Scream Thy Last Scream

When I was a teenager, playing around with the whole smoking pot thing, I would drive my friends slightly crazy renting all manner of cult movies. One stoney Friday night, I picked up Pink Floyd The Wall at the Tower Records video counter over on El Toro Road and my life was changed. I watched the movie over and over again, under the influence and not. It took me awhile to realize that it wasn't the film I was craving necessarily, it was the music. I got me a casette copy of The Wall and nearly wore that fucker out.

The movie acted as my gateway Floyd, and I dove in, slowly building up the CD collection. I didn't know from the get go though that Syd Barrett was the original lead singer/songwriter/guitarist for the band. Syd Barrett has left the building folks, permanently. The original leader of Pink Floyd died a few days ago.

For those of you not up on your Pink Floyd trivial history: Syd Barrett began the band with three others and helped to usher in the psychedelic movement in London. He is primarily responsible for the songs on their first album, Piper At The Gates of Dawn. But soon, through a previous condition or through the copious amount of drugs he was taking or both, Syd Barrett went apeshit nuts. He was released from the band, went on to record two solo albums, and then crashed with his mum to stew in a mess of his own crazy.

Admittedly, I was not the biggest fan of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd; I was into the darker, harder, more nihilistic bent of The Wall and Animals. But I understand the man's influence and certainly appreciate it. Syd Barrett is almost solely responsible for the glamlicious direction that Marc Bolan would take T. Rex, and in turn provided David Bowie with the inspiration that would make him a superstar. I mean it's almost impossible to listen to sections of Barrett's The Madcap Laughs and not hear what Bowie would do with those ideas on Hunky Dory. Syd Barrett also made it possible for little talent musicians to indulge in drug use and messy playing and call it music.

"We're a little too Syd Barrett for most people to get." Yup, uh-huh...

But blah, blah, blah... Fanboy, fanboy, fanboy...

Anyway, goodbye Syd Barrett, I'm sure the ride from psychedelic pop star to cautionary tale wasn't an easy one. I hope the last 30 or so years in seclusion were nice for you, that you weren't haunted too much by the crazies. I will listen to Dominoes and think kind thoughts.