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For those of you who did not see it yet, Syd Barrett died a couple of days ago. The news was not released until today. He was 60.

For those of us who prefer the older Floyd, today is a very sad day. Syd was an absolute genius, period. In my mind, he created a brand of music. He was fearless. He was a poet. He was so far ahead of his time. He was in a category all by himself within the rock world in 1967. Other musicians just wondered about him. Simply stated, he was the piper...

Don't take my word for it. Ask the remaining members of Pink Floyd. He was their idol. He was their leader. Dave Gilmour played bass on Syd's solo stuff just for the oppotunity to work with him. He was the Crazy Diamond.

Syd made it ok, cool in fact, to be a dreamer for me growing up. He made the forest greener, the stream whiter, the sky bluer and the sun redder. He convinced me to "discover" this big old planet. His guiter riffs and backwards lyrics are so original, they can't even be copied.

I am sure the band will do something special. It is very ironic that less than a year ago, the first unplugged show was dropped at BB's. The show was clearly a tribute to Syd's music (with Floyd and solo). The man was 60, and this band in the USA, with it's roots in little ole' Rockland County, was paying homage to him on stage at BB's. Wow.

Certainly the popularity of Astronomy Domine at Machine shows has grown 3-fold since I've been seeing them (and that is a long time). I hope this continues so you younger fans can really understand how prolific Syd was.

Sorry for the rambling, but today is just a flood of memories now. I think I'll take the rest of the day off, get my walkman (for those of you who don't know, the walkman came before the Ipod), and maybe go for stroll.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond...

Maxxx- [/b]

Very nicely put Maxxx.

His music will last forever.

Rest in peace Syd - your pain is finally over

Maxxx, what a nice tribute to Syd, better than anything I've seen in the media so far.

I just gotta say this... There was a time when I dismissed most Pink Floyd older than the Meddle album as too phychedelic or weird. It's mostly because of The Machine playing the older stuff at shows that I realized I really enjoy that stuff too. (I still don't like the real experimental noise-making feedback songs, but I didn't like it when Greatful Dead did that type of thing either and they're one of my favorite bands.) So I gotta give The Machine at least some of the credit for my appreciation of Syd's work -- thank you Machine.

Peace out, Syd.

--Vik

honestly... i'm crying.

I'm such a big fan of Syd's solo work and with Pink Floyd. I've listed him as one of my heroes for so long.

At least we'll always have the music.

Shine on, Syd...
<3<3<3

he certainly made it okay to be a dreamer.

Rest in Peace Syd!! Your music will live on forever!

RIP Syd. How I wish, how I wish you were here...

Yes, he's right... And ever since I read that post earlier today I've had this little poem floating around in my head that somehow seems fitting to Syd and his music...


INVITATION

If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

--by the late, great poet/author/musician/artist, Shel Silverstein
(also known as Uncle Shelby to Playboy readers!)


This was the intro to one of his children's poetry books, but it could also suit as an intro to Syd's music, in my opinion.

I know Syd had problems, but I hope it brought him at least some happiness to know how much joy he brought to so many people and the impact he had on the world. Syd, part of you will live on forever in your music and in the musical doors you opened -- thank you!

--Vik