This song is pure magic, particularly the live versions.
We can certainly take Roger’s word that this is about Ibiza…and that is most likely the true meaning, but MY interpretation has always been different.
I’ve always taken this song to be a continuation of the “pastoral psychedelia” the band played when Syd was with them. “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” album title was taken directly from a chapter in “The Wind in the Willows”, a favorite book of Syd’s…in that chapter we encounter the wood nymph Pan, who plays a tin flute (an instrument present in the studio recording of this song).
Anyway, I’ve always thought “Green is the colour of her kind” was a reference to the ‘Green Man’ or ‘Green Men” of Pagan folklore. Listening to the song I imagine the author is documenting an encounter with a wood nymph in the forest, perhaps from a distance. The sunlight temporarily blinds him, she is appearing and disappearing between light and shadow. She shines with a magical radiance. Maybe he sees her for only a few seconds and she’s gone….
This song is pure magic, particularly the live versions.
We can certainly take Roger’s word that this is about Ibiza…and that is most likely the true meaning, but MY interpretation has always been different.
I’ve always taken this song to be a continuation of the “pastoral psychedelia” the band played when Syd was with them. “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” album title was taken directly from a chapter in “The Wind in the Willows”, a favorite book of Syd’s…in that chapter we encounter the wood nymph Pan, who plays a tin flute (an instrument present in the studio recording of this song).
Anyway, I’ve always thought “Green is the colour of her kind” was a reference to the ‘Green Man’ or ‘Green Men” of Pagan folklore. Listening to the song I imagine the author is documenting an encounter with a wood nymph in the forest, perhaps from a distance. The sunlight temporarily blinds him, she is appearing and disappearing between light and shadow. She shines with a magical radiance. Maybe he sees her for only a few seconds and she’s gone….