Awhile back I read an article about Tom Stoppard and his play, "Rock & Roll." He mentioned that at one point he considered writing about Syd Barrett, the great, lost frontman of early Pink Floyd. It kind of spurred my interest in Barrett too. So I ordered up a copy of "Crazy Diamond Syd Barrett & the Dawn of Pink Floyd." It's a very good bio of a baffling person. Barrett was a charismatic dude, an artist and musician, very witty, literate and experimental. After bursting on the scene with the first Floyd disc, "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn," Barrett totally spun out. He had a breakdown, no one was sure if it was the drugs, over-indulgence of mind altering substances, or just plain "mental illness" (whatever that is) that did him in.
Barrett, unlike Hendrix, and Brian Jones, did not check out of this earthly realm too soon, but instead retreated to his mother's house and lived a long reclusive existence, pretty much disassociating himself from his earlier persona. Syd was not his given name, it was actually Roger, and when fans would track him down and say "Hi Syd," he'd reply, "Syd's not here."
Anyway, it's one of those strange, artistic deaths, one wonders if Barrett was just too sensitive, too precious for this world, or was he just a drug casualty who burned out, and really, was turning away from music, fame and fortune the best thing for Roger Barrett in the long run?
Was the great promise of his early work an over-hyped chimera, or a just a glimmer a hint of great things to come that never did? That's sort of the mystery of the man. There's a cult built up around the "Crazy Diamond," and some people compare him to Rimbaud and Van Gogh - although, Syd kept both ears firmly attached until the end.
Barrett died July 7, 2006. At his funeral, a passage from one of Roger's favorite children's books "The Little Grey Men," was read. I'm thinking it's a useful instruction and well, a good epitaph for us all...
"The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours, lights and shades; these I saw. Look ye also while life lasts."
And you know, even if Roger stopped the writing and singing...I don't think he ever stopped seeing, and maybe there's eloquence in the silence too.