), called “the Dolly Rocker,” which I would use to read interviews with him (when I was actually supposed to be doing research for projects while at school). I eventually found his solo albums, and most of the rare stuff, Vegetable Man included. Scream Thy Last Scream is another favorite. Ricky Erickson, Captain Beefheart, and other “outsider musicians” eventually became heroes of mine. Unfortunately, we the public have benefited from the madness of these musicians, while they sank further into insanity.

[@professormacdeezy]

Roky Erickson managed a pretty solid comeback and don van vilet (beefheart) was very really mentally ill and was a pretty accomplished painter but i feel you

[@sarifahschweizer7354]

Syd is Syd.. ..trouble soul, so am I. Love him to bit's thou.....Rip , u 're loved @

[@robertdefex3439]

Syd wrote and recorded over 80 original songs in-between 66 &71 and made his mark the father of alternative art driven music

[@versnellingspookie]

Are those demo's out there anywhere?

[@MrUndersolo]

Watched part of an interview with his sister, Rosemary. She had to take care of him from 1982 to 2006 and his death. So sad to consider what could have been with this much talent. Thank you for this!

[@sodaboj9074]

Very interesting to hear all this. First time hearing that he was planning to form some kind of a group and continue playing. I wish we could hear all the material he was talking about here, I wonder what else he had written, must've been quite groovy if Syd himself liked it. Also, I wasn't aware that Syd had departed from the group only two weeks after they came back from that infamous American tour. Plenty of new information and it makes you wonder how is it possible that there is such a small information discussed usually by the Floyd circle. His managers were aliens? That tells a lot, this whole interview tells a lot. Thank you so much really.

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks. Yeah, it was a great interview with a lot of very interesting information.

[@thebrownshadowrecords7966]

He kinda did form a group, named Stars!

[@sodaboj9074]

@@thebrownshadowrecords7966 I thought Stars were later though and from what I've got, it ended up to be quite a sad story for Syd. I don't know, it seems to me as if that is not what he meant in this interview (at least from what I've got while reading about Stars). Who knows though....

[@dannyhood7433]

@@sodaboj9074 I agree, I thought 'stars' was the last time Syd appeared on stage with a band. I could be wrong.

[@brianorakpohit]

The US tour was Nov 67 and he didn't leave til early 68 but really, his mental state was so fragile and tangential by 1970. The aliens comment gives some indication....

[@markpalmar70]

God that's a desolate photograph at the start. Goes to the heart, bearing in mind the magic of his best records.

[@ge2623]

To me, Syd always struck me as a guy who was a FANTASTIC baseball player, who absolutely HATED playing baseball.

[@absinthedream9668]

His answers seemed pretty together & insightful here. Intelligent, unique artist cut down too soon.

[@kevinquinn4499]

Amazing! Great article. Thanks for this.

[@daemiand9657]

We love you sid

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

How sad...he obviously desperately wanted to continue with his music at this time, in 1970, but was just simply incapable of getting his ideas together and was obviously struggling with the day to day of life. I feel if he had had someone really close to him to guide him and care for him, he may have made some kind of a recovery. His words here are the words of a desperately lonely and somewhat confused man. Chris Welch treated him with respect and patience and that's quite something. Thanks for sharing this.

[@vivalapsych]

That UFO footage looks amazing with the effects you’ve added!

[@cu6454]

He seemed pretty coherent in that interview it surprised me Wish he was able to produce more stuff it was nice to see a picture of him smiling I don't think I ever saw thank you 🙂

[@grrr.9998]

O brain burst into tears when the sun is down and satisfy the need in me.

[@jorgec55]

I remember buying the album back in the early 70's while, for a few months, I explored a path of LSD infused introspection that changed in many ways my perception of life in general. To this day I am curious about how Syd navigated his own path and decided to stay looking forever instead of 'coming back from the trip'

[@christinecanty5409]

That’s it. You got it right. He decided to stay looking forever instead of coming back from the trip. Or, was it a conscious choice or could he come back?

[@WilmerCook]

When he saw how absurd the world is, I don't blame him.

[@alisonmccourt9180]

I don’t think he had the choice to come back.

[@wallacelovecraft8942]

I think he was a modest man. He should have continued to make music. Sometimes good things take a long time to complete. I've read about the creation of his debut solo album. It took long to release but it was a good album.

[@Brunomgonzalez]

The mystery of SYD will have people wondering for years on end. Some people say the stories were exaggerated and he might’ve done a lot of acid but so have other. First hand accounts like this just make me sad. Wish there was a way we could know exactly what happened but only those who knew him personally can say. Brilliant mind that was haunted by the endless trip. Shine on

[@Hehhnsbz2334]

There's an interview with Duggie Fields on KZbin in which Fields flatly states that he didn't recall Barrett doing an unusually large amount of acid compared to others who were experimenting with it. Fields' opinion shouldn't be dismissed out of hand: during the time when Barrett was Fields' roommate, Fields probably saw more of Barrett than anyone else.

[@Truckngirl]

"I can't really sing..." Oh Syd, so humble. Yes you could.

[@gossamerglenn6714]

It took hearing madcap laughs in 9th grade with an 07 graduation date to finally love music before everything else felt awkward and cheesy to actively get playing for myself

[@roybennett9284]

Poor old bugger,if only knew how amazing he was.

[@likklej8]

Syd used to busk at the fountain at Cambridge market back in the eighties. Just singing straight folk songs like Streets of London etc. He lived in Cherry Hinton

[@bookaufman9643]

Back in the late '80s I was living in Austin Texas and for a while I had to crash on the floor of a house that had about seven or eight guys living in it and a couple others crashing like me. One night a couple guys came in that I knew around 3:00 in the morning, I guess after the clubs had closed. This dude from Norway had a song he really wanted me to hear and I don't remember the band or anything but the song was called I know where Syd Barrett lives and it was this British band kind of singing a poppy melodic tune based on one of the members having run into Syd. The song was kind of sad and I think it had lyrics about how he lived with his mom and all of that, which is all true. A lot of people like to call him and acid casualty but that's completely false. Acid doesn't help somebody who's developing schizophrenia but he just had rotten genetics. A lot of people that becomes schizophrenic first experience it in a very bad way in their college dorms when they are about the same age as when Syd Barrett experienced it. I've known a few people who were unlucky enough to be schizophrenic and you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy. All the medication can do is to calm you down by over medicating you. None of the medication actually works on curing the schizophrenia it's just a way to be able to live with it if living is even the right word. We'll never know what would have come from a Syd Barrett lead Pink Floyd but I think that they progressed in a much more impactful way after Syd left. I'm not much of a fan of the Floyd records that he mostly wrote and I think they would have trailed off and not been heard from if they'd stayed on that path.

[@cerealwithnomilk6984]

Deep ….

[@robertdillon6821]

Genius....

[@Eltonlaleham]

I seriously wish I could have seen Pink Floyd in concert when they were touring

[@bryw222]

It's a fine line between genius and madness.

[@chadpittman3025]

Syd Barrett is up there with Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix as far as sales go these days

[@7hillumi]

I knew his disappearance had something to do with aliens all along

[@yanikem6655]

Great video, thanks. What’s the background music? It’s beautiful.

[@YesterdaysPapers]

It's a song I recorded to go along with the video. Glad you like it, thanks.

[@thecowwarrior3]

@@YesterdaysPapers It really is quite nice. It reminds me of Epilouge by Mouth. Do you have it available to download anywhere?

[@mikewilson3581]

At the top of the stairs of my apartment is a large framed poster of Syd playing his Fender Esquire. If Syd had one, I must get one to play. Well, not an original $$$$$$$, but a reissue will do.

[@CaseyVan]

It sounds like Syd was doing better for a while because of being in one place, and not on the road with PF, although he said he was happy.

[@andreaburke5769]

Yes Please

[@Valientlink]

1:06 while some may think this has to do with loads of LSD or schizophrenia, one must remember he was abusing mandrax, heavily. At one point he was found overdosed in his bathroom foaming at the mouth because he used to take handfuls of them. They contain a good dose of diphenhydramine in them (benedryl) which is known for creating delusions and hallucinations far worse than LSD ever could.

[@richyrich5489]

Good observation. I believe that sedatives, alcohol, poor diet and poor general health had more to do with his unraveling than LSD. Mandrax was a combination drug composed of the sedative-hypnotic methaqualone (Quaalude) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl). The tortoise-like pace of the song Terrapin may best illustrate musically the "high" produced by Mandrax. Then the lost years of 1973-1975 were drowned in "Guiness, Guiness, Guiness" according to an employee of the hotel where Barrett stayed. After his death, his sister Rose commented that he "drank tremendously." My take on Syd mirrors yours in the respect that the self-medicating Syd was engaged in had some nasty side effects. And, in my opinion, he was trying to forget. Perhaps there were too many lost loves. Maybe a bit too much insight left by his earlier use of psychedelics on a not yet mature psyche. Add to that some disappointment with the hasty production of his solo albums and the eroding of his confidence as a musical artist. At any rate, as the unfinished 1974 sessions demonstrate, his creativity had left with his muse.

[@steverlfs]

Syd is an icon to me! But his acoustic, solo releases were disappointing. The flame had left the candle.

[@edcollins9377]

NOBODY DID MORE DOPE THAN SYD!

[@peepas2633]

Wow ive been looking for more interviews with him post "breakdown". This is incredible. Is this his last?

[@adamodigiampaolo7024]

the movie is beautiful done very well this beautiful mellodic background music can anyone tell me what the title is about thanks

[@jamesheath7601]

RIP Syd

[@lucifersam4521]

Where did you get these photos from thumbnail?

[@davidkarr4632]

I have only heard a couple of songs from the Madcap Laughs when it came out, on FM radio...Can't recall anything about them but I did like Piper at the Gates of dawn....tragic and sad for Syd Barrett's life..🎶And when the band you're in starts playing different a different tune I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.

[@barbaravanwhy4564]

Same thing happened to Rory Gallagher he turned to alcohol and it killed him many of these famous people need the attention they are geniuses and they cannot handle being alone or away from an audience that's my take on it

[@markussimon753]

What is sort of heartbreaking is the politeness in the given answers. I did think a lot of the whole case, I‘m not an expert though. The politeness of the aswers constrasts the paranoid reaction at the beginning…there‘s a longing for acceptance and at the same time part of him wants to reject something, what isn’t good for him. I think we would call him a neurountypical person today. His style of playing was so different, organic, fluid, and more and more in the moment…how to reproduce this? Even on his official solo recordings the different takes of the songs are very different. You can do this in Jazz, but in Rock you have to reproduce more exactly to be succesfull. It seems to me, without the infnuence he has been, nothing of the later Pink Floyd would have been possible. It was an unfolding flower of mirrors and everything shows his reflection. But it became more and more static. To keep it going it had to go on mirroring everything…but Syd‘s music was more like life itself. To me it‘s anticapitalistic from the root, because it just don‘t plays the game. Because of the lyrics and the Interviews Syd gave, I think, he also was aware of this fact. Isn‘t it strange to write an epic piece like Shine on you crazy diamond…about and for Syd but act like fools? Nick Mason i think is the one who tells in an interview, that they were just thinking in terms of the career back then, when they should have helped and listened to a friend. The passage „you were caught in the cross fire of childhood and stardom“ appears unbelievable cynical to me. How can you build someone a monument out of your own understanding? I think the monument is for yourself only. I think, who was really caught by stardom was Waters in the first place and this remains the great hippocracy. What is more childish?

[@mwmingram]

Syd's work is the standard.

[@user-by7jv6qd7x]

As said in his biography he had been taking so much lsd he could barely remember his own name and was constantly afraid he could loose his ID since he needed it to look up for his name. Once he was asked how he was doing and answered: "I don't remember." Then they tried to bring him to a psychiatrist, since he lost track of his ID and was going crazy. After few months he had changed his name to Frank, because it was written on a poster in his flat. But he moved out of that flat and it started over, after a while going by Carl. Finally he went back to Roger, but complianing he did not like that name. He was still taking huge dosis of lsd, with more types of drugs at the same time, which he mixed with the food he was randomly eating. He grew used to eat lot of pop corns and candies and some time raw meat. Then he got diabetes. Another time he pretended he was dead, in his bed, for about 10 hours. They called the doctor and he said he was okay.

[@transparent6748]

Painted himself into a corner..basically how Syds life after Floyd ended,,isolated

[@michaelholtermann9129]

Syd Barett received help from David G. for his two solo albums... The recordings turned out to be very difficult!!! Syd continued to take drugs!!! He was not in a good state... Syd was on the verge of schizophrenia!! He should have been eating apples and oranges instead... Syd had the wrong friends!!! Sad story for Syd and his family... I am interested in how he lived with the illness for the rest of his life... Unfortunately there are no more books about Syd in Germany...

[@JamesFricke777]

O nome Syd tem mais a ver com SIDE (lado), mas a pronuncai SID, tem mais a ver com SEED (semente)...

[@BrianBarrettWilson]

Verifiable, Roger Waters spent 15 minutes in the recording sessions for syds solo work.

[@stevenfielden8955]

Mmm - what makes it more regrettable for the music industry is the recent story of a young woman who found out eventually that her stalker was her management - nothing good to say about that kind of business really??

[@arejaycee5484]

A Very Irregular Head is the best book on Syd out there Brilliant.

[@cinnamonsinner4619]

The back ground music is cool what is it called?

[@Cream1968]

Paranoid schizophrenic perhaps, sad, my late sister was afflicted with it and never recovered Nowhere near the amount of education about this back in the day

[@FetusfromaFetus]

I understand that he had underlying issues but maybe he accessed something through the use of LSD and actually did see his management as aliens, it’s a theory, I just find it strange how he was kicked out and called crazy, if my friend in my band is having a bad trip, the last thing I’d do is kick the person out, that would just cause more problems, they should’ve helped him out more

[@heroicsquirrel3195]

His management aren’t aliens ffs, he went crazy😂

[@FetusfromaFetus]

@@heroicsquirrel3195 I know, that’s why I said it’s just a theory lol

[@heroicsquirrel3195]

@@FetusfromaFetus poor guy couldn’t handle it unfortunately, he went too far

[@FetusfromaFetus]

@@heroicsquirrel3195 at least he left us his music, it will always be timeless

[@heroicsquirrel3195]

@@FetusfromaFetus yeah, I recently listened to him after a long break, always satisfying

[@jasonarnett5487]

Link to the full interview?

[@peterfreeman6677]

Yes please. Seconded.

[@davidfrazerwray7525]

Many people who knew him said that he was disillusioned with the music industry. He liked the idea of being a pop star but he didn’t like all the BS that went with it. He was essentially an artist, which Waters, Mason and Wright were not. They were architects. He wanted to express himself in music but once he had done that, he soon lost interest and went back to painting, which was his first love. In my opinion that was actually a pity, because he was an indifferent painter, but an exceptional musician and lyricist. Perhaps he regretted that choice later. We shall never know.

[@kindnessyet2159]

It makes me wonder if reaching the top is worth it.

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Some people can handle it and some people can't.

[@stevec2993]

Waters and Gilmore did Syd a great disservice with that L P record . They allowed the sloppiness to remain when they could have cleaned it up .s

[@thediamonddog95]

Any chance of doing a video about Nick Drake? To be honest, i don't know if he did many interviews.

[@YesterdaysPapers]

He seemed to be pretty much ignored by the press when he was still alive. I love Nick Drake so maybe I'll do a video about him in the future if I find some cool, interesting info.

[@thediamonddog95]

@@YesterdaysPapers I understand. Thank you. Even if you wouldn't do it, you already do a wonderful, irreplaceable job. ❤️

[@lukakemularia1850]

what is the background musics name??

[@rhwinner]

Oh, what might have been....

[@Tobacc0]

Any chance you have the name for the background track playing on the video?

[@YesterdaysPapers]

It's a song I recorded to go along with the video, it doesn't really have a name. Hope you liked it.

[@Tobacc0]

@@YesterdaysPapers Yes, it's excellent. I wanted to look it up!

[@areamusicale]

poor Syd ;-'(

[@oscarowski]

The two weeks in the US didn’t seem that nice - maybe in his head, but watching him during that trip was akin to watching a vegetable man…

[@TAKINITEASY]

My managers are aliens ....doesnt seem so crazy now does it

[@carlosjorgekierigvonborrie3475]

He was just a burned fuse

[@OroborusFMA]

He went the chemical distance. He didn't die, like many did, but lost himself and only some kind of shell lived on.

[@leemagrish3432]

Does anyone know Sid Barretts IQ? Some say 170.

[@TheMamarebecca]

Breaks my heart. Truly. Schizophrenia is so devastating.

[@mexicanpepe4life]

I think there was a point right after they kicked him out of pink floyd when syd could have been saved. But it seems like the guys from pink floyd and his friends turned their backs on him, and he surrounded himself with bad people who only made things worse for him. Not blaiming the guys from pink floyd tho, they did what they had to do career wise, just saying they could have done more for him on a personal level. I do belive that leaving pink floyd hurt Syd alot, and that pushed him more into drugs.

[@RicardoGarcia-it6qt]

Spain please

[@Heyok-vx7yf]

Who was his management at the time he came to believe they were aliens? Asking for a friend.

[@ThefightingCelt]

I have both Syd's solo albums . Not great albums but interesting nonetheless . Btw , not many people know that Syd' s real first name is actually Roger .

[@peterfreeman6677]

Yes, I know that, although I've forgotten how I know it. Wasn't his adoption of 'Syd' a tribute to a jazz or blues artist?

[@sirapos6550]

I always forget the name of the Eskimo girl - what was it ?

[@YesterdaysPapers]

Iggy.

[@sirapos6550]

@@YesterdaysPapers Oh man thank you, memory loss here :)