Why was Syd Barrett a Genius???!

Bern wrote: Tony Fisher wrote: toolis wrote: some personal points on the subject: 1.Syd was not a genius.. 2.it doesn't matter what age he died at, tottaly irrelevant... 3.there are greater music talents out there, that's for sure... 4.no one, i mean NO ONE can ever guess how Floyd would be if he didn't leave the band...my humble opinion is that he would drag the rest down with him and Roger wouldn't have the space to conceive the brilliant music of WYWH, DSOTM, the Wall and Animals.. lets face it, the guy was a different kind of song writer... 5.Syd was a bohemian, drug addict, mediocre player. This doesn't add up to a genius... 6.by the time Floyd released PATGOD, Britain's psychedelic rock scene was already very active.. he was not as influential as you think... 7.boy, if i were stoned all the time too, hell, i could put a few words together and impress you... Well said! I agree with every word. Exactly my thoughts too.

I do not believe he was a genius, and I think it is ridiculous how many people do because I feel it is only at his DEATH that most believe this.

No, actually, his fans are now coming out into the open, driven by his death; now we feel responsible to make people see what Syd had done. Before it was just one of those"'Oh you know there was this guy named Syd who started Pink Floyd and they kicked him out because they thought he was a liability? But he just had a different creativity that the band didn't think would sell anymore."

Now it's "The Piper is dead! And we're the children who followed him at his coattails, and now it's our duty to make sure he isn't forgotten."


And yes, he was a genius no matter which way you stack it. For somebody to write a song like 'Bicycle' --- you don't find that amazing?
How about the way he wrote lyrics that perfectly reflected the human thought process? No other artist has been able to capture the human mind quite like Syd did; you listen to the lyrics and it's just like having the thoughts in your own head, but in the form of words.

Just wait until his demo recordings are all released. He wrote thousands of songs after he left the band. Just wait. They'll come. He's undoubtedly one of the most prolific and creative artists to ever grace this green earth.

http://www.sydbarrett.org/artbysydbarrett.htm

Go there. Look through all his works.
To say that this man wasn't a genius would be to deny one of the pioneers of underground psychedelic rock.

DeepPhreeze wrote: [quote] Go there. Look through all his works. To say that this man wasn't a genius would be to deny one of the pioneers of underground psychedelic rock.

Goldenavatar wrote: RoyalJelly wrote: Bern wrote: Tony Fisher wrote: toolis wrote: some personal points on the subject: 1.Syd was not a genius.. 2.it doesn't matter what age he died at, tottaly irrelevant... 3.there are greater music talents out there, that's for sure... 4.no one, i mean NO ONE can ever guess how Floyd would be if he didn't leave the band...my humble opinion is that he would drag the rest down with him and Roger wouldn't have the space to conceive the brilliant music of WYWH, DSOTM, the Wall and Animals.. lets face it, the guy was a different kind of song writer... 5.Syd was a bohemian, drug addict, mediocre player. This doesn't add up to a genius... 6.by the time Floyd released PATGOD, Britain's psychedelic rock scene was already very active.. he was not as influential as you think... 7.boy, if i were stoned all the time too, hell, i could put a few words together and impress you... Well said! I agree with every word. Exactly my thoughts too.   This post is rather arrogant and ignorant. Syd was a fount of creativity, and like another troubled songwriter generally refered to as a genius, Brian Wilson, even in the depths of his mental troubles, Syd could kick out 10 songs a day, maybe not all masterpieces, but jewels of spontanaeity...that's where I see the value of his contribution, especially on his solo albums. It's like you can hear the act of creation occuring in the moments he made the recording. I can think of little music that is that spontaneous and immediate, maybe in jazz once in a while, but especially in the realm of song-writing. This gave many of his songs an absolutely original rhythmic bent, since it wasn't music normal people could count, or band members could even work out together, just Syd's brain flowing through voice and guitar, creating as the ideas came to him.    You can't think of much music that is spontaneous and immediate? You haven't listened to much music have you! You can go to a bar and here music that is spontaneously generated. Not only that, but it's probably considerably better than Barrett's. Jazz, blues, rock, zydeco, kletzmer, bluegrass, even classical have tremendous moments of spontanaeity. The only music I can think of off the top of my head that probably has no spontanaeity is serialism.    Concerning busting out 10 songs a day, so what? By your own admission, some of them weren't that great. Plus, there are many prolific musicians out there. If you want to consider someone who really is instrumentally virtuoso and amazingly prolific, consider Prince. Make all the jokes you want, the guy can play!    The original list was far to kind in my opinion. Barrett was not even a mediocre player. He was an awful guitar player. Anyone who listens to "The Madcap Laughs" and thinks, "Whoa, great guitar technique," must not know much about guitar. Don't get me wrong, I like Syd's solo work, but I can at least admit he was not an instrumental talent.    Concerning his influence: it takes more than influence to be considered a genius, quite frankly. Kurt Cobain had tremendous influence over players for the last ten years. And I don't see too many people here claiming he was a genius. Please don't either.    Finally, consider people who really are geniuses by all accounts. I personally can only think of one person whom I consider to be a genius. And that is the master himself, J. S. Bach. I'm hesistant even to apply the word to Mozart or Beethoven, much less someone from the British Psychedelia movement. It seems to me if you're throwing the word "genius" around with that much whimsy, you clearly don't think it means the same thing I do.   As always, my humble opinion.

CaptainWafflos wrote: Syd Barrett was sixty years old. He didn't die young~ It's a hell of a lot better than people considering Kurt Cobain to be a musical genius, at least. Syd at least had an undeniable amount of musical talent.

Originally posted by aprusso

"well, he invented psychedelic rock, he invented a new lifestyle for British people, he laid down the musical ideas for 30 years of Pink Floyd music, he is the most imitated songwriter by hundreds of indie bands as of 2006
who would be a genius then? the singer of opeth?"



Look buddy, don't go sl*gging the lead singer of Opeth just because people are debating the merits of calling Syd Barrett a genius. This 'singer of Opeth'(Mikael Åkerfeldt)is actually an extremely talented and prolific musician - the fact that he chooses not to consume vast amounts of LSD does not detract from his status - no doubt when he dies (and I hope that is a long time away) then people may appreciate him more - maybe by then you will too.







    

Edited by horza - July 12 2006 at 14:21

He almost certainly wasn't a genius, and the term is rather too freely used, IMHO.

Edited by Peter Rideout - July 12 2006 at 14:33

"Don't mistake lack of talent for genius"

(written on the back of Type O Negative's "Bloody Kisses")


IMO, He was not such a genius... I find his solo work quite boring...

I'm listening to his solo stuff right now, which is more lyrics oriented. His lyrics have a way of being almost nonsense on paper but having an almost deep meaning when sung. Pure genius.