RIP--Syd Barrett

Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett died in his late mother's home last week, and I found myself strangely sad at the news. He'd been in seclusion for over 30 years, only coming out for a brief stint in the '70s to start a band called Stars that went nowhere. I've gone through many stages of feelings about him over the years, mostly negative, but I've given second thought to this. While I have never been a fan of his lyrics (they are, at best, pretentious and, at worst, ridiculously stupid), his use of tape loops, synthesizers, and improvisation in his musical arrangements are both visionary and highly influential. David Bowie and Marc Bolan (T. Rex) owe him a great deal, as do modern groups like Radiohead and Tool. Without his creative uses of technology available to him, it's hard to say where experimental rock would have gone. I thank him and hold him in high respect for this.

What most will remember about him is the stories of playing a single note through an entire concert, as well as the major drug use, but there is overwhelming evidence of legitimate mental illness that, while certainly heightened by the LSD, was likely the actual cause of the behavior. Shine on you crazy diamond; I hope you find more peace in death than you could in life.