syd barret 1946-2006 r.i.p.

Syd barrett’s passing seems sadly almost irrelevant as a current event, given that he was missing in action for 30 some-odd years.
Still I can’t deny the importance to a troubled adolescent who couldn’t relate to his then-current era. The 60’s boomers always hailed their time as the golden era of music. I had all but doubted them until I heard Syd’s Pink Floyd. Syd’s music was like a postcard from a parallel-universe/fairy-tale world. Although often cited as being four English men tripping out of their heads, “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” offered something further out from shore than any psychedelic group had tried thus far.
Given the long shadow Syd has cast into our age. While most British guitar players of his time were content to rehash blues licks, Syd was tapping into the soul of Lewis Carol. His originality had no precident in popular music and cast a stone into the river whose ripples are still being felt today.
There is a certain dignity in fading into the sunset and remaining a Dionysian-like God that does not fade, forever burning brightly despite the imminent shadow of madness he endured.
The floyd never quite escaped the ghost of Sid, often devoting much of their material to the thin vaneer that seperates us from madness. Shine on You Crazy Diamond off of Wish You Were Here is a fitting eulogy to a genius cut down in his prime. Hopefully whatever he lacked for in this life he has in the next one.