Octopus (song)
| Octopus | |
|---|---|
| Syd Barrett | |
| publication | November 14, 1969 |
| length | 3:47 |
| Genre (s) | Avant-garde rock , psychedelic rock |
| Author (s) | Syd Barrett |
| Publisher (s) | Harvest Records |
Octopus (originally recorded as Clowns and Jugglers , also known as The Madcap Laughs due to a line of text , then rewritten to today's title in 1969) is a song by Syd Barrett . It appeared on November 14, 1969, first as the A-side of the single of the same name and on January 3, 1970 on Barrett's debut solo album The Madcap Laughs .
production
After Syd Barrett Pink Floyd had left in 1968, which gave production of Black Hill Enterprises , Peter Jenner and Andrew King to work with the band on and supervised instead Syd Barrett. They went to Abbey Road Studios in May 1968 to record songs, especially Barrett's unfinished tracks. The work on Clowns and Jugglers failed because Barrett stopped work, instead traveled around the country with his girlfriend and then found himself in psychiatric treatment.
From April 10, 1969, Barrett resumed work with his new producer Malcolm Jones on the new Harvest Records label . Under the producers David Gilmour and Roger Waters , who had brought Barrett in, the work was finally finished in August 1969, so that the single Clowns and Jugglers under the new title Octopus could appear in late 1969 after difficult work.
In terms of text, the song is based in excerpts on the poem “Rilloby-Rill” from Old and New, 1912 by the British writer and historian Henry Newbolt . But other influences, such as the literature of Robert Graves or visits to Skegness Butlin's Holiday Camp or Tivoli in Copenhagen, are reflected in the song.
publication
The title of the album The Madcap Laughs is derived from the song Octopus contained therein . Co-producer David Gilmour took it from the text sequences “Well, the madcap laughed at the man on the border ...” and elsewhere (from a stanza by Clowns and Jugglers ) “... To a madcap galloping chase”. Octopus was Barrett's only single during his time as a solo artist. On the B-side of the single is Golden Hair . The single came out about a month and a half before his album.
In France, the single was released with a painted octopus on the cover.
The song is on the remix album Opel (1988) (Title: Clowns and Jugglers ), recorded with the band Soft Machine , and was also released in 2007 on A Breath of Fresh Air - A Harvest Records Anthology 1969-1974 .
Track list
Both titles were written by Syd Barrett.
- Octopus - 3:47
- Golden Hair (based on a poem by James Joyce ) - 1:59
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Toby Manning, Set the Controls. The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd , London: Rough Guides. P. 70 f. (2006). ISBN 1-84353-575-0 .
- ↑ a b Malcolm Jones, The Making of The Madcap Laughs , Brain Damage. Page 3 f. (2003).
- ^ Mike Watkinson, Crazy Diamond - Syd Barrett and the Dawn of Pink Floyd
- ↑ Scott Miller, Music: What Happened? - Octopus , p. 59 f.
- ↑ Rilloby-Hill by Henry Newbolt
- ↑ Syd Barrett Pink Floyd Home Page Untangling the Octopus , Paul Belbin, August 2005 (revised by Julian Palacios, 2009)
- ↑ Octopus (Lyrics)
- ↑ Clowns and Jugglers (Lyrics)
- ↑ Octopus / Golden Hair
- ^ AllMusic Richie Unterberger, Review (Opel)
- ^ Discogs Syd Barrett - Opel
- ↑ AllMusic A Breath of Fresh Air: A Harvest Records Anthology, 1969–1974