Literary Influences of Syd Barrett
Part of what makes Barrett and his music so unique was
the
amazing variety of
influences he drew upon.
Not only from music, but in literature as
well.
Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the
Willows'was most likely Syd Barrett's most influential childhood book. The
title of the Pink Floyd's 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' was drawn from
Chapter VII of this book. This book is perhaps the very touchstone for
understanding the intricacies of Barrett's work, and some of the byzantine mechanisms of his creativity. The characters, the
duality between the frightening Wild Wood and the idyllic river, and the lush
language Grahame utilises are all key Barrett
influences. A must-read for all Barrett enthusiasts.
Hilaire Belloc ,
a famous stodgy old man of letters, wrote a lot of books, essays and poems
during his life, but he is perhaps best known for his children's book,
'Cautionary Verses', published in 1907. It's a strange book, as only those
classic English children's books can be. The stories are little rhymes meant to
frighten children into obedience. The things that happen to these kids for
disobeying are really horrific. They get eaten by tigers, burnt alive, die of
terrible illnesses or get thumped behind the ear....all for misbehaving.
The opening story, 'Jim Who Ran Away
From His Nurse and was Eaten by a Lion' provided 'Matilda Mother' with its
original lyrics. 'Matilda', another story from the book, provided the title of
the song. Cliff Jones, author of 'Echoes: The Story Behind Every Pink Floyd
Song' noted that when Syd and the Floyd used to perform 'Matilda Mother' in
Autumn 1966 at places like the All Saint's Hall, the song began like this:
'There was a boy whose name was Jim;His friends were very good to him.They gave him tea, and cakes, and jam,and
slices of delicious ham.....oh Mother, tell me more......'
Other ferocious animals derived from
Belloc tales, such as the Elephant and Tiger,
appeared in Barrett songs such as'Effervescing
Elephant'.
Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures
Underground' and 'Through The Looking Glass' were also key early influences on
Barrett's thought, with their emphasis on surrealism and its alternately
playful and phantasmagoric characters and scenarios. Those books, written by
Carroll in the 1860's, allegedly under the influence of opium, were extremely
imaginative tales that still make for good reading no matter what age you are.
Edward Lear's 'Complete Nonsense'
(1846) mirrors the more playful side of Barrett's compositions, and wa sinfluential
in its dense, rich abstractions of language. The bending of words for effect
and rhythm that is found throughout Barrett's oeuvre is inspired by these
limericks.
C.S. Lewis' 'The Narnia
Chronicles', with its wardrobe as a portal into another world, helped point the
way for such Barrett songs as 'Flaming' and 'Scarecrow'. The underlying
currents of fear evoked by the White Witch and her dominion are something
Barrett seized upon at once, and his songs echo the mysteries of Lewis' dark
woods.
Irish author and poet James Joyce'sJames Joyce's 1907 'Chamber Music' volume of poetry,
yielded 'Golden Hair', a poem used nearly verbatim as the lyrics for Barrett's
1969 song of the same name.
William Shakespeare's play 'Henry
the VI' and its character of the Talbot is
name-checked in 'Octopus' and may have inspired some of its lyrical content. Geoffrey
Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' also may have inspired some of the lyrical
content or format of 'Octopus', as Barrett implied in an interview. As with
Shakespeare, he probably read the book in school.
J.R.R. Tolkein's
'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy and 'The Hobbit' were both seminal Barrett
influences. 'The Hobbit' directly inspired the writing of Barrett's 'The
Gnome', with it's 'no-name grimble
gromble' (a grimble is Old
English for a gnome!). Barrett's song 'Dark Globe' draws its title from a page
of the 'Lord of the Rings', and the deeply engrossing world of sorcerers,
gnomes, goblins and trolls depicted by Tolkein was a
Barrett favourite throughout his youth, according to
his childhood friends.
A.A. Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh' was another
children's classic with a panoply of innocuous
characters such as Christopher Robin, Eeyore and
Pooh. Syd no doubt read it, but its influence is not readily apparent. After
all, Syd liked his children's books to contain a hint of foreboding and mystery,
and Winnie the bleedin' Pooh was just too sweet,
wasn't he? Syd probably would have wanted to whop that little bear with his
mandolin!