I agree it is intensely sad because it's his cry for help that his friends totally ignored.
I'm pretty sure it is 'room' - in reference to the imprisoning isolation and seclution the band aboned him too. It's blue because he's still & frozen in time - as oppossed to sea isn't green (growing / alive).
Syd was totally sane, the apparent insanity was a mockery of other people assuming he was mad - it got real with the mis-PRESCRIBED mandrax & his fustration. "The tune they play is an ask confide" - but they never did, they just decided about him. Hence 'I wonder who could be writing this song' is a sarcastic dig directly at the culprits - Floyd (clowns), who loved to tell everyone how mad he was everytime they were promoting a song, 'he's over there but he's not really there. That makes us cool so please buy our hat'.
Floyd was his dream - the backing band took over because they failed 'to get it'. The joke is his mockery of them - him overplaying Carry On style what they had been so ignorant & limited to assume. And then they left him with it, forever. What a great bunk of guys, crying all the way to the bank.
The lyric "I never knew the moon could be so blue" parallels the later line that "the sea isn't green." There's also a lot of symbolism to be found in the image of the moon. Both the moon and the sea are associated with madness, as well as mystery, the feminine and other-worldliness. It is also a clever play on the idea of a blue moon, and there are actually parallels in the lyrics with the lyrics of the old popular standard Blue Moon. A blue moon is a rare kind of extra full moon, hence "once in a blue...
The lyric "I never knew the moon could be so blue" parallels the later line that "the sea isn't green." There's also a lot of symbolism to be found in the image of the moon. Both the moon and the sea are associated with madness, as well as mystery, the feminine and other-worldliness. It is also a clever play on the idea of a blue moon, and there are actually parallels in the lyrics with the lyrics of the old popular standard Blue Moon. A blue moon is a rare kind of extra full moon, hence "once in a blue moon" but to be blue is to be sad, like having the blues. In the old standard, the moon is blue when the singer was "without a dream in my heart/ without a love of my own."
Also, what you are saying of madness and mockery reminds me of Hamlet. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the play, the character Hamlet pretends to be mad. By pretending to be mad and using other's perception of him as mad, he is able to say things he could not say otherwise, often mocking the other characters in cutting, often profound ways, straight to their faces, and he is able to act in ways that would be unnacceptable because people dismiss his words and actions as meaningless. Some people debate though whether Hamlet might actually indeed be mad in the play. I'm actually reading the play for the first time now and haven't finished yet, but if this stuff is interesting to you, then I'd recommend it. I can't help but recognize many parallels between Barrett and Hamlet. They both even reference clowns a lot! In particular, there's a very famous scene in Hamlet involving a clown, and Hamlet's feelings about him.
Also, if I can make a kind of bold assertion, both Hamlet and Barrett turn away from women and the possibility of love. Psychoanalytic critiques of Hamlet often emphasize that Hamlet, after he is "mad," rejects the love of Ophelia while turning all his attention to his mother. Not romantically of course, at least not overtly, but this fits the Freudian model. Syd too turned away from the world and relationships, besides his family. Eventually he moved back in with his mother. Both Hamlet and Syd also have bitter and biting criticisms to make about those around them and the world at large though. Both are very smart and sensitive souls. The stories of both are tragic too. I'm going to rewrite this for a general comment here too.
@brainticket very well observed and explained! It is becoming clearer to me now. It's debatable whether he did have mental health issues with periods of lucidity or if it was largely an act. I'd say largely but not purely.
Though, as well as it being to say what he could not otherwise say, I also think he wanted to prove to himself who these friends of his really were deep down before he went any further on this journey to world fame with them all. And yes, sadly he got his answer. He just had so much more depth than the...
@brainticket very well observed and explained! It is becoming clearer to me now. It's debatable whether he did have mental health issues with periods of lucidity or if it was largely an act. I'd say largely but not purely.
Though, as well as it being to say what he could not otherwise say, I also think he wanted to prove to himself who these friends of his really were deep down before he went any further on this journey to world fame with them all. And yes, sadly he got his answer. He just had so much more depth than the rest & I believe he wanted to teach them about humanity because all the fame & fortune was not an attraction for him at all, it was just too inauthentic a world for him to live in. The time he stood on stage and just stared whist de stringing his guitar one by one, I believe he did that just to show that he could do anything and the crowd would love it. The appreciation for his art had been lost by that point & it was just madness by then. Commercialism and crazy obsessiveness, no, he wasn't about that. It would be like selling his soul. So he stayed true to himself & off he went, leaving them plenty to think about. The footage of them singing jugband blues with him as front man & the rest just playing along is haunting & very, very sad.
You can't help but be moved by it, he was such a gentle soul.
R.I.P Syd
@iThinkmaybe sorry my last 2 posts were meant for you but sent them to @brainticket by mistake. I can't be bothered to type it all out again! But thank you for such insight! Great stuff!
@iThinkmaybe sorry my last 2 posts were meant for you but sent them to @brainticket by mistake. I can't be bothered to type it all out again! But thank you for such insight! Great stuff!
I agree it is intensely sad because it's his cry for help that his friends totally ignored.
I'm pretty sure it is 'room' - in reference to the imprisoning isolation and seclution the band aboned him too. It's blue because he's still & frozen in time - as oppossed to sea isn't green (growing / alive).
Syd was totally sane, the apparent insanity was a mockery of other people assuming he was mad - it got real with the mis-PRESCRIBED mandrax & his fustration. "The tune they play is an ask confide" - but they never did, they just decided about him. Hence 'I wonder who could be writing this song' is a sarcastic dig directly at the culprits - Floyd (clowns), who loved to tell everyone how mad he was everytime they were promoting a song, 'he's over there but he's not really there. That makes us cool so please buy our hat'.
Floyd was his dream - the backing band took over because they failed 'to get it'. The joke is his mockery of them - him overplaying Carry On style what they had been so ignorant & limited to assume. And then they left him with it, forever. What a great bunk of guys, crying all the way to the bank.
it is not "room" it is MOON .Take a look to the video ,you can see his lips saying moon not room
it is not "room" it is MOON .Take a look to the video ,you can see his lips saying moon not room
It is definitely moon, not room. I presume moon is a reference to madness
It is definitely moon, not room. I presume moon is a reference to madness
@Black&GreenAchilles A lot of assumptions here. And it's not "the tune they play is in ask confide", it's "the tune they play is in us confide".
@Black&GreenAchilles A lot of assumptions here. And it's not "the tune they play is in ask confide", it's "the tune they play is in us confide".
The lyric "I never knew the moon could be so blue" parallels the later line that "the sea isn't green." There's also a lot of symbolism to be found in the image of the moon. Both the moon and the sea are associated with madness, as well as mystery, the feminine and other-worldliness. It is also a clever play on the idea of a blue moon, and there are actually parallels in the lyrics with the lyrics of the old popular standard Blue Moon. A blue moon is a rare kind of extra full moon, hence "once in a blue...
The lyric "I never knew the moon could be so blue" parallels the later line that "the sea isn't green." There's also a lot of symbolism to be found in the image of the moon. Both the moon and the sea are associated with madness, as well as mystery, the feminine and other-worldliness. It is also a clever play on the idea of a blue moon, and there are actually parallels in the lyrics with the lyrics of the old popular standard Blue Moon. A blue moon is a rare kind of extra full moon, hence "once in a blue moon" but to be blue is to be sad, like having the blues. In the old standard, the moon is blue when the singer was "without a dream in my heart/ without a love of my own."
Also, what you are saying of madness and mockery reminds me of Hamlet. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the play, the character Hamlet pretends to be mad. By pretending to be mad and using other's perception of him as mad, he is able to say things he could not say otherwise, often mocking the other characters in cutting, often profound ways, straight to their faces, and he is able to act in ways that would be unnacceptable because people dismiss his words and actions as meaningless. Some people debate though whether Hamlet might actually indeed be mad in the play. I'm actually reading the play for the first time now and haven't finished yet, but if this stuff is interesting to you, then I'd recommend it. I can't help but recognize many parallels between Barrett and Hamlet. They both even reference clowns a lot! In particular, there's a very famous scene in Hamlet involving a clown, and Hamlet's feelings about him.
Also, if I can make a kind of bold assertion, both Hamlet and Barrett turn away from women and the possibility of love. Psychoanalytic critiques of Hamlet often emphasize that Hamlet, after he is "mad," rejects the love of Ophelia while turning all his attention to his mother. Not romantically of course, at least not overtly, but this fits the Freudian model. Syd too turned away from the world and relationships, besides his family. Eventually he moved back in with his mother. Both Hamlet and Syd also have bitter and biting criticisms to make about those around them and the world at large though. Both are very smart and sensitive souls. The stories of both are tragic too. I'm going to rewrite this for a general comment here too.
@brainticket very well observed and explained! It is becoming clearer to me now. It's debatable whether he did have mental health issues with periods of lucidity or if it was largely an act. I'd say largely but not purely. Though, as well as it being to say what he could not otherwise say, I also think he wanted to prove to himself who these friends of his really were deep down before he went any further on this journey to world fame with them all. And yes, sadly he got his answer. He just had so much more depth than the...
@brainticket very well observed and explained! It is becoming clearer to me now. It's debatable whether he did have mental health issues with periods of lucidity or if it was largely an act. I'd say largely but not purely. Though, as well as it being to say what he could not otherwise say, I also think he wanted to prove to himself who these friends of his really were deep down before he went any further on this journey to world fame with them all. And yes, sadly he got his answer. He just had so much more depth than the rest & I believe he wanted to teach them about humanity because all the fame & fortune was not an attraction for him at all, it was just too inauthentic a world for him to live in. The time he stood on stage and just stared whist de stringing his guitar one by one, I believe he did that just to show that he could do anything and the crowd would love it. The appreciation for his art had been lost by that point & it was just madness by then. Commercialism and crazy obsessiveness, no, he wasn't about that. It would be like selling his soul. So he stayed true to himself & off he went, leaving them plenty to think about. The footage of them singing jugband blues with him as front man & the rest just playing along is haunting & very, very sad. You can't help but be moved by it, he was such a gentle soul. R.I.P Syd
@brainticket having said that, they were only kids, they couldn't fully understand. Plus they were already well on the way to living the dream
@brainticket having said that, they were only kids, they couldn't fully understand. Plus they were already well on the way to living the dream
@iThinkmaybe sorry my last 2 posts were meant for you but sent them to @brainticket by mistake. I can't be bothered to type it all out again! But thank you for such insight! Great stuff!
@iThinkmaybe sorry my last 2 posts were meant for you but sent them to @brainticket by mistake. I can't be bothered to type it all out again! But thank you for such insight! Great stuff!