The Syd Barrett Feature Roger Waters Envied

As Pink Floyd’s recognition increased towards the late ’60s, Syd Barrett seemed to slowly fade away. The frontman would linger around the stage, wouldn’t sing and play on time, and had a blank look in his eyes throughout the band’s shows; he didn’t seem to enjoy himself. At one point, it even became a matter of curiosity for his bandmates whether Barrett would perform on key or arrive at any rehearsal.

So, one day, while the band was going for a gig with the newest member David Gilmour, one of them asked a particular question about Barrett. They said, ‘Should we pick Syd up?’ The other bandmates didn’t know what to say, so when another voice answered, saying there was no need to pick Barrett up, the frontman’s dismissal was executed then and there.

So, even though the band didn’t want to deal with Syd Barrett’s erratic behavior and stubborn nature, there was one feature Roger Waters quite envied and found it challenging to fill in after Barrett was fired or, well, on a more positive note, quit. It was hard to replace Barrett, especially for this quality, and Waters knew things wouldn’t be easy.

Syd’s vocal parts were relatively easy to fill. Most bands went under lineup changes all the time, and Gilmour had been filling in for Barrett whenever the frontman didn’t feel like performing. So, finding someone with vocal talents wasn’t that hard. However, when it came to writing a song, the case was completely different.

Barrett was a prolific songwriter with the talent to write simple yet influential lyrics. His genius was to use simple words to create deep meanings, and he established a unique way of storytelling. With few words, Syd managed to tell simple-sounding complicated stories. So, when Waters assumed the band’s leadership, filling Barrett’s place as a songwriter was challenging. In ’87, while chatting with Chris Salewicz, Roger recalled Barrett’s talents and discussed envying his old friend’s best feature.

“Well, replacing Syd as leader of Pink Floyd was OK,” said Roger as he answered if filling in for Barrett was easy. However, “replacing Syd as a writer was a one-off. I could never aspire to his crazed insights and perceptions. In fact, for a long time, I wouldn’t have dreamt of claiming any insights whatsoever.”

Waters then appreciated Barrett’s talent as a songwriter. The bassist mentioned, “But I’d always credit Syd with the connection he made to his personal unconscious and to the collective, group conscious. It’s taken me fifteen years to get anywhere near there. But what enabled Syd to see things in the way he did? It’s like, why is an artist an artist?”

The rocker continued, “Artists simply do feel and see things in a different way to other people. In a way, it’s a blessing, but it can also be a terrible curse. There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be earned from it, but often it’s also a terrible burden. In spite the fact that he was clearly out of control when making his two albums, some of the work is staggeringly evocative.”

Roger also discussed working with Syd on the frontman’s first solo record, ‘The Madcap Laughs.’ He recalled, “Dave Gilmour and I worked with him on the first one; there was a backlog of material he’d written before he flipped. It’s the humanity of it all that is so impressive. It’s about deeply felt values and beliefs, and feelings. Maybe that’s what ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ was aspiring to. A similar feeling.”

Even though filling in for Syd wasn’t that hard for Roger as a leader, filling his shoes as a songwriter was quite challenging. It took Roger more than a decade to get there and write with Syd’s perspective as an artist. It was tough, but Waters believed he had improved as a songwriter in the end.