Syd Barrett was an English singer, songwriter, musician and painter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. He was known to be reclusive. Reclusiveness may coincide with mental disorders and some persons may have speculative diagnoses of schizophrenia (see List of people with schizophrenia), but this does not mean that Barrett's songs, and the songs about him, concern reclusion: for example, the instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive" exemplify Pink Floyd's early psychedelic period.

Barrett left Pink Floyd less than a year after the release of their first single, "Arnold Layne". He played with the band only on their first two albums (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets), contributing the song "Jugband Blues" as the closing track on the latter, before recording two albums in 1970 (The Madcap Laughs and Barrett), the latter of which failed to chart. In 1975, the Pink Floyd album Wish You Were Here became a popular screed against music business with its theme the loss of Barrett.

With the decline of the record industry and changes in the music business, Barrett's alienation remains relevant. The following list is indicative of Barrett's legacy.

Songs

Released Title Writer(s) Artist Notes "What's the New Mary Jane" Lennon, JohnJohn Lennon Beatles, TheThe Beatles Aug 1968 outtake, supposedly inspired by Barrett, released in 1996 "Incarceration of a Flower a Child" Roger Waters Marianne Faithfull 1968 composition supposedly about Barrett, or perhaps a revision of it "If" Roger Waters Pink Floyd Supposedly about Barrett "Pink's Song" Richard Wright Richard Wright Visibly about Barrett "Oh! Wot A Dream" Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers About Barrett "Brain Damage" Roger Waters Pink Floyd References Barrett "Mr. Barrett" John Steele Flaming Star From a self-produced album dedicated to Barrett "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" Roger Waters, Richard Wright, David Gilmour Pink Floyd About Barrett "Psychedelic Punkeroo" Twink Twink And The Fairies About Barrett "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" Dan Treacy Television Personalities About Barrett "The Man Who Invented Himself" Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock Wrongly supposed to be about Barrett "Song For Syd Barrett" Martin Newell The Cleaners from Venus About Barrett "Stolen Letters" Magic Y, Uncle T Peter Sellers and the Hollywood Party About Barrett "Spun Out Of A Mind" Magic Uncle Peter Sellers and the Hollywood Party Barrett lyrics in title (of the 7" single) "Song For Randy Newman Etc." Martin Phillipps The Chills Barrett mentioned "High Hopes" David Gilmour, Polly Samson Pink Floyd Refers to Barrett "Syd's Wine" Steve Peregrin Took Steve Peregrin Took 1972 demo. (Original 1971 song title was "Beautiful Deceiver")Release title refers to Barrett whom, Tony Secunda alleged, performed on the track. Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe By Julian Palacios, Plexus 2010 "A Star Too Far (Lullaby for Syd Barrett)" Genesis P-Orridge, Larry Thrasher Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV About Barrett "My Man Syd" Anton Newcombe, The BJM The Brian Jonestown Massacre About Barrett "1974" Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock Refers to Barrett "Hyperdrive Reprise" Brock, DaveDave Brock Hawkwind Instrumental for Pink Floyd book, partial cover "Anyday-Anyway (Encore)" Kevin Coyne, Achim Goettert Kevin Coyne From a self-distributed live album about Barrett "Ya znayu, gde zhivet Syd Barrett" Umka & Bro Umka & Bro Russian version of "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" "Syd Barrett Blues" Rod Webber Rod Webber About Barrett "Gente de Barrett" Sidonie Sidonie About Barrett "Syd Barrett" Alain Pire Michel Drucker Experience About Barrett "Scarecrows In The Rain" Mystery Jets Mystery Jets About Barrett "Oranges and Apples" The Trash Can Sinatras The Trash Can Sinatras About Barrett "Dark Asteroid" The Damned The Damned Dedicated to Barrett "Nobody Home" Phil Judd, Rod Leith Phil Judd Refers to Barrett "We Know Where Mr. Barrett Lives" Michael Svidén Michael Swidén Revision of a July 2006 MP3 about Barrett, released in 2010 "Morts-Vivants" Katerine Katerine Mentions Barrett (in French) "When Your Garden's Overgrown" Paul Weller, Simon Dine Paul Weller About Barrett "Agnus Dei" Fred Fortin Gros Mené Mentions Barrett (in French) Retrieved 29 November 2024

Other songs The above list may be incomplete, and subtle references may be found in songs not included above, especially Pink Floyd songs such as "Fearless", which would be more explicit in "Brain Damage" and songs in The Wall such as "Hey You" and "Nobody Home". Some claimed Barrett references turn out to be spurious. The Shamen credit their song "It's All Around" to Barrett and some bands, like Jennifer Gentle, are named after Barrett songs (in this case, from a line in "Lucifer Sam"); two bands are known as Baby Lemonade. Italian band Birdy Hop is named after a Syd Barrett song; the title of their debut album, Welcome To The Insanity Ride, recalls a line from "Octopus" and producer and singer-songwriter Amerigo Verardi has been compared to Barrett. Los Prisioneros's "Concepción" mentions Barrett in the chorus, referencing the rumors about him living in Chiguayante, and how supposedly the 2 cities he ever made a concert in were London and Concepción.

Cover versions of Barrett songs Of the many cover versions of Syd Barrett songs, the best-known are David Bowie's 1973 "See Emily Play", The Jesus and Mary Chain's 1984 "Vegetable Man", R.E.M.'s 1989 "Dark Globe" and the Smashing Pumpkins' 1991 "Terrapin".

Internet songs Sharing and streaming over the Internet has resulted in a number of unreleased Barrett tributes, including the 1999 mp3 "Elephant" by Rex Tangle on his website, the 2000 instrumental MP3 "A Tribute to Syd" by The Worms on disc 18 of Have You Got It Yet?, a 2007 video of "There's A Man In Cambridge (Song for Syd Barrett)" by "Alec" on YouTube, and a 2007 parody cover video ("Pink Floyd – Paying The Piper") by "Pauldullson", also on YouTube.

Notes The following are references cited in order to link to explanatory information. The references not cited in specific parts of the article are in the External links section at the bottom of the page. The other sources are in the next section.

References Where not otherwise specified, the retrieved dates in the reference section are assumed to be 28 March 2014.

External links Is rock music dead? opinions at Debate.org Other Pink Floyd Related Albums overview at The Pink Floyd HyperBase https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232648/http://www.psychemusic.org/prog7.html Inspired By Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: review page] at Syd Barrett Tributes from Bowie, Robyn Hitchcock, Wayne Coyne and More at The Future Heart