This is from the archived Oh Word. Visit the relaunched Oh Word for the new style.

|

Rather see the above links in your inbox or feed reader?
Subscribe to our Links for hand-picked items from around the web

Oh Word Email Updates

Your email address:



Jul 12, 2006

See you on the Darkside of the Moon · by Sach O

I’ll admit that I’m not entirely shocked at Syd Barrett’s death. Hell, until last year I’d assumed that he’d passed away of drug abuse shortly before Wish you were here thus explaining that album’s memorial/tribute vibe. Much as if ODB had died somewhere around 2035, Syd Barrett’s life span exceeded all rational expectations in the first place, making it easier to reminisce than grieve.

Pitchfork has already put up a nice little best-of list and seeing as his catalogue is relatively limited, I won’t bother rehashing it. Instead, here’s a big R.I.P shoutout to the best songwriter Pink Floyd ever had and one of the craziest acid eating bastards ever put on record. From the childish psychedelia of The Gnome and Scarecrow to the crazy space rock on Interstellar overdrive¸ Barrett’s compositions are some of the most influential and most interesting in rock history. Without Barrett there’d be no DJ Shadow, Elephant 6, Gnarls Barkley or Flaming Lips as we know them. That’s a pretty diverse list and perhaps the truest testament to his impact on music.

Hopefully he found some semblance of peace and contentment during his years away from the spotlight.

Comments for "See you on the Darkside of the Moon"