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THE MADCAP AT THE GATES OF DAWN
15 July 2006
As a 12-14 year old I thought that listening to Pink Floyd and albums like 'Atom Heart Mother' and
'Meddle' prepared me for anything that could be considered musically challenging. That until I was 15
and bought 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'.
I didn't get it. I didn't get why Barrett was considered a genius, and couldn't see beyond what seemed to me at
the time to be a dark Beatles imitation. I did like a few tracks, like Lucifer Sam and Chapter 24, but the overall atmosphere
and style, was just too overwhelming.
I needed a few years of getting to know The Velvet Underground and David Bowie, and then the early Pink Floyd singles 'Arnold Lane'
and 'See Emily Play' to be more prepared for it. And most of all, what made the big change was getting into Syd Barrett's solo work,
which funnily enough I liked and related to straight away.
Perhaps the fact that Late Night in the cover version This Mortal Coil was a childhood favourite helped. Perhaps it was the direct,
honest and guts spilling lyrics which I identified with - unlike the Piper's lyrics about all kind of weird characters, and space
related subjects. The Madcap Laughs (Barrett's first solo effort) became (and still is) one of my favourite albums. After that,
The Piper was much easier to swallow.
I actually now think that you can hear a lot of music ideas in these albums that were later developed further in Pink Floyd's
career, and what seemed initially like dark Beatles tunes now sound like a one-off original style. I saw Roger Waters in his current
summer tour, and the most moving moment in the concert was when he did Shine On You Crazy Diamond with the short clips of Syd Barrett
on a big screen above the band. It really got me all chocked up. It suddenly made me want to go back and re-discover The Piper at the
Gates of Dawn.
I bought it on CD and got it in the post a few days later on Friday July 7th. I listened to it constantly that weekend and
on the days that followed. By Tuesday I must have heard it at least ten times. I mention Tuesday, because that was the Tuesday
that Syd Barrett's passing away was announced. He died on Friday July 7th, and though he hasn’t released anything in over 30 years,
he will be greatly missed.
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