Syd Barrett – Dark Globe

General CommentAlright! Syd isn’t mad or schizophrenic but he is a genius. This song is so clear and logical I don’t see why you all find it so hard to understand. Syd starts off by asking where have the people he had at one time in his life depended and called friends all go. Then he goes into asking if he was to get hurt or killed would those people he once knew (most likely Pink Floyd) still even care enough about him to help or show him some form of caring emotion. The song is that simple he just wants to know if he was to go would he even be missed. I love this song even though it is so depressing.

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  @WorkingClassLoser
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  @WorkingClassLoser I don't feel the song is as cut and dry as just asking Pink Floyd members if he would be missed, I think there is a clear reference to Iggy the Eskimo (Syd's Girlfriend) he says only a person with Eskimo chain, clear reference to her! But I get what you are saying, but it goes beyond just a reference to Pink Floyd missing his role or missing him in the band, I think that he may have felt somewhat more abandoned by Iggy possibly than by the lads in Floyd. Remember Syd was the younger than the rest of Floyd, and I think it is overlooked that he was affected by a woman at some point, he also has the lyric in one of his songs that says She said a big band is far better than you (Here I Go) also a reference to how once out of the band he no longer had the girl as well, I think Syd also had abandonment issues, and not just the abandonment of his band, but also the people he was close with.

  Flag patsmithon August 05, 2016  

My Opinioni don't think many people know too much about lsd or mental illness here except what they have learned. i do. happens to be two subjects that people like to link together how ever in most cases they shouldn't be at lease as cause and effect. lsd does not cause schizophrenia. no matter how much you take. if syds a schizophrenic than he was born that way and from what we've been told his schizophrenia became unmanageable well in front of the world. lsd, rock stardom the band troubles cheating girlfriend over bearing mother etc...snap... it could have ended like kurt cobain.

anyways the song lyrics...
i see eskimo chain as a type of pattern manifested in his minds eye. if you've taken lsd or are schizophrenic than you know about patterns. some patters noticed can be very distressing.
a chain = a pattern.
a tattoo = a picture that is permanent.
so its something he sees on his brain. i had this toy. it was monkey chain. a bunch of monkeys that came in a barrel and they linked together by their arms (maybe their tails and leg too i can't remember) they were all identical except in their facial expressions. they where more fun then a barrel full of monkeys. they had them in the 40s 50s and 60s made of metal mine were plastic from the late 70s. maybe he envisions a great tribe of eskimos linked together like my monkeys tattooed to his brain. the cool part of the lyric is that he did it to him self. so he had to see himself tattooing his brain. its a great lyric to express his distressful thoughts.
what do i know i'm just a schizophrenic, musician, ex-acid head, who took lsd thousands of times while listening to syd barret most likely. make up your own mind thats what music is for. if it speaks to you than good you can relate. if someone tells you different they are trying to cheat you.

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  @dustwardprez

General CommentThis song is especially sad now, since he's, you know......left us. Well, if he was here he would know that we do miss him, a lot.

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  @WWolfSSheep

General CommentI have found it difficult to interpret Syd's lyrics at times. Lately I've started to think of his songs as a kind of tapestry. If you look at this song you seem to get a snapshot every few lines, like a tapestry tells a story with separate but related pictures. Each verse of this song seems to be showing the same emotion through a different picture, or a different panel if you take the tapestry analogy. Anyway I find it helps me with interpreting Syd's songs.

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  @davidsss
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  thats how i do it too.

  Flag dustwardprezon November 24, 2011  

General CommentFor people to say that "Dark Globe" was his only good solo song is absurd. Syd's songs were much better than Pink Floyd's first and maybe second album!! This is coming from a huge Floyd fan. Octopus ride, Here I go, Gigolo Aunt,Baby Lemonade....I could go on and on. Syd's problem was lsd and too much of it...plain and simple. In a way that's why his mind was expanded and able to create such amazing music!!

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  @bullfury19
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  @bullfury19 I could not agree with you more, I prefer Syd to the Floyd actually. And I love the Floyd but Syd has a different angle than the Floyd, much more personal if you will and he is sometimes even playful in his songs, but I really love the sad beauty to his songs. You can hear pain in his voice, as well as dare I say hope! I just love the guy's work

  Flag patsmithon August 05, 2016  

General CommentSyd's not schizo, it's an accepted, published fact that his diagnosis as schizophrenic was a misdiagnosis and withdrawn at least 15 years ago. If you want to take a stab in the dark and present it as fact try ADHD with Abstract Oppositional Defiance, at least that's beleivable. On that basis, Syd is totally sane and it's everyone else that's mutated into brain-altered self-sedating mentals (fact - herd).

Esikmos live in the cold, Eskimo chain is a reference to him trying to slow himself down with drugs so he can be with someone living in this monotonous world of grey. When you're the only sane person in every thousand mutants, it's easy to feel isolated.

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  @Black&GreenAchilles
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  @Black&GreenAchilles I have to disagree with you here Eskimo chains is a clear reference to his girlfriend Iggy the Eskimo it could not be any clearer, not to him trying to slow himself down with drugs. Just letting you know, that particular line could not be any clearer what he is talking about

  Flag patsmithon August 05, 2016  

General CommentOne of the most amazing and beautiful songs ever written. Syd was a mad genius.

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  @cdconn

General CommentWasn't Syd's girlfriend of eskimo descent?

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  @timothyreal
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  @timothyreal yes you are correct I can't believe so many people do not see the reference to Eskimo Chains having a direct link to Iggy the Eskimo she affected him more than is mentioned

  Flag patsmithon August 05, 2016  

General Commentyeah his girlfriend was of eskimo descent, its the chick who appears naked on the cover of madcap. this is a brilliant song, probably his best

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  @terii

General Commentbullsh*t. listen to any of his other songs on his solo albums n then say that

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  @terii