#and arthur proceeds to have a mental breakdown (I love seeing arthur having a mental breakdown he's been through so much he deserves one) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

astrognossienne · 6 years

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tragic star: syd barrett

“I don't think I'm easy to talk about. I've got a very irregular head. And I'm not anything that you think I am anyway.” - Syd Barrett

Some anon requested I do this one. Gotta admit, I don’t see the big deal about this guy, however, I’ll leave my personal ambivalence to him aside and proceed.

His was one of rock music’s most epic breakdowns. Before he vanished into self-imposed obscurity almost half a century ago, Syd Barrett was a driving force and founding member of the rock band Pink Floyd. Some critics thought him a modern-day Rimbaud, others dismissed him as a deranged under-achiever. Artists ranging from David Bowie, R.E.M., the Mars Volta, the Flaming Lips, and Chris Cornell have cited Barrett as a touchstone, covered his songs or have created music that clearly bares his stamp. A genuine eccentric, he’s one of those people that folks just love to wonder about for whatever reason. There were tales of his acid-casualty excesses, his freakouts, disappearing acts and general weirdness. Syd’s penultimate contribution to Pink Floyd, the psychedelic rock masterpiece Piper at the Gates of Dawn, marked the band’s true beginning as well as Barrett’s untimely end as a musician. Just as Pink Floyd was taking off and Syd was starting to become a pop star, he suffered a mental breakdown and possibly psychosis triggered by his LSD use. The rest of Pink Floyd wound up sacking him and went on to become a rock and roll juggernaut. Barrett became a recluse and the inspiration behind the album Wish You Were Here and the song “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”. Syd was the first rock & roller that sang with an English accent. In that way alone, he was incredibly influential. With even the Beatles and Stones, they were clearly influenced by American singers. But you couldn’t trace that in Syd’s music. Syd’s songs were a mixture of science fiction, children’s literature and Lewis Carroll-esque nonsense poetry into strange, fractured constructions - sometimes dissonant and violent, other times whimsical and poppy – all of which he sings in a gentle melodic voice which conveyed a sense of childlike wonder that could tip over any moment into terrifying paranoia. His former band were very ambitious but, because of their guilt, dragged him around like a ghost. Syd became a spectral fifth member of the Floyd. He’s also become the most famous poster boy for the counterculture because he was so intelligent, inspiring and inspired but also hopelessly zonked out and doomed.

Syd Barrett, according to astrotheme, was a Capricorn sun and Aquarius moon (the moon is speculative). He was born Roger Keith Barrett in Cambridge, the fourth of five children of Dr. Arthur Max Barrett and his wife Winifred. According to recollections by his family, he showed a remarkable interest in art from his early infancy. Fond of drawing and painting, he acquired the nickname Syd-- a poignant reminder of the two very different lives he lived-- around age 15. His father died a month before his 16th birthday, the teenager was encouraged by his mother to play in a band to aid in his grieving. In 1962, Barrett met David Gilmour as an art student at Cambridge Technical College. It was during this period that Barrett formed a band with his former schoolmate Roger Waters, organist Rick Wright and the drummer Nick Mason. Christening the band after blues musician Floyd Council and medicine show singer Pink Anderson in 1965, Pink Floyd had formed in London. Though like so many British bands of the era they started out playing American R&B covers, the Floyd made the transition to psychedelic and improvisatory rock pioneers.

The band got their first break with the opening of the UFO Club in London in 1966. The club was the sanctum of British psychedelic music and Pink Floyd became its house band and their most popular attraction. The following year, the band signed a contract with the record label EMI, a deal which included unlimited studio time to record their first album. The band released three singles, “Arnold Layne” (a ditty about a transvestite which got banned from Radio London) , “See Emily Play” (a huge hit), and “Apples and Oranges” (which failed to make an impact on the charts). Barrett soon emerged as the natural leader and songwriter. Instant stardom brought accompanying pressures. Barrett began experimenting with LSD and it seemed to unlock something in his mind. Soon, his drug use became excessive and it became impossible to work with him. He wouldn’t do what was necessary to be done in the music business. The rest of Pink Floyd kicked him out when his performance and behaviour became too erratic. They enlisted his childhood friend, guitarist David Gilmour, to be his de facto replacement. The band played with both men for a short time and even mulled the idea of keeping him as their primary songwriter but gigging with Gilmour.

Barrett would continue to haunt the band, and they would write music about him, and Barrett unexpectedly turned up during the recording of “Wish You Were Here” - a belated tribute - in 1975, his shaven-headed, bloated appearance meant that his former bandmates failed to recognize him. Barrett inspired or partially inspired the conflicting themes of madness, emotional isolation, fame and left-field creativity that informed the group’s greatest albums — “Dark Side Of The Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “The Wall.” These records became landmarks in rock history. Meanwhile, he apparently spent his self-imposed exile painting and writing and being pestered by fans and unscrupulous photographers all hoping to catch a glimpse of the one-time star who was at that point a puttering, chubby old man. His mother died sister Rosemary, kept an eye on him since their mother's death. Suffering from diabetes for many years, Barrett passed away in 2006, due to pancreatic cancer. In the eyes of many, Syd became something of an abstraction, a figurehead or a symbol more than an artist. His time as a musician was brief and fleeting; although his output was about a half dozen songs, he proved a musical catalyst for many. If nothing else, Barrett’s influence and his tragic disintegration became the primary themes that Pink Floyd continually explored on their top-selling records of the ’70s.

Next week, I’ll focus on another doomed star (also an anonymously requested subject, but this one is actually genuinely fascinating to me), a promising rising star who was tragically derailed by illness at a young age:Taurus Tammi Terrell.

STATS

birthdate: January 6, 1946*

*note*: due to the absence of a birth time, this analysis will be even more speculative.

major planets:

Sun: Capricorn

Moon: Aquarius

Rising: unknown

Mercury: Sagittarius

Venus: Capricorn

Mars: Cancer

Midheaven: unknown

Jupiter: Libra

Saturn: Cancer

Uranus: Gemini

Neptune: Libra

Pluto: Leo

Overall personality snapshot: For someone who is so friendly and up-front, he was a remarkably private, self-contained and independent soul. One of his challenges in life was to figure out how he could reconcile his desire to rewrite the rules with his strong belief in the rule of law. When he brought these contradictory sides together, he was self-disciplined, self-motivated and a great forward-planner with good business sense, administrative skills and a detached, ethical purpose to all your activities. His clear-headed, logical approach to any enterprise he undertook, along with his willingness to learn from his mistakes, inspired confidence and respect in friends and colleagues. He was objective and capable of confronting problems and difficulties head on, which made him a powerful ally and a formidable opponent. There was a stylish dignity and grace about his approach which, coupled with his insightful wit, made him a respected authority in his field and amongst his friends. Both ambitious and modest, he sought to get to the top of whatever mountain caught his idealistic imagination, but never at the expense of his humanitarian ideals.

Whilst he was deeply egalitarian in temperament, he knew to use his power effectively, and he thought to himself ‘someone’s got to do it’ – ‘it’ being managing things successfully from the top. Having scaled the heights, however, he could be self-effacing about his achievements. He had a strong sense of duty and moral obligation towards his fellow human beings. He wanted to make the world a better place, and was likely to have fairly clear ideas as to how this can be achieved. His intelligence and independent mind-set didn’t, however, suffer fools gladly, and he resented having to work at things which curbed his beliefs and freedom of expression in any way. But he was prepared to work hard with consistent dedication for his ideals. To this end, he could be drawn to those skills and professions that will make a practical difference to the world. In the creative arts, once he overcame his reticence about contacting and expressing his insights and emotions, he could be a profoundly poetic soul, encapsulating the essence of people and ideas in clear, elegant words, painting, dance or music.

The philosopher in him meant that he found ideas and opinions more important than fact. He was very optimistic and was easily distracted by anything new. When opportunity came knocking, he was quick to recognize it and take advantage of it. Sincere and versatile, he had a strong social sense. He may have been careless over details, but he had an instinctive idea of the truth. He was especially good at seeing through sham. Always expressing the truth could be seen as tactlessness by others. He likely possessed writing talent. He was easy-going, frank and optimistic. It was quite easy for him to meet people halfway, and he was always willing to listen to others’ problems and try to help them out. He was eager for close personal relationships, so he tended to have a wide circle of friends. Self-indulgence could be a problem for him, as could laziness and conceit in relationships. He tended to be impatient with superficial details, preferring large-scale situations, and he disliked being tied down by obligations over which he had little control. Although he could appear reserved, he was emotional and sensitive. Sometimes he was prone to periods of melancholia and pessimism. He may have found it difficult to launch himself in the outside world unless he had the support of him family, him partner or someone he could trust. As a man, he may have found that domestic duties or confinement weighed heavily on him. He was attracted to people who were conservative in temperament when looking for a marriage partner. He tended to feel most comfortable when he depended on him partner and him partner depended on him.

He was part of a generation that was strongly interested in humanitarian ideals, new avenues of communication and progress in mechanical skills. As a member of this generation, he was able to bring original ideas to both his career and spare-time interests. Crises in thought and ideology arose because he looked beyond tradition and old attitudes towards new original and inventive ways of looking at things. His active mind tended to need constant stimulation and his tastes could be quite fickle and difficult to satisfy. He belonged to a time of peace-loving idealism when the family unit and the way relationships were managed underwent great changes. He could be too idealistic and a little unrealistic when it came to matters of love, sex and romance. As a member of this generation, he tended to need to be motivated to make the most of his potential, because the line of least resistance appeared very attractive, especially when it involved pleasure-seeking. He embodied the Libra Neptune generation in the sense that she was a huge part of a time when beauty reappeared in fashion. He was part of a generation which was highlighted by the clash between authoritarianism and individualism. As a member of the Leo Plutonian generation, he wanted freedom in his relationships and demanded the loyalty of his friends as a right. As a member of this generation, he wanted power over his own life and was prepared to challenge established structures. He didn’t feel comfortable being dictated to, unless she in some way agreed to it beforehand. He was a part of excesses of the sixties and seventies. He was part of a generation that brought about a revolution in forms of entertainment, recreational activities and leisure time, as well as attitudes towards children.

Love/sex life: He was the lover least likely to admit to his emotional vulnerability. He would prefer the world to see him as a self-sufficient and tough-minded individual whose attitude toward sex and love was practical, down-to-earth and generally conservative. It was only when people got to know him well that the true depths of his psychological and sexual needs become apparent. Even then he would adamantly hold on to his emotional aloofness. The partner most likely to impress him was the person who gave him the hug he so desperately needed without making him admit that he needed it. He often felt most comfortable when he could quantify his feeling. He used gifts and favours to express the deep affection he dared not declare and he often projected his emotional dependency and need for security onto physical objects given to him by his lover. This may have seemed to reduce the exchange of love to the level of a business transaction but the true value of these exchanges lay on a deeper, emotional level and at this level, no matter how business-like and practical he may have appeared, he was always willing to pay whatever was asked in order to get the unconditional, enduring love he required.

minor asteroids and points:

North Node: Gemini

Lilith: Scorpio

Juno: Libra

Chiron: Libra

Vesta: Capricorn

Ceres: Capricorn

Pallas: Sagittarius

His North Node in Gemini dictated that dictated that he needed to develop a broader vision and learn to approach issues from an overall perspective, rather than getting bogged down in details or allowing himself to get side-tracked. His Lilith in Scorpio dictated that he was attracted to women who liked life to be intense and was judged for their sexuality and general vibe. Juno in Libra, he sought a mate who was harmonious, artistic, musical and intelligent. He liked beauty and balance at home. He believed in equal partnerships where all lived up to the letter of the law. Chiron in Libra, he often felt wounded in relationships and could wound others in retaliation. He may have felt he was constantly hurt or rejected in relationships. Through learning that he was whole on his own, he could have freed herself from this destructive pattern. Would have benefited from a partner that could have helped him heal in some way.

Vesta in Capricorn, he tended toward public martyrdom. Feeling so responsible, he knowingly sacrificed personal fame and fortune for duty and security. Everyone is aware of his sacrifices and there are strong guilt complexes when he didn’t measure up to demands. He didn’t challenge authorities he considered capable. Ceres in Capricorn, learning was a pleasurable experience for him who was disciplined more effectively with rewards than with punishments. He was encouraged to continued effort by defeat. He was a natural leader. Pallas in Sagittarius, he had an optimism and an excellent business mind. She usually has extreme mental perception.

elemental dominance:

air

earth

He was communicative, quick and mentally agile, and he liked to stir things up. He was likely a havoc-seeker on some level. He was oriented more toward thinking than feeling. He carried information and the seeds of ideas. Out of balance, he lived in his head and could be insensitive to the feelings of others. But at his best, he helped others form connections in all spheres of their daily lives. He was a practical, reliable man and could provide structure and protection. He was oriented toward practical experience and thought in terms doing rather than thinking, feeling, or imagining. Could be materialistic, unimaginative, and resistant to change. But at his best, he provided the practical resources, analysis, and leadership to make dreams come true.

modality dominance:

cardinal

He was happiest when he was doing anything new, and he loved to begin new ventures. He enjoyed the challenge of claiming territory. He tended to be an initiator—and a bit territorial as well. Also, he had a tendency to start more things than he could possibly finish.

planet dominants:

Uranus

Moon

Pluto

He was unique and protected his individuality. He had disruptions appear in his life that brought unpleasant and unexpected surprises and he immersed herself in areas of his life in which these disruptions occurred. Change galvanized him. He was inventive, creative, and original. He was defined by his inner world; by his emotional reactions to situations, how emotions flowed through him, motivating and compelling him—or limiting him and holding him back. He held great capacity to become a part of the whole rather than attempting to master the parts. He wanted to become whatever it is that he sought. He brought about complete and profound transformations in his life, good or bad. He felt the need to let go of what was familiar to him and accept new and different ways of being and doing things. There were areas in his life where he had to accept regeneration, which involved the destruction of the old and the creation of the new.

sign dominants:

Capricorn

Aquarius

Libra

He was a serious-minded person who often seemed aloof and tightly in control of his emotions and his personal domain. Even as a youngster, there was a mature air about him, as if he was born with a profound core that few outsiders ever see. He was easily impressed by outward signs of success, but was interested less in money than in the power that money represented. He was a true worker—industrious, efficient, and disciplined. His innate common sense gave him the ability to plan ahead and to work out practical ways of approaching goals. More often than not, he succeeded at whatever he set out to do. He possessed a quiet dignity that was unmistakable. He was an original thinker, often eccentric, who prized individuality and freedom above all else. His compassion, while genuine, rose from the intellect rather than the heart. He was hard to figure out because he was so often a paradox. He was patient but impatient; a nonconformist who conformed when it suited him; rebellious but peace-loving; stubborn and yet compliant when he wanted to be. He chafed at the restrictions placed upon him by society and sought to follow his own path. He loved beauty in all its guises—art, literature, classical music, opera, mathematics, and the human body. He usually was a team player who enjoyed debate but not argument. He was, at his best, an excellent strategist and a master at the power of suggestion. Even though he was likely a courteous, amiable person, he was definitely not a pushover. He tried to use diplomacy and intelligence to get what he wanted.