User:PCMorphy72/List of songs about or referencing Syd Barrett

Today the topic of Syd Barrett, and the songs about him, are commonly considered to be about reclusion, since it is easy to find his name among the most famous recluses. Such reclusions often coincide with speculative diagnoses of mental illness being controversial, leading to consider it as a topic also about drugs, which played a role both in his personal life as well as in the psychedelic music style (some of which his works are considered milestones, like the Pink Floyd instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive").

Until now, Syd Barrett owes his notoriety to the famed and long-lasting band Pink Floyd, in spite of the fact that he left his band not even a year after the launch of their first single "Arnold Layne", leaving to them only the first album of their discography and being able to release under serious difficulties only part of his repertoire in a couple of solo albums which failed to chart, though their artistic value is still under discussion (see the Syd Barrett discography). However the comparison fails looking for songs about the other members of the band.

In 1975 the Pink Floyd album Wish You Were Here became one of the most popular screeds against music business, and the theme of the loss of Syd Barrett, which permeate the whole album, is not just a collection of songs about a colleague.

In more recent times, with the decline of the record industry, and the changes about the music business, such a topic has become somehow current.

The following list testifies that the Syd Barrett topic is often not about alienation, reclusion, or just about some contempt for conformism, nor just about his specific experiences with the music business, but more often it hides the topic of the admiration for the unpretentious majesty of an old music emerging from the dust, that is destined to be considered his main legacy for the future.

Other songs
It's quite possible that the list above is incomplete, and subtle references could be found in several songs not included above, especially by Pink Floyd, like in "Fearless", for the line "Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling" that can recall anecdotes about Syd Barrett that would be more explicit later in "Brain Damage", or like in some songs in their album The Wall, like "Hey You" and "Nobody Home". Fans tend to find references even from artists who have not claimed a Syd Barrett influence, and sometimes these speculations are proved wrong, like for the Focal Point song "Sycamore Sid". On the other hand, some of the large number of songwriters who claim to have strong influences from Syd Barrett could have included some unclaimed reference about him in their songs, like The Shamen who credited their song "It's All Around" to Syd Barrett, and some bands have taken their name from Syd Barrett songs, like the Italian band Jennifer Gentle (for a line in "Lucifer Sam"), or the two bands with the same name of "Baby Lemonade", but in general it may be difficult to find hidden references: for instance, about another Italian band called Birdy Hop also for a Syd Barrett song ("Birdie Hop"), the title of their debut album Welcome To The Insanity Ride can recall a line in "Octopus" just by guessing,  but a clue may be the "old knowledge" of their fellow citizen Amerigo Verardi, a producer and singer-songwriter often compared to Syd Barrett.

Cover versions of Syd Barrett songs
The artists who have covered Syd Barrett songs could have included some reference regarding Syd Barrett in their own compositions. Among the hundreds of covers of Syd Barrett songs, some of the most known were made by: David Bowie with "See Emily Play" in 1973, The Jesus and Mary Chain with "Vegetable Man" in 1984, the R.E.M. with "Dark Globe" in 1989, The Smashing Pumpkins with "Terrapin" in 1991.

Also all those who have covered any Pink Floyd song (see the covers of Pink Floyd songs) could have had the same reasons to write about Syd Barrett, and it has to be considered that the members from the numerous Pink Floyd cover bands can occasionally write songs. Some of them are more or less specialized in covering Syd Barrett songs, like the Spanish Syd Barretina.

Songs from the internet
Sharing and streaming over the internet has resulted in hundreds of available Syd Barrett tributes not properly released, among which: the 1999 mp3 "Elephant" by Rex Tangle on his website, the 2000 instrumental mp3 "A Tribute to Syd" by The Worms on disc #18 of the well-known shared series of discs called Have You Got It Yet?, the 2007 video "There's A Man In Cambridge (Song for Syd Barrett)" by Alec on YouTube, the 2007 parody cover video "Pink Floyd - Paying The Piper" by Pauldullson on YouTube, the 2008 streaming song "The Ballad Of Syd Barrett" by The Spyders on MySpace.

There are also a number of songs commercialized on iTunes or Amazon with the title referencing Syd Barrett. Several thousands of different cover versions of Syd Barrett songs are on YouTube.