Let's do a SYD BARRETT Poll of his SOLO songs, and have a general debate.

Terrapin, just barely over Late Night

Well, this is hard - all these songs made a huge impact on me - some of them I got on a tape comped for me by a dude whose position on Pink Floyd was strictly "Piper is great, fuck Pink Floyd thereafter" - he had a copy of "Apples & Oranges" which I'd thought "Here I Go" (also on the tape) was the b-side of. Later Opel came out & was just huge for me - something from another world. Haven't heard it in years but looking at the titles all their melodies pop right in for me.

That said, I think the class of the pack is the song "Opel." The way he just tosses off "a dream in a mist of grey" & some of those incredibly dense phrases, and that coda. Love "Wolfpack" and "Wined & Dined" to pieces but "Opel" opened some new worlds for me.

I heard "Love You" on John Peel, back not quite in the day (more during the punk years) and understood.

How they 'forgot' Opel when they compiled Madcap, I can't understand: It was the way Syd could have gone, loose but together.

I did have that Octopus single for a while (not the one in the pic), it went to Japan for a ton.

Still pondering my vote...

"Opel" really needs some band to fill in behind, like Airbus did with Portishead's Sour Times...

if that ever happens to that 100% perfect track, Mark G, I will hold you personally responsible & hunt you down, so be warned

Ah, it happens in my MIND, and it is perfect and wonderful.

So, until I can d/l from my brane (and there's a ton of unreleased MG songs that'd have to come out first) the world is safe. Or sage, or sade (my last two typos)..

dominoes

if theres a an adjective for something thats both twee and creepy, 'terrapin' defines it. love syd's stoned, drooling delivery. 'golden hair' pops into my head from time to time too.

I remember Knox (of the Vibrators) nearly had a hit with a not unacceptable version of "Gigolo Aunt" back whenever (1981?)

Opel. So fucking haunting.

Waters Floyd > Barrett Floyd.

hmmmm ... challenging opinions indeed, anagram ...
love "Golden Hair" so much.

and, funnily enough, neither are within the scope of this poll!

it's funny, when he passed away, I learned a couple of Syd's solo songs on guitar, and was kinda amazed at how well-crafted they are! It's easy to think of them as a jumble of chords thrown together, but there's a real logic at work there ... Maybe that's not terribly profound, but it struck me at the time. They're also hard! Just the rhythms/changes/etc.

I've always been impressed by Syd's song structures, it's one of those things that flies in the face of the whole "barely keeping it together" stories you hear about the post-Floy Barrett. Dude was just fucking incredible, imo.

Another vote for Opel. I find Word Song quite mysterious too.

"Dark Globe" is stunning and haunting. But the version they put on the non-rarities album seems to be a deliberate choice of a performance that accentuates Syd's lunacy, and cynically attempts to capitalize on it. The version on Opel is way better.

also, why the fuck is his name misspelled on that record?

Prize for noticing.

The promo edition got it wrong. The single corrected.

"Opel"

Rats. Love the way the muttering gains focus as it goes along...

i will probably will be the only vote for "bob dylan blues" i think

Kevin Ayers > Syd Barret
I'm gonna do a kevin ayers poll

Well, I mean Colin Lloyd Tucker>Kevin Ayers...

Kevin Ayers > Syd Barret

congratulations on your latest SB

"No Good Trying" ftw u disgusting savages imo

"Gigolo Aunt" I think, probably the first Syd song I heard properly.

xpp tbf Syd Barret > J0hn D.

Waters Floyd > Barrett Floyd.

"Dominoes" captures for me the very specific, quiet feeling of being wearied by too much time with entertainment and people you like, feeling trapped by pleasant domesticity. This is a personal take on it, but for me it mirrors the way time and feeling drags in such a scenario. It's been a favorite of mine since I first heard it.

Voted Birdie Hop. Had to.

I know for a fact I will be the only person who votes for "Bob Dylan's Blues."

"I'm a poet. Don'tcha know it?"

Read upthread, yr already wrong.

Kevin Ayers has a whole host of accomplished and stylish albums to show off how great he is.

If someone wanted to argue that he is 'better' than Syd, who am I to argue against?

I voted for Dominoes. It encapsulates for me how Syd was able effortlessly to inject pathos into his performances.

so..

I've been stuck on Madcap Laughs and Opel for a week now

Will be disappointed at ILX if "Effervescing Elephant" doesn't score at least 1 vote.

dark globe?
no good trying?

dark globe.

Thread also prompted me to listen to Madcap and Opel.
Madcap is just brilliant throughout.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

surprised Long Gone didn't get one vote? that's a famous one, innit? (I am educating myself on Syd and early Floyd, and loving it all)

Two of the 'zero' tracks were two I nearly voted for, "Love you" and "Here I go"

alright, who voted for "Word song"?

Hmm, two things:

1) I did a poll of Syd songs 2 years previous to this. Even put a photo of the mis-spelled promo uptop. and NO-ONE called it. (OK, I forgot as well)

2) And now there's a new best of, with a 'new' track, Rhamadan. It's not half bad, actually.

Seems a shame that someone must have said "no, syd, do more sing-songs" and Syd sighed and went home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmTBHjs6Q1U

Yeah, I got that as a £1 offer at Fopp Reading, when there was one.

Didn't see this one. Might have gone for "If It's In You". Because it's crazy.

barrett headz might want this: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/1128336207/interstellar-overdrive-s-can-it-be-that-in-a

2) And now there's a new best of, with a 'new' track, Rhamadan. It's not half bad, actually.

is that the same drum-heavy track thats been on previous bootlegs

"Feel" is pretty amazing. Really abstract and off the rails, but the couple of times it slows down it suddenly becomes immensely beautiful and sad and nostalgic. Really great.

xpost it might well be, I've not seeked it out before. The drumming is quite light...