When people talk about wasted potential in rock and roll, it’s usually premature deaths like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, or Kurt Cobain. Pink Floyd’s original leader Syd Barrett also belongs on the list. Although Barrett lived into his sixties, his musical career was effectively over by his mid-twenties, burned out by a combination of LSD and schizophrenia.
Barrett left a glorious legacy of music, in a career that seemed equally informed by nursery rhymes, old bluesmen, and Lennon and McCartney’s psychedelic era. While Barrett’s recordings can sometimes be rough, marred by his unsettling vocal style and by his own struggles with mental health, he’s blessed with an impeccable pop sense and his songs are often catchy and memorable.
Despite Barrett’s relatively small output, his best work is spread out over multiple releases. His best material is concentrated on Pink Floyd’s debut album The Piper of Gates of Dawn, released in 1967, and his solo debut, 1970’s The Madcap Laughs. But to get a full career overview, you need to dig a little deeper; here are ten of his best songs:
#10 Effervescing Elephant
from Barrett, 1970
Syd Barrett’s second and final solo album was light on inspiration compared to his previous projects. Its highlight was the closing track ‘Effervescing Elephant’, an animal fable that Barrett wrote in his teens.
#9 Lucifer Sam
from Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967
The psychedelic moments of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn can sometimes feel dated, but Barrett’s pop sensibility shines on songs like ‘Lucifer Sam’. People have speculated about its meaning, but it’s clearly about a cat – it was originally titled ‘Percy the Rat Catcher’. ‘Lucifer Sam’ has been covered by a wide range of artists, including The Black Crowes, MGMT, and The Lightning Seeds.
#8 Golden Hair
from Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs
‘Golden Hair’ was based on a poem by James Joyce and features Barrett at his prettiest and most plaintive. It was featured as a b-side to Barrett’s first solo single, ‘Octopus’.
#7 Scream Thy Last Scream
Cancelled Pink Floyd single, 1967
The intense ‘Scream Thy Last Scream’ was intended as Pink Floyd’s third single, but it was shelved by EMI at the last minute, along with the b-side ‘Vegetable Man’. Widely bootlegged over the years, it didn’t see official release until The Early Years 1965–1972 in 2016. It features a rare lead vocal from drummer Nick Mason.
#6 Jugband Blues
from Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968
Barrett only wrote one song on Pink Floyd’s second album, A Saucerful of Secrets – he was replaced by David Gilmour as he was becoming unreliable on stage. But his sole contribution was memorable – ‘Jugband Blues’, with its opening line “It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here”.
#5 Octopus
from Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, 1970
Pink Floyd had tried to keep Barrett on as a non-performing writer, but when that failed and he was removed from the group, there were attempts to record him as a solo artist. These initially failed, but after time in psychiatric care, Barrett regrouped for his solo debut. Initially known as ‘Clowns and Jugglers’, ‘Octopus’ was Barrett’s only solo single, and provided the album with its title after David Gilmour misheard the lyric “the mad cat laughed at the man on the border”.
#4 Arnold Layne
Non-album Pink Floyd single, 1967
Pink Floyd’s debut single contains the universal subject matter of a laundry stealing transvestite. We’ve all had a neighbour like that, right?
#3 Astronomy Domine
from Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967
‘Astronomy Domine’ showcases the space-rock that shares album time with Barrett’s nursery rhymes on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
#2 See Emily Play
Non-album Pink Floyd single, 1967
Pink Floyd’s second single was also written by Barrett, and it reached #6 on the UK charts – not surprising for a tuneful and succinct psychedelic song at the height of psychedelia.
#1 Bike
from Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967
Barrett at his most nursery rhyme-ish closes The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
I know a mouse, and he hasn’t got a house
I don’t know why. I call him Gerald
Did I leave out any of your favourite Barrett songs? Are you a fan?
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Fantastic choices. For anyone who hasn’t jumped aboard the Barrett train, these ten songs are the ideal primer to get them on track.
Thank you!
Great idea for a post!
I pretty much dig all of the songs Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd. I’m not familiar with his solo album you mentioned and will definitely check it out.
His solo stuff’s a bit rougher sounding, but I think there are a lot of great songs on the first one – The Madcap Laughs.
Great to see poor old Syd getting some recognition.
I agree with all your choices but would add the Floyd single Apples and Oranges and just about all the songs on Barrett and The Madcap Laughs, including Love Song, Baby Lemonade, Love You and Long Gone. Even the stop-start attempts at If It’s in You.
Some say he was finished before he even began and that Piper is effectively his swansong as well as his debut. But gems like Lucifer Sam sound perfectly lucid to me.
While I would never expect even a fellow music lover to share my love of Syd’s stuff, and to many it must be painful, embarrassing to listen to, I’m a long-time fan. Funnily enough I often use it to get through the tedium of household chores such as ironing.
I think he came and went a bit after his initial breakdown – had moments of lucidity. I tried to represent a broad spectrum of stuff, but I was going for favourites, I would have taken more from Madcap Laughs, as it’s my favourite of his.
There is so much mythologizing going on about Barrett it is best to let the songs speak for themselves as you have done, I love Barrett’s stuff, particularly Dark Globe which is harrowing and beautiful at the same time, I love this version from Gilmour who more than most has kept Barrett’s legacy alive in an appropriate way…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGS4Xp8rLPA
That’s a nice version – I hadn’t heard it before. I heard that Gilmour was careful to get royalty money etc to Barrett as well.
Gigalo aunt & baby lemonade are missing for me. Oh and I’d dump that song about the elephant !
Yeah, I’m maybe weird about my picks from Barrett. Just don’t like it anywhere near as much as his debut.
To be fair that’s the only record I own by him, he always makes me feel a bit woozy though
I didn’t know what to expect because of his reputation when I first heard Pink Floyd’s first album in the 80s. I was pleasantly surprised. You are right…he had a very good pop sense about him. I thought I was going to hear psychedelic sounds with no melody…It was actually quite good.
I only know Octopus, as I’ve just never really jumped into his solo stuff. Keep meaning to, but, y’know, there’s always other stuff. Rich is right, though; this is a good primer.
The Madcap Laughs is very good IMO – I’m sure you would probably appreciate the loose performances and production.
I’ll need to make some time to give it a listen.
I’ve only ever had a passing interest in pink floyd…mostly because that early Barrett stuff put me off I think! May revisit.
There are about five different eras of Pink Floyd, and it’s possible to enjoy some and not others. I generally like i and iii the best.
i) Psychedelic Barrett era (1967-68)
ii) Experimental and democratic band (1968-1970)
iii) AOR monsters (1971-1977)
iv) Roger Waters is in charge (1979-1982)
v) David Gilmour (everything since)
Probably 3/4 for me then… Gilmour always sounds a little over produced and the early stuff not so much
We’ve discussed Syd before. I devoured his two solo albums (will eventually do a take). Cool that you feature his music. I’m sure he’s just a footnote with a lot of folks. Not you or me. “Baby Lemonade’, “Terrapin’, ‘Here We Go’ I love those albums. ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ is an all time fave cut, period
That weird guy who made early Pink Floyd un-listenable?
That’s a good one..
He is a bit effeminate. I want them to play space jams but he wants to sing about gnomes.
Another good one but he did jam out “gnome like” on ‘Interstellar’.
I have so much music I listen to. You nudged me back to SB. Which is a good thing.
Great list, the only ones I’d add for consideration are ‘Baby Lemonade’, ‘Late Night’ and the very Bowie-esque ‘No Man’s Land’.
I guess Bowie was probably taking notes, right? They’re both a little preening and effeminate, and Bowie covered ‘See Emily Play’ on Pin Ups.
Yeah, definitely a big influence on Bowie. ‘No Man’s Land’ is not preening or effeminate though. It’s the heaviest thing Syd did as a solo artist and sounds almost like a dry run of ‘Scary Monsters’. Contains the classic (and also fairly Bowie-esque) line: ‘We awful, awful crawl’…