Re: (idm) syd barretts got a hole n is head_

From Michael J Makunas
Sent Wed, Oct 7th 1998, 14:37

On Tue, 6 Oct 1998, wells wrote:
> but what you seem to be doing is taking the work itself (song, film, etC)
> as what is good, and not the artist behind it. for example, if i wrote a
> book, and you took it completely out of context and really enjoyed _your_
> interpretation of it, then you would be viewing the work as good, and me
> (as the author) as irrelevant to the work.
> 
> that's what i mean when I say Syd Barrett sucks. maybe a song or two he has
> done is good, but his authorship seems irrelevant (since there was really
> no intention behind it as he's completely fucking bugger).
> 
> am i making sense? probably not. it's a matter of opinion, i guess.

You're making sense but you've got a few facts wrong. First he wasn't
always insane, he just snapped one day (according to a recent interview
with Rick Wright). So a lot of his stuff was written when he was fully
functional. Second, being insane does not mean you are completely devoid
of all conscious thought. Crazy people think, too. There's just a low
signal to noise ratio.

-Michael