SYD BARRETT: Opel (sleeve notes & lyrics)
|
Roger Keith 'Syd' Barrett left Pink Floyd early in 1968. Now, some twenty years later, his brief time with the group from only a fraction of their history, but its legacy remains incalculable. Barrett wrote, sang and played guitar on almost everything recorded during those first outings - 'Arnold Layne', 'See Emily Play' and 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' l.p., but the commercial failure of his dazzling 'Apples and Oranges', coupled with an increasing unpredictability, undermined his eminent position. Several compromises would quickly flounder - the addition of a fifth member, Dave Gilmour; a suggestion that Syd should not perform, but merely write for and record with the group, and the inevitable parting followed.
Several months later Barrett returned to Abbey Road with his co-manager Peter Jenner, who acted as producer on a handful of new tracks. Somewhat exploratory, they included some which would be re-recorded later ('Late night', 'Golden Hair') and others which were then abandoned. Both 'Swan Lee' and 'Lanky Pt 1' date from this first session, the former is a wonderful 'Hiawatha-esque' tale which could well have accompanied the Floyd of 'Corporal Clegg', while 'Lanky' suggests the fragile instrumental improvisation of the previous year. Sadly, the recording charts give no clues to the other musicians involved, sadder still was the fact that the tempting 'Lanky Pt 2' consisted of percussive backing tracks.
Little was then heard of Barrett for almost a year, but in March 1969, he contacted EMI again. His request for studio time was passed on to Malcolm Jones, then setting up the Harvest subsidiary. Almost by accident, Jones became the producer of the next batch of recordings which formed the basis for Barrett's solo debut, 'The Madcap Laughs'.
Six of the final album's tracks were recorded between April and May, the rest came from three sessions cut in June and July, but with Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters replacing Jones. Both provided their share of out-takes, and it's from these that 'Clowns and Jugglers', 'Opel' and the various 'Golden Hair's' date. The version of 'Opel' included here is one of nine which were attempted, but this determination would not result in an official release; until now. The song is a gem, one of Barrett's finest, and it's elongated, closing refrain is positively haunting. 'Clowns and Jugglers' meanwhile would resurface on 'The Madcap Laughs' under a new title, 'Octopus', but this earlier take features Syd's first vocal and guitar which was later overdubbed by the Soft Machine - mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper and Robert Wyatt, something they also did on two tracks which did appear on 'Madcap,' 'No Good Trying' and 'Love You'. Barrett's irregular timing made the task somewhat difficult, but there's no denying the exciting edge the combination gave.
Waters and Gilmour tried eleven takes before they formed a satisfactory 'Golden Hair'. A short poignant piece, even the outtakes boast a distinct beauty at the persistence (the song was tried at every stage in the recording) finally succeeded.
'Dark Globe' (aka 'Wouldn't You Miss Me') was one of the 'new' songs Barrett brought to the Gilmour/Waters' sessions. Few attempts were required, but while the issued take features Syd on a high register, the one here is lower, more natural and less strained.
'The Madcap Laughs' was released in January 1970, and within a matter of months, work began on a second collection. The resulting album, titled simply 'Barrett' was a less experimental offering, it featured a single production unit, Dave Gilmour and Rick Wright, and a more structured backing group. Syd had prepared several demos in readiness for the sessions, some of which would form the basic vocal and guitar tracks for the finished master, with the instrumental muscle merely overdubbed. 'Rats' and 'Dominoes' were certainly completed in this way, but the former is included here simply because the difference between this and the finished release is so great. 'Wined and Dined' however, is a different take to that on 'Barrett', but rather than complete this collection with alternative versions - however interesting - we've opted instead for unreleased material. 'Word Song', 'Milky Way' and 'Birdie Hop' are each part of the whimsical Barrett of 'Gigolo Aunt' or 'Effervescing Elephant', rarer of course, without the backing those finished tracks boasted, but equally captivating. Two further songs were also uncovered, both of which have, up to now, escaped acknowledgement. Each is somewhat rudimentary, the sound of Syd turning the page can be easily heard, but 'Let's Split' and 'Dollyrocker' remain important finds. The first boasts the complex lines which make accompaniment awkward, while the second claims one of pop's great lyrics - "she's as cute as a squirrel's nut" - and a soaring middle-eight that's truly exceptional. With time, and sympathetic arrangements, any of these could have graced 'Barrett' and time rather than other factors seems to have been the final deciding factor.
'Barrett' was released in November 1970, and is, to date, the last album of new Syd material. This is not a lost third album, but a companion to those two exceptional original releases and collects the best of what is left available. Yes there are some flaws, some missed notes and some fumbling, but there's also an engaging insight into the talent of a most enigmatic figure. There's still more left 'in the can', takes hampered by false starts, or which fall apart quickly, there's the rambling 'Rhamadan', the infamous motorbike noises and somewhere there's the lost 'Bob Dylan's Blues'. Wherever that now resides, it's not at Abbey Road, and neither is its paperwork. Indeed there's no record of any further sessions there after July 1970, and if the stories which surfaced in 1975 are true; of an altruistic benefactor bringing Syd into EMI's studios, of Robin Trower's support (etc etc), then those responsible removed every shred of evidence; tapes, logs, everything. For several reasons, Syd Barrett's talent crumbled quickly, but for that all-too-brief time it was startlingly original.
Brian Hogg, Lizardd Sound Archives, August 1988
Opel
On a distant shore, miles from land
stands the ebony
totem in ebony sand
a dream in a mist of gray...
on a far distant
shore...
The pebble that stood alone
and driftwood lies half
buried
warm shallow waters sweep shells
so the cockles shine...
A
bare winding carcass, stark
shimmers as flies scoop up meat, an empty
way...
dry tears...
crisp flax squeaks tall reeds
make a circle of gray in a
summer way, around man
stood on ground...
I'm trying
I'm trying to
find you!
To find you
I'm living, I'm giving,
To find you, To find
you,
I'm living, I'm living,
I'm trying, I'm giving
Clowns And Jugglers
Trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have
no word
trip, trip to a dream dragon
hide your wings in a ghost
tower
sails cackling at every plate we break
was cracked by scattered
needles
the little minute gong
coughs and clears his throat
madam you
see before you stand
hey ho, never be still
the old original favorite
grand
grasshoppers green Herbarian band
and the tune they play is In Us
Confide
so trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no
word
Please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride!
Isn't it
good to be lost in the wood
isn't it bad so quiet there, in the wood
meant even
less to me than I thought
with a honey plough of yellow prickly seeds
clover
honey pots and mystic shining feed...
the madcap laughed at the man on the
border
hey ho, huff the Talbot
the winds they blew and the leaves did
wag
they'll never put me in their bag
the raging seas will always seep
so
high you go, so low you creep
the wind it blows in tropical heat
the drones
they throng on mossy seats
the squeaking door will always squeak
two up,
two down we'll never meet
Please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus
ride!
Sit up, touching hips
to a madcap galloping chase
Cheat he
cried shouting kangaroo
it's true in their tree they cried
Please leave us
here
close our eyes to the octopus ride!
The madcap laughed at the man on
the border
hey ho, huff the Talbot
Rats
Got it hit
down
spot knock inside a spider
says: That's love yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah!
That's love yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
says: That's love -
All know it
TV, teeth, feet, peace, feel it...
That's love yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah!
That's love yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
like the fall
that brings me to
I like the fall that brings me to
I like the cord around
sinew
I make a cord around sinew
Duck, the way to least is less
Tea
craving of the metal west
'ell tomorrow's rain and test
'ell tomorrow's rain and
test
Love an empty son and guess
Love an empty son and guess
pimples
dangerous and blessed
Heaving, arriving, tinkling
mingling jets and
statuettes
seething wet we meeting fleck
seething wet we meeting
fleck
lines and winds and crib and half
each fair day I give you half
of
each fair day I give you half
I look into your eyes and you,
flathe in the sun
for you...
Bam, spastic, tactile engine
heaving, crackle, slinky, dormy,
roofy, wham
I'll have them, fried bloke
broken jardy, cardy, smoocho,
moocho, paki, pufftle
sploshette moxy, very smelly,
cable, gable, splintra,
channel
top the seam he's taken off
rats, rats lay down flat
we don't
need you, we act like that
and if you think you're un-loved
then we know
about that...
rats, rats, lay down flat!
yes, yes, yes, yes, lay down
flat!
Golden Hair
Lean out your window, golden
hair
I heard you singing in the midnight air
my book is closed, I read no
more
watching the fire dance, on the floor
I've left my book, I've left my
room
For I heard you singing through the gloom
singing and singing, a
merry air
lean out the window, golden hair...
Dolly Rocker
(Dolly Rocker... It's called Dolly Rocker... It's an old make of dress...
Well, months old, you know..
that sort of thing)
I know a sweet
girl
she done went out and paid for me
was a sweet girl
after five we
went for tea
She seen a Dolly Rocker
She want a girl, she got her
I
wanna see her, I know I do
I love you darling, all for you.
You want to
meet Pearl?
she's as cute as a squirrel's nut.
She done seen me
said she
thought she got the lot.
She's a Dolly Rocker
want to wait 'till I got
her
said she knew I know we know I do
said she gotta see me lonely with
you.
Oceans may travel, away too long
senses in the gravel, to see
yourself at home
nice to be at home
all I'll ever do forever
all my life,
you see, when you got her
all I know, you know, I show you, baby
through
your head push to you, baby
is a Dolly Rocker.
She know what she got
her
She seen a Dolly Rocker
She seen a Dolly Rocker
Untitled Words
(We're running)
Stained, glaucous, glycerine,
gold, goat, clover
gold, local stocks, type, food, wild, national, lake,
flag,
valve, gyroscope, sect
heat, helium, lead, bare, state, invention,
medieval
refraction, faction, ultra-action,
hunter, interest, bullet,
market...
Loads, liquids, neon, heater, jaws, jungle
mains, signal, knives,
kitchen
ingot, lovely, mirror, mold
Mycenaean, moat, poppy,
rubber,
radar, rags, sugar, teak
silver, poke, tin, beetroot,
carrot, ebony,
fruit, copper, silk...
Carpet, distant, pigmy, hid, pack,
timber, pudding,
straw
raindrops, spattering, ramps
chameleon, prairie, pods,
trigger
museum, scales, square, ultra, out of map, vent
volcano, vain, wreck,
tactic
tidal, arches, valley, hand
inflect, impression, loom, last,
molten
you gamma, meeting
lighting, signal, island, coral-cold
Wined And Dined
Wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a
dream!
Girl was so kind.
kind of love I'd never seen
only last summer, it's
not so long ago...
just last summer, now musk winds blow...
Wined and
dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
Girl was so kind.
kind of love I'd never
seen
only last summer, it's not so long ago...
just last summer, now musk
winds blow...
Chalk underfoot, life I should prove
dancing in heat, our
love and you...
Wined and dined, oh it seemed just like a dream!
Girl
was so kind.
kind of love I'd never seen
only last summer, it's not so long
ago...
just last summer, now musk winds blow...
Swan Lee (Silas
Lang)
Swan Lee got up at the Running Foot
pow-wow,
heading from the fire to his waiting canoe.
Chattering Squaw
untied the wigwam door,
the chief blew smoke rings two by two!
The
land in silence stands...
Swan Lee, his boat by the bank in the
darkness,
loosened the rope in the creek is entwined.
A feather from the wing
of a wild young eagle,
pointed to the land where his fortune he'd
find
The land in silence stands
Swan Lee paddled on from the land
of his fathers,
his eyes scanned the undergrowth on either side.
From the
shore hung a hot, heavy, creature infested
tropic, Swan Lee had a bow by his
side
The land in silence stands
Swan Lee kept time, half on land,
half on water,
Grizzly bear and raccoon his fare.
He followed his ears to the
great water fall,
Swan Lee knew deep down that his squaw was
there!
The land in silence stands....
Suddenly the rush of the mighty
great thunder,
confronted Swan Lee as his song he sang,
In the dawn, with his
squaw, he was battling homewards
It was all written down by Long Silas
Lang.
The land in silence stands...
The land in silence stands...
The
land in silence stands.
Birdie Hop
Birdie Hop - he do,
he hop along
a lonely bird upon a window there
he, he, there he blow
a
windy snow, he knew the snow,
I know the snow, a hoppy bird
The
antelope ride around the parasol
just to see if he's a man
enough to meet you
in the sandpit
on a flying kind of sign in a meddlesome way
you know the
way - I see the flies
she's a little kite the sort
you think you might like to
fly
and like a kite you get to see her
every night, you know the way
she's
only paving her way -
hectochrome plane - I see the flies.
Birdie Hop -
he do, he hop along
a lonely bird upon a window there
he, he, there he
blow
a windy snow, he knew the snow,
I know the snow, a hoppy
bird
A camel woke up to a polish dawn
wouldn't look to see his feet had
gone
he wouldn't like it
wouldn't have the strength to fight it,
I see the
flies
I'm the only bird, a little third,
I lost a quarter
had a yearning to be
earning just a dollar a day
in a way you shouldn't like it, hectochrome plane
I
see the flies.
Let's Split
Everything about,
about to
go out,
me out, you out,
yes and everything is out
about, out...
out,
out, out, out, out, out,
Let's split!
I'm telling you this is it!
Everything
is down,
and hound, hound, hound
back down, down, down
even
everything is down
abound and down,
down, down, down, down, down,
down
Let's split!
Tellin' you this is it!
Nobody is right
tonight,
night, height, right, tight,
it isn't right
Me out, you out
And
everything is out
out, out, out, out, out, out
Let's split!
Lanky (Part One) (Instrumental)
Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)
Oh where are you now
pussy willow that smiled on this leaf?
When
I was alone you promised the stone from your heart
my head kissed the
ground
I was half the way down, treading the sand
please, please, lift a
hand
I'm only a person whose armbands beat
on his hands, hang
tall
won't you miss me?
Wouldn't you miss me at all?
The poppy
birds way
swing twigs coffee brands around
brandish her wand with a
feathery tongue
my head kissed the ground
I was half the way down, treading
the sand
please, please, please lift the hand
I'm only a person with Eskimo
chain
I tattooed my brain all the way...
Won't you miss me?
Wouldn't you
miss me at all?
Milky Way
What'd you ever say today
when you're in the milky way
oh tell me please
if I met you - I told you
what to do
seems a while
since I could smile the way you do...
how
many times, if I try, if I may,
when you're in the milky way
half of your
time -beside me only atmosphere
since I could smile the way you
do...
What can anyone mean to you
standing in the milky
way
take life easy
Why so empty...?
I told you - I can tell
you
what to do - when I hold you
and I tell you I love you
I feel that I'm
way you do...
Give a grasp of life today
when you're in the milky
way
oh, try to please! Knock on wood of the trees
glad you, mold you, mold
you and hold you
means five miles
and everyway for you...
Golden Hair (Instrumental)