Syd Barrett’s downfall was, perhaps, quite inevitable because the singer had a stubborn nature and struggled with mental health. While dealing with these problems, he also had to write, compose and perform with Pink Floyd. And after his eventual departure, Syd couldn’t help but eventually fade away from the public scene.
However, his former bandmates, with the new addition of David Gilmour, did justice to Syd’s unique figure multiple times. They carved Barrett’s image into their songs and remembered him for his creative and crazy shine. Yet, some of these tracks went unreleased, and Roger Waters saw it fit to give away one of them to another musician after a long time.
Roger decided to give a particular unreleased piece to Marianne Faithfull years after its creation. The song couldn’t find a place for itself in Pink Floyd’s catalog, but with Roger’s permission, Marianne gave this song a second chance.
When Faithfull decided to call Roger Waters and ask if the rocker had any pieces he could share with her; she probably did not expect a thirty-year-old song from the long-forgotten archives of Pink Floyd.
However, the bassist perhaps thought it was time for this track to be released as he gave his blessing to Marianne to use the song. This particular single was written only a year after Syd had departed the band in 1968, and it was a bit of a farewell from Waters for his former bandmate.
The track was called, ‘Incarceration of a Flower Child,’ and when listening to it, one could have felt the band’s desire to rebrand themselves after Syd’s departure. The melody was different than Pink Floyd’s usual spirit in the ’70s, and the lyrics were quite personal.
Faithfull used the song in her 1999 record ‘Vagabond Ways’ by adapting it to her style. The song became one of the successes of the record, as Marianne’s voice turned it into a catchy melody, and it felt as personal as Waters would perform the song. Faithfull also released the demo version of the Waters-penned track in the reissued version of the album, which was a modest take compared to the studio version.
