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Published on: 8/26/2007
Last Visited: 8/26/2007
Syd Barrett (third from left) during happier times with his Pink Floyd band mates in 1967. (AP Photo) asap discussed the passing of Barrett with biographer Tim Willis, author of "Madcap: The Half-Life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's Lost Genius."
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Willis: Well, there were two phases, if you will.He was an incredibly charismatic young man -- very clever, very handsome, very fashionable, and of course, very talented musically and lyrically.Then came the second phase: When he dropped out, he became, as it were, a myth, an Arthurian figure living on.Everyone was hoping Syd might come back someday. (The acclaim) grew when Syd went over the edge because he kept writing and was getting better in many ways.Those two solo albums -- although they're a mess because he was on the mandies (Mandrex, or Quaaludes) and he wasn't very well -- they're touched with genius, a dark genius, and they had a huge effect on people.He was like a dead rock star, but he didn't die, he just withdrew.He remained a frozen image of himself at his glory days and didn't hang around like a dinosaur on tour."
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Willis: He didn't like being a pop star.He hadn't expected it to be a series of record companies hassling you for No. 1's and touring every night.The groupies weren't fun anymore and all these people were slipping him new drugs to be part of his scene.He hated having to play the same song every night when he wanted to express himself differently every minute.He really was disillusioned with everything he was doing.But in some ways, though it was a very painful process, he found his own way again.
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Willis: Lots of people asked.He was offered 75,000 pounds -- a ton of money 30 years ago -- by Atlantic Records in 1975 and they said "Record whatever you want, do it in your kitchen if you want to."I think he didn't want anything to do with music -- too many associations with a very painful time in his life.I guess that's another reason I admired him, because he never did sell out.His response when they asked him for another hit single was "Scream Thy Last Scream," which of course they couldn't use, so he came back with "Vegetable Man," which is equally disturbing.
asap: Do we know for certain what Barrett suffered from?
Willis: Nobody knows.His sister has said that a specialist said he had an "odd mind" rather than an illness.He had some identity problems, probably combined with Asperger's syndrome, the obsessive kind that you often find in great artists.He just had a different brain.
asap: Was Barrett proud of his legacy as a rock star?
Willis: I think it hurt so much that he didn't talk about it, but I think he was at peace with himself.He chose to make a mental distinction between Syd Barrett and Roger Barrett, which is what he called himself.His sister said it upset him to talk about (Pink Floyd), and I think he preferred to put that character in another box.
asap: Is there a Syd Barrett song that crystallizes his legacy?
Willis: There's no doubt that it's "Dark Globe," but it would be sad if that's the only way one thought of Syd.The chorus is the saddest, it goes "My head kissed the ground / I was half the way down, treading the sand / Please, please, please lift the hand / I'm only a person with Eskimo chain / I tattooed my brain all the way."It's lovely poetry, and when it's sung to a lyric -- all the passion and tragedy -- it's intensely moving.
asap: How SHOULD Syd Barrett be remembered and how WILL he be remembered?
Willis: He should be remembered as being a startling musical prodigy and later as a huge lyrical talent that never found its peak, but I suspect he will be remembered as a patron saint of the dead rock stars club.
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