Crazy diamond

watched a fine documentary about syd barrett yesterday on tv. his story remains one of the most fascinating mysteries in rock history. syd wrote some of the best early experimental pink floyd songs (like ‘arnold layne’, ‘see emily play’ or the album ‘the piper at the gates of dawn’), but completely lost the track, probably through his experimenting with lsd and other chemicals. he could not be maintained in the band, and after he left pink floyd he managed to make two intriguing solo albums, but after 1970 it became completely silent around him… his former pink floyd colleagues did not see him for years, until he suddenly was sitting in their studio, just when they were recording ‘shine on you crazy diamond’, a song about syd! no one recognized him at first, he had shaved off all his hair and was over 100 kg. for the past 30 years he has been living completely isolated in cambridge, and he is nearly blind now…