Syd (allegedly) Expresses Opinion

In case anyone missed it in the transcript, the recent online webchat with David Gilmour included him answering a standard question about how Syd is these days.



I expected to see him say that he didn't know, Syd, or rather Roger, was very reclusive these days, etc.



To my asonishment, he instead said that he had recently heard from the producer of the BBC documentary on Syd that Syd's sister had written to the producer saying how much Syd had enjoyed the programme.



Isn't this completely at odds with known facts about Syd? It has always been said that he can't cope with seeing any people from that period of his life, including the Floyd members, as it disturbs him significantly. If that's the case, how on earth could he watch, let alone enjoy, a brutally frank programme about his mental decline and subsequent removal from society?



Did I miss something here, or is this the case?



beardedbloke

Sounds a bit like "Crocodile tears", or "A Storm (Thorgerson?) in a teacup" or a case of "Methinks, the lad doth protest too much"

Perhaps Syd is a recluse, but if he's not just sitting staring at the walls or reading a book or listening to the wireless (US: radio) then the telly is the only window on the world.

And recluse or not, the man still has an ego, so how could he resist watching a program on himself?

Maybe I'm wrong. :smile:

Personally, I think the chat was a joke. Look at some of the questions. "Do you sing in the shower?" In the words of David himself, "Who gives a f!#k". Really who cares about something like that? I know to each their own. But come on. And some of the answers that were given "could" have been answered or even made up by any serious PF fan.
The only thing that was remotely interesting was "Davids" reply about possibly releasing the Meltdown show on cd/dvd. We'll see.
Beardedbloke, I thought of the same thing when "David" answered the Syd question. I don't buy into all these live web chats. For all you know, you could be talking to the Pope.
Anywho...

Well, when I was 14, Billy Idol was on holiday in Mallorca. It's not like he's still there or anything, though.

You can't tell me Syd has lived his whole life without hearing about Pink Floyd. Come on, just reading the paper and they list the top 20 albums he's bound to see them in their once or twice in the last 30 years.

I think he is a big boy, and has gotten over his mental meltdown long ago, but just doesn't want to re-enter the spotlight.

Frankly I don't blame him. What if 30 years from now, some stalker of yours tracks you down and starts asking, "what was it like when you worked in that office/factory/retail business/whatever?"

You'd probaly say something like piss off.

I'd probably say something like "Crikey!!"

There are way too many Syd rumours flying about the place. I don't think anyone will ever really know how Syd (or rather Roger as he perfers it) feels right now. And as much as i love the man I'm respecting his wishes to be left alone.

cheers

And don't forget, he's mad. Not dead. I'm sure he watched it.

There are definitly alot of rumors spread about Syd that are not true. I think a misunderstanding of his condition is also part of the problem. Most people know very VERY little about schizophrenia and most of what they know is Hollywood bullshit (you know,schizo mental patient stabs babysitter movies). But alot of the problem is the fact the medical community really dosn't know anything about the condition. If you read medical books on the subject you'll see so many conflicts of theory. I know for a fact how bad the misconceptions are,because I myself suffer from schizophrenia (fortunatly,I am in a state of partial remission thanks to the fact I caught on early and figured out ways to treat my illness),and believe me it's not at all like they say. I don't really want to make a big long post rambling on more since this isn't really the subject of the thread. One of these days (no pun intended) I should probably write up a nice little post about it to put in the Syd forum. Might help people get some insights into their musical hero. I know that's one the reaons I relate to the music of Floyd, the tragedy of Syd,and the way the band reacted,coming up with great stuff like SOYCD and WWYH.

DaMikey, that is very brave of you to speak about your own illness, given the stigma that as you say, society has often developed regarding mental illness. If I may ask, I would like to pose a question. I have seen the movie "A Beautiful Mind", and I am wondering if you think it breaks some of those negative "traditions" in Hollywood or not. Did you find it at all accurate? (Obviously as a biographical movie, it couldn't capture everything that was in the book, but I'm talking about other facets of the movie.)

its all lies. LIES.

there is no syd barrett or david gilmour. or pink floyd. tupac did it all. wake up.

I was VERY pleased with a Beautiful Mind. It wasn't 100% accurate of course,but nothing is. None the less it showed a schizophrenic who is a very positive role model, who overcame it,and I feel you could'nt have gotten a better message out. At the Oscars the producer said that he hoped the films widespread acceptance would help the awareness and research of mental illness (and I must admit after years of living under my little rock kind of like Syd hearing that made me cry). I think the big thing that people should realize is that it's such a common problem. Most people think it's pretty rare due to the fact most people mistake the extremely rare Split Personality Disorder for Schizophrenia (they are totally different). Schizophrenia actually affects around 1 in 100,so that's really more common than most people think. Also I think the fact that schizophrenics who are able to really acknowledge and cope with their problem can usually fit in fairly well with everyone else. I don't talk about my problem in real life and no one I know seems to have any clue at all. So basically,yeah I think it was a good movie The big thing people need to learn is that schizos aren't psycho killers,and putting people in institutions doesnt do any good. I have actually found a treatment for myself that works,but unfortunatly it's illegal. The only way I've been able to have any kind of peace or comfort in the past half decade or so was when I rescently discovered if I stay on my pill (a Seratonin based anti-depressant) and smoke pot, I get alot better,I am able to think more clearly (Yes,you heard that straight,more clearly,not less) and I don't have any of my agressive or suicidal episodes. It has given me the will to live. Previously I could not cope with the world and it's ugliness,and I really just wanted out (thank God I never 'had the nerve to make the final cut') but since then the world's kind of gone from black and white to color,I am able to cope with the outside even if it still bothers me. Unfortunatly as you imagine having to deal with illegal subtances is very dangerous and expensive business. Yet whenever I don't have pot the symptoms come right back out,so I have to risk jail and lots of money just to keep from losing my mind. Needless to say I have an extreme hatred for the government's war on (some) drugs. Horrible horrible things like alcohol that do absolutly nothing but ruin lives and kill are legal and sold in the supermarket,yet pot is still illegal. That really irks me the wrong way,alot of the people I know smoke pot (not for medicine like me,but for fun) and I've never heard of any of them getting into a brawl in the local pub and then driving home to splatter innocent motorists and pedestrians,nay we usually just sit around and do things like listen to Pink Floyd and get all philosophical. If that isn't messed up I don't know what is. Sorry I got on a rant again,but I tend to think very stream of conciousness like, all the thoughts sort of flow into each other. Then again I like to spread the message of medical marijuana (and the fact that even recreation use isn't some horrible thing). Of course since the American government is essensially one big prescription drug lobby, I fear for the future. That is the true reason marijuana is illegal. When my mother was dying of brain cancer she had to take anti-nausea pills that cost 106 dollars EACH,and didn't work very well. Joe Blow American can't synthesize prescriptions drugs in his own home but could grow marijuana very very easily. THis is a threat to the drug companies (and tobbaco,and alcohol,and the logging and cotton industries to name a few more) so they pay off the Clintons and Bushes of the world to keep it where it is. Has anyone seen the commercial where they say if you are just having a little fun doing drugs you fund terrorists? Guess what? Buying drugs only funds terrorists and organized crime cartels because they are illegal. If they were legal and regulated there wouldn't be a black market for the Mafia,or Al-Qaida or the South American revolutionaries to make their profits to fund killing. I just hope one day conditions for people with ANY illness,especially those who need marijuana will get better.

Errm,jeezes I looked back and realized how I somehow went from A Beautiful Mind to massive anti-government attack. Sorry about that. I'm not really as angry and bitter as I sound :smile: Just right now I ran out of my special' medicine and I'm a bit on edge and feeling that anger a bit stronger. Honest,I'm a fun person :grin:

John Nash certainly IS a positive role-model. You don't even have to be schizophrenic to see that. What I mean by that is that we can all admire what it would take to do battle with your own mind--and win. That can be inspiring for *anything* we might have to deal with, really. (BTW--I have often been the one, in the past, to correct people about the difference between schizophrenia and MPD, even before that movie! )

I am glad it had such a good effect on you. It is the silence and the stigma that make it so difficult, sometimes.

"Our lives were cut off by a wall of pain,
It can't be seen, it's so routine, it has no face or name."

--"Along the Shoreline" (if you're familiar with the Broken China concept, it's his wife's dealing with depression that he refers to.)

"I murmurred a vow of silence and now
I don't even hear when I think aloud."

--"Wearing the Inside Out"

Both works seem to focus very heavily on what happens when you feel you have to hold things in--AND on the healing that happens when you're finally able to talk about things. That's part of why it means so much to me. It's the silence that does half the destruction.

Have you found, since the release of A Beautiful Mind, that you are more able to speak openly about your condition and be received in an understanding light?
_________________
"And with these words I can see
Clear through the clouds that covered me
Just give it time then speak my name
Now we can hear ourselves again..."

WrightSatellite #1

Hmmm,that I really can't say. I still have yet to off the internet allow anyone to know except two people in my family,my grandmother because she lives with me (and helps me with stuff I forget to do sometimes) and my cousin,and he only knows because he stayed with me for the summer a while back and saw me have a couple episodes. It's not just the social acceptance that is a problem,I am a professional musician (Ironically I started that before I knew about Floyd,Barrett or even that I was sick,because at the time I started out I wasn't seriously messed up yet) and at one point a band I was in got very very very close to getting signed. If we hadn't broken up (Ego conflicts and musical disagreements,sound familiar?) we probably would have been in a real studio within the next month. To give a more realistic idea of how big we had become,we played crowds that were probably about 1/6h to 1/10th the size what Roger Waters would draw solo,and at one point were the opening act for a band who had toured with Green Day. Of course that fell apart,but I'm presently working in my small home studio on about 4 different concept albums (*grin*) and I'm to try to reach that same point again as a solo act. Though that will be hard,the other band was a Pop-Punk band (not my taste) and my newer material at least in it's current stages sounds like a classic rock band,except not playing songs people know) Anyway as you can see it probably wouldn't be a good idea to let it be known right now. On the subject of other people's music,no,I'm not as of yet familiar with Broken China,but I plan to pick it up in due time,I will finish that Floydian collection. I actually think there is alot more mental illness/mood disorder refrences in Floyd's music than people really realize. I guess it just seems more obvious to me than most people what extent Syd's problems impacted Floyd's material (well really Roger's lyrics mostly). Though the obvious message of The Wall was about the more general isolation aspect,alot of the things Roger talks about are textbook schizophrenia (he did say Syd inspired alot of it). The movie also shows alot of that,things like the scene where Pink is neatly organized the mess he made during One Of My Turns. That seems to be common from what I hear,though I don't get that,if anything I have a disorganization problem. Actually when I first saw The Wall movie I was very interested by One Of My Turns,because the way sorta goes from watching tv spaced out to suddenly throwing stuff around,apparantly because the groupie was iritating him (that's what it seemed like to me anyway) is almost exactly the way some of my more agressive episodes were,but not to that extent. Shine On is a obvious one,but certain things in it are REALLY spot on. The "now there's a look in your eyes like black holes in the sky" is absolutely true of schizophreniacs (I can look at old pictures and see a certain look in my eyes is gone). Obviously Barrett's work shows alot of his problems. Bike is basically a love song written by a schizo. He's describing this little world he lives in and saying "You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world" which really is the best way a bad off schizophrenic could express absolute true love. The whole Piper album is great to me for reasons like that. He projects his own bad feelings on fictional characters rather than dealing with them personally like the average songwriter might "The black and green scarecrow is sader than me". And even the childlike nature of his lyrics and music,really the only way I feel truely happy is when I surround myself with things that were familiar to me when I was a child,and much much happier. I've always held alot of theories about Syd's personality (I don't like speculating about people I don't know,but frankly there is so much misunderstood about the man you kind of have to) I really think his departure from Floyd wasn't at least to him the tragedy,like people see it anyway. Based on my own experience I'd have to say that being that bad off the band and success wouldn't mean jack to the feeling of a quiet life in a comfortable setting (I.e. his mom's house). That's kind of the way I live in many ways. Isolation seems depressing to most people,but to me (and I would IMAGINE to Syd,though again,this is just me assumption) it's friendly and acceptable. I don't really feel the pressure on me to acomplish anything like getting married,getting the best job,or whatever,I just sit around and do my thing and I try to enjoy myself. I guess normal people kind of get 'energized' by being around others,that's how it seems to me anyway,but being in public around strangers is very uncomfortable,all those faces I don't know,I get all weirded,it feels like they're staring at me,or reading my thoughts,or I'm worrried I'm not walking right,or that THEY know. And even being around friends and family I can only do in moderation,i just get drained by them,like their presence is making me lose my own energy. Which I think in many ways is one of the biggest things people don't understand. They like being around each other,and I've actually had friends and family ask me if I was mad at them because I havn't talked to them in 2 weeks,but it's just because I guess to me when I'm around people time seems faster,I can be with a person for an hour and it feels like all day,and then when i'm not around them weeks can go by and feel more like days. Sorta like my mind works on a different calender system than them. So I really kind of think Syd is probably alot happier with his life than people think. As long as I keep myself busy or entertained around here,keep taking my meds,and avoid the things that set me off easier (like dealing with too many people),I can be quite happy and content,and problem-free. I feel that the mentally ill can lead just as good a life as anyone else if they learn what helps and what hurts,and act accordingly. Actually,I feel the mentally ill can lead BETTER lives than normal people if they do what it takes to not cure,but control their problemss. By harnessing the negative side of my illness,I've found alot of positive,I feel I think in much differnet ways than other people,and I find newer ways to do stuff,I also tend to appreciate the simple things more. So many people get caught in the trappings of their money and cars and stuff,but I've really become so seperate from the outside that none of that really appeals to me,and I certainly don't get caught up in it. I can find something simple as watching a plant flower or a baby taking it's first steps and really see the beauty in it. I really think schizophrenia has alot to do with the subconcious mind and how it reacts to things,but if you learn enough about yourself you can really find the positive. I think the fact that so much great art comes from people with so much great pain it really shows that positive/negative side of things.

Maybe Syd wrote childish lyrics because he was just simply, kinky?

What I'm saying is: schizophrenia doesn't mean that the victim who has it doesn't have a personality, does it? Maybe Syd was just a silly person.

Just a thought.