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"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Dr. Hunter S. Thompson  "It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it." David Stanowski To find older articles; use Search or Site Map |
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Monday
24 July 2006
Syd Barrett - RIP It is always very sad when one of the Founding Fathers of a legendary Blues Rock band dies! Syd Barrett was the co-founder of Pink Floyd, one of only a handful of Bands that Changed the World, so his influence on this band, and the entire music industry can not be overstated! Unfortunately, he quickly became a ghostly apparition of sorts. Pink Floyd was founded in that pivotal year of 1965, and after writing the music for, and performing on, their first two albums, Syd was GONE! His mental instability, that may have dated back to his father's death at age 11, coupled with heavy drug use, and the inability to handle the power that the Rock and Roll gods had granted to him; left him unable to function. He would wander the concert stage, as if in a trance, playing one chord over and over again! Like a visionary, but delusional captain of a ship, Syd set the S.S. Pink Floyd on a course through uncharted waters, but then had to be left behind in a lifeboat, after steering the ship at too many "icebergs"! When the band was forced to cut him loose in 1968, Syd attempted to develop a solo career, but by 1974 he had given up music for the life of a quiet recluse in Cambridge, England. As his mental state deteriorated, he even spent some time in mental institutions, in the 1980s. There was some sense of deja vu at the news of Syd's passing, on 07 July, since it really seemed like he had died more than three decades ago, when he withdrew from the world; and in many ways he had! He was a truly tortured soul! It was long after Syd's departure when Pink Floyd began producing their most brilliant work, starting with the album "Dark Side of the Moon", in 1973, but the band still continued to honor and respect his early guidance, that got them to that point, by creating their tribute, and farewell album to Syd; "Wish You Were Here", in 1975. Two of the songs tell the tale of Syd's influence on Pink Floyd, and his personal torment better than any outsider could. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is as haunting, chilling, and inspiring as ever, when it says of Syd: "Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky." and "You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon." "Wish You Were Here" goes on to say: "Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?" and "Did you exchange a walk on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage?" I can not know what inspirational role Syd played in Pink Floyd's finest music, but if his band mates continued to feel his influence, then I must thank him one last time for some of the greatest music I have ever heard!! After all of the truly spiritual experiences that this band has given me, I hope that Syd has found the peace that alluded him in this life. It continues to amaze, confound, and disappoint me that with the universal acclaim and popularity, that Pink Floyd's music still enjoys, so few bands cover these classics, today! Someone needs to bring this music to our local venues on a regular basis!!  Shine On You Crazy Diamond Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky. Shine on you crazy diamond. You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom, blown on the steel breeze. Come on you target for faraway laughter, come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine! You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon. Shine on you crazy diamond. Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light. Shine on you crazy diamond. Well you wore out your welcome with random precision, rode on the steel breeze. Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine! Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far. Shine on you crazy diamond. Pile on many more layers, and I'll be joining you there. Shine on you crazy diamond. And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph, sail on the steel breeze. Come on you boy child, you winner and loser, come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine! Wish You Were Here So, so you think you can tell, Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell? Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? Did you exchange a walk on part in the war, for a lead role in a cage? How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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