MUSIC/SONGS
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You can count 64 Syd Barrett's own compositions, plus 3 co-written ones, although the instrumental Rhamadam is considered very similar to Lanky (in this way "Clown and Jugglers" and "Octopus" would be the same song, since only the lyrics changed, as it happened to "Matilda Mother") and it's considered doubtful if Syd actually wrote Two of a Kind instead of Richard Wright. Also, A Rooftop In A Thunderstorm should be a poem never set to music, and someone thinks it was not even written by Syd. Of course, there are other theories about the most unknown songs.
If you like to know about song details by searching around recordings, master tapes, reissued records and remastered releases, then you should go to the SYD'S RECORDINGS sub-section.
Instead, if you prefer to see an overview of the songs released through his musical career, you should go back to the main MUSIC section, which begins with three introductory links to pages where the main releases are shown splitted in three parts. You can also click below to start with the first part:
By the way, on the bottom of second part it can be shown a reduced version of the detailed list below (which here includes some songs not actually written by Syd Barrett):
Where it is not specified Syd Barrett performed vocals and guitar. If a song was not written nor co-written by Syd Barrett, the original title and the publisher are left blank and the title is in grey.
All information taken from David Parker's book Random Precision: Recording the Music of Syd Barrett 1965-1974, and according to Syd Barret Estate manager Paul Loasby.
Each publisher is a private company limited by shares (Ltd.). Rock Music Company Ltd. is administered by BMG.
Note: this table is sortable by date/text, by clicking below | |||||||
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1st Rec. | Original title | Publisher | Title | Release date | Rec. details | Release details | Notes |
12/08/1974 | If You Go, Don't Be Slow | Rock Music Company | A Last Recording | ? takes - 15/08/1974 | Unreleased | Written in 1974. Recorded as "If You Go" with other takes titled probably by Peter Jenner on 13-15 Aug. Instrumental. | |
July 1974 | A rooftop song in a thunderstorm row... | Rock Music Company | A Rooftop in a Thunderstorm | Late 2006 | Text - July 1974 | Terrapin book, p. 119 | Written in 1974. Poem. Maybe not written by Syd Barrett. Unproperly published in the fanzine Terrapin, n. 9, on July 1974. |
26/10/1967 | Apples and Oranges | Westminster Music | Apples and Oranges | 17/11/1967 | Take ? - 27/10/1967 | Apples and Oranges 7" single | Written in 1967. With Pink Floyd. Mono release. Stereo mixed on 14 Nov. released in 1974 on Masters of Rock. B-side: "Paint Box". |
29/01/1967 | Arnold Layne | Dunmo Music Publishing Co. | Arnold Layne | 10/03/1967 | Take ? - 29/01/1967 | Arnold Layne 7" single | Written in 1965/1966. With Pink Floyd. Mono release. Never mixed in stereo. B-side: "Candy and a Currant Bun". |
11/04/1967 | Astronomy Dominé (An Astral Chant) | Westminster Music | Astronomy Domine | 05/08/1967 | Take 14 - 11/04/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A1 | Written in 1965/mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Vocal intro by Peter Jenner. |
24/02/1970 | Baby Lamonade | Lupus Music | Baby Lemonade | 14/11/1970 | Take 1 - 26/02/1970 | Barrett LP, track A1 | Written in 1965/1969. Overdubbed on 1-2 Apr. Recorded for Top Gear on 24 Feb. broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 14 Mar. |
21/05/1967 | The Bike Song | Westminster Music | Bike | 05/08/1967 | Take 11 - 21/05/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track B5 | Written in 1965/1966. With Pink Floyd. For Jenny Spires. |
07/06/1970 | Birdie Hop | Rock Music Company | Birdie Hop | 17/10/1988 | Demo - 07/06/1970 | Opel LP, track B2 | Written in 1967. Remixed as "Birdy Hop" on 13 Aug. 1974. Probably for John "Hoppy" Hopkins. |
27/02/1970 | Bob Dylan Blues | Rock Music Company | Bob Dylan Blues | 16/04/2001 | Demo - 27/02/1970 | The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me? CD, track 21 | Written in late 1964/Jan. 1965. Recorded as "Dylan Blues". |
Jan. 1965 | Butterfly | Rock Music Company | Butterfly | 27/11/2015 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | 1965: Their First Recordings double 7" EP, track 2.A2 | Written in late 1964/early 1965. Aka "Flutter By Butterfly". With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. |
29/01/1967 | Let's Roll Another One | Dunmo Music Publishing Co. | Candy and a Currant Bun | 10/03/1967 | Take ? - 29/01/1967 | Arnold Layne 7" single, B-side | Written in late 1964/mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Lyrics changed. |
27/02/1967 | Chapter 24 | Westminster Music | Chapter 24 | 05/08/1967 | Take 5 - 27/02/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track B3 | Written in 1965/1966. With Pink Floyd. Lyrics inspired and partially taken from ancient Chinese book I Ching. |
12/06/1969 | Dark Globe | Lupus Music | Dark Globe | 03/01/1970 | Take 2 - 12/06/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A5 | Written in 1965/1969. Recorded as "Wouldn't You Miss Me" on 26 July. |
14/07/1970 | Dolly Rocker | Rock Music Company | Dolly Rocker | 17/10/1988 | Take 1 - 14/07/1970 | Opel LP, track A5 | Written in 1967. |
14/07/1970 | Dominoes | Lupus Music | Dominoes | 14/11/1970 | Take 2 - 14/07/1970 | Barrett LP, track A3 | Written in 1967. Overdubbed on 15 July as take 3. |
Jan. 1965 | Double O Bo | Rock Music Company | Double O Bo | 27/11/2015 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | 1965: Their First Recordings double 7" EP, track 1.B1 | Written in late 1964/early 1965. With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. |
27/01/1972 | Drinkin' That Wine | 09/06/2014 | Live - 27/01/1972 | Six Hour Technicolour Dream: Cambridge 1972 CD, track 5 | Traditional. With Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band. Vocals by Bruce Paine. Guitar with Fred Frith and Bruce Paine. | ||
23/10/1967 | Early Morning Henry | Rock Music Company | Early Morning Henry | Demo - 23/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1965/1967. With Pink Floyd. Possibly instrumental. No known recordings exist. | |
24/02/1970 | Effervescing Elephant | Lupus Music | Effervescing Elephant | 14/11/1970 | Take 9 - 17/07/1970 | Barrett LP, track B6 | Written in late 1964. Recorded for Top Gear on 24 Feb. broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 14 Mar. |
26/07/1969 | Feel | Lupus Music | Feel | 03/01/1970 | Take 1 - 26/07/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track B5 | Written in 1965/1968. |
16/03/1967 | Snowing | Westminster Music | Flaming | 05/08/1967 | Take 1 - 16/03/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A4 | Written in 1965/mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Vocal harmonies added on 27 June as take 2. Single released in US on 2 Nov. |
24/02/1970 | Gigolo Aunt | Lupus Music | Gigolo Aunt | 14/11/1970 | Take 15 - 27/02/1970 | Barrett LP, track B1 | Written in 1965/1967. Some vocals added on 1 Apr. |
14/05/1968 | Golden Hair | Lupus Music | Golden Hair | 14/11/1969 | Take 11 - 12/06/1969 | Octopus 7" single, B-side | Written in 1965/1968 with lyrics by James Joyce. Co-published by Society of Authors. Remake after 4 takes. |
27/01/1972 | Gotta Be a Reason | 09/06/2014 | Live - 27/01/1972 | Six Hour Technicolour Dream: Cambridge 1972 CD, track 7 | Jam session. With Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band. Vocals by Bruce Paine. Guitar with Fred Frith and Bruce Paine. | ||
17/04/1969 | Boon Tune | Lupus Music | Here I Go | 03/01/1970 | Take 5 - 17/04/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A6 | Written in 1966. |
31/10/1967 | Stoned Alone | Rock Music Company | I Get Stoned | ? takes - 31/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in late 1964/mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Possibly lyrics changed on demo recorded as "Living Alone" on 27 Feb. 1970. | |
27/02/1970 | Waving My Arms in the Air [part 2] | Lupus Music | I Never Lied to You | 14/11/1970 | Take 1 - 02/04/1970 | Barrett LP, track B3 | Written in 1965/1967. Some guitar and vocals added on 3 Apr. |
26/07/1969 | If It's In You | Lupus Music | If It's in You | 03/01/1970 | Take 5 - 26/07/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track B6 | Written in 1965/1967. |
Jan. 1965 | I'm a King Bee | Aut. 1996 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | CD single with the book Syd Barrett: A fish out of water, track 2 | Written by Slim Harpo. Recorded as "King Bee". With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. Cover version. | ||
20/10/1967 | In the Beechwoods | Rock Music Company | In the Beechwoods | 4 takes - 20/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1967. Aka "Down in the Beechwoods". With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. | |
31/10/1966 | Interstellar Overdrive | Westminster Music | Interstellar Overdrive | 05/08/1967 | Take 2 - 27/02/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track B1 | Written with Pink Floyd in mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. Soundtrack of Anthony Stern's film San Francisco. |
20/10/1967 | Intremental | Rock Music Company | Intremental | Take 1 - 20/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1967. With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. Possibly "In the Beechwoods" is a continuation of. No known recordings exist. | |
21/07/1970 | Mind Shot | Lupus Music | It Is Obvious | 14/11/1970 | Take 1 - 21/07/1970 | Barrett LP, track A4 | Written in 1965/1967. Overdubbed on 22-23 July. |
09/10/1967 | Jugband Blues | Westminster Music | Jugband Blues | 29/06/1968 | Take ? - 19/10/1967 | A Saucerful of Secrets LP, track B3 | Written in 1967. With Pink Floyd and The Salvation Army. Re-arranged from a Jan. demo. Promo video filmed on Dec. |
14/05/1968 | Lanky | Rock Music Company | Lanky (Part 1) | 17/10/1988 | Take 1 - 14/05/1968 | Opel LP, track B4 | Written in 1968. Instrumental. As "Lanky (Part 2)" possibly an unfinished continuation of "Rhamadam". |
06/05/1968 | Late Night | Lupus Music | Late Night | 03/01/1970 | Take 2 - 21/05/1968 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track B7 | Written in 1965/1967. Remake after 1 false start plus 5 takes. Last overdubs added on 11 Apr. 1969. |
14/07/1970 | Let's Split | Rock Music Company | Let's Split | 17/10/1988 | Take 1 - 14/07/1970 | Opel LP, track B3 | Written in 1965/1967. Probably take 2 was only Syd Barrett's whistling to be added at the end. |
26/07/1969 | Long Gone | Lupus Music | Long Gone | 03/01/1970 | Take 1 - 26/07/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track B3 | Written in 1965/1968. |
14/07/1970 | Love Song | Lupus Music | Love Song | 14/11/1970 | Take 1 - 14/07/1970 | Barrett LP, track A2 | Written in 1965/1967. Overdubbed on 17 July. |
11/04/1969 | Love You | Lupus Music | Love You | 03/01/1970 | Take 4 - 11/04/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A3 | Written in 1965/1967. Overdubbed on 3 May. |
12/04/1967 | Percy the Ratcatcher | Westminster Music | Lucifer Sam | 05/08/1967 | Take 7 - 12/04/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A2 | Written in 1965/1967. With Pink Floyd. Some vocals added on 18 Apr. as take 10. For Jenny Spires. |
Jan. 1965 | Lucy Leave | Rock Music Company | Lucy Leave | Aut. 1996 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | CD single with the book Syd Barrett: A fish out of water, track 1 | Written in late 1964/early 1965. Aka "Lucy Lea in Blue Tights". With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. |
26/02/1970 | Maisie | Lupus Music | Maisie | 14/11/1970 | Take 2 - 26/02/1970 | Barrett LP, track A6 | Written in 1965/1967. Last remix on 1 Sep. without a vocal track and some more lyrics. |
21/02/1967 | Matilda Mother | Westminster Music | Matilda Mother | 05/08/1967 | Take 6 - 21/02/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A3 | Written in 1965/mid 1966. Recorded as "Matilda's Mother". With Pink Floyd. Changed lyrics partly from Belloc's Cautionary Tales. |
07/06/1970 | Milky Way | Rock Music Company | Milky Way | 17/10/1988 | Take 5 - 07/06/1970 | Opel LP, track B6 | Written in 1965/1967. Takes 1-4 were false starts. |
11/01/1967 | Nick's Boogie | 1990 | Take 1 - 11/01/1967 | Tonite Let's All Make Love in London... Plus CD, track 14 | Written by Nick Mason. With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. Jam session credited to Pink Floyd until 2005. | ||
11/04/1969 | It's No Good Trying | Lupus Music | No Good Trying | 03/01/1970 | Take 3 - 11/04/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A2 | Written in 1965/1968. Overdubbed on 3-4 May. |
17/04/1969 | No Man's Land | Lupus Music | No Man's Land | 03/01/1970 | Take 5 - 17/04/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A4 | Written in 1965/1967. Some guitar added on 4 May. Some spoken parts at the end are barely audible on the right channel. |
27/01/1972 | Number Nine | 09/06/2014 | Live - 27/01/1972 | Six Hour Technicolour Dream: Cambridge 1972 CD, track 6 | Jam session. With Last Minute Put Together Boogie Band. Instrumental. Guitar with Fred Frith and Bruce Paine. | ||
20/07/1968 | Clowns and Jugglers | Lupus Music | Octopus | 14/11/1969 | Take 11 - 12/06/1969 | Octopus 7" single | Written in 1965/1966. Lyrics shortened. B-side: "Golden Hair". |
11/04/1969 | Opel | Rock Music Company | Opel | 17/10/1988 | Take 9 - 11/04/1969 | Opel LP, track A1 | Written in 1965/1968. 7 false starts. Take 6 with some more lyrics. Possibly title misspelled from "Opal". |
23/10/1967 | Paint Box | 17/11/1967 | Take ? - 26/10/1967 | Apples and Oranges 7" single, B-side | Written by Richard Wright. Aka "Paintbox". With Pink Floyd. Vocals by Richard Wright. | ||
21/03/1967 | Pow R. Toc H. | Westminster Music | Pow R. Toc H. | 05/08/1967 | Take 4 - 21/03/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A5 | Written with Pink Floyd in mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. |
07/06/1970 | Rats | Lupus Music | Rats | 14/11/1970 | Demo - 07/06/1970 | Barrett LP, track A5 | Written in 1965/1967. Some guitar added on 23 July. |
25/09/1967 | Reaction in G | Rock Music Company | Reaction in G | ? takes - 25/09/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1967. With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. Maybe recorded on 15-16 Aug. Broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 1 Oct. on Top Gear. | |
18/12/1969 | Religious Experience | 09/06/2003 | Take 10 - 18/12/1969 | Joy of a Toy by Kevin Ayers, 2003 reissue CD, track 14 | Written by Kevin Ayers. Vocals by Kevin Ayers. A mix without Syd Barrett released as "Singing a Song in the Morning" in Feb. 1970. | ||
09/10/1967 | Remember a Day | 29/06/1968 | Take ? - 11/10/1967 | A Saucerful of Secrets LP, track A2 | Written by Richard Wright. With Pink Floyd. Vocals by Richard Wright. Single released in US on 19 Aug. | ||
Jan. 1965 | Remember Me | Rock Music Company | Remember Me | 27/11/2015 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | 1965: Their First Recordings double 7" EP, track 1.B2 | Written in late 1964/early 1965. With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. |
14/05/1968 | Rhamadan | Rock Music Company | Rhamadam | 11/10/2010 | Take 1 - 14/05/1968 | An Introduction to Syd Barrett CD, downloadable bonus track | Written in 1968. Instrumental. Possibly unfinished. 23 Apr. 1969 recording "Motorbike Effects" intended to be overdubbed onto. |
07/08/1967 | Old Woman with a Casket | Westminster Music | Scream Thy Last Scream | 2 takes - 07/08/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1965/1967. With Pink Floyd. Vocals with Nick Mason. Promo video filmed on Oct. 1967. Single scheduled twice. | |
21/05/1967 | Games for May | Westminster Music | See Emily Play | 16/06/1967 | Take ? - 21/05/1967 | See Emily Play 7" single | Written in May 1967. With Pink Floyd. For the Games For May concert on 12 May. B-Side: "Scarecrow". |
08/08/1967 | Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun | 29/06/1968 | Take 2 - 08/08/1967 | A Saucerful of Secrets LP, track A3 | Written by Roger Waters. With Pink Floyd. Vocals by Roger Waters. Possibly added guitar by David Gilmour on 11 Jan. 1968. | ||
26/07/1969 | She Took a Long Cold Look at Me | Lupus Music | She Took a Long Cold Look | 03/01/1970 | Take 5 - 26/07/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track B4 | Written in 1965/1968. Released as "She Took a Long Cool Look" in 2010. |
18/04/1967 | She Was a Millionaire | Rock Music Company | She Was a Millionaire | 2 takes - 18/04/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1965/1967. With Pink Floyd. No known recordings show it's as "Millionaire" recorded on 7 June 1970 with parts of "Opel". | |
06/05/1968 | Silas Lang | Lupus Music | Swan Lee | 17/10/1988 | Take 1 - 06/05/1968 | Opel LP, track B1 | Written in 1965/1967. Recorded as "Silace Lang". Overdubbed as "Swanlee" as take 4 on 20 Jun. Last overdubs on 10 Apr. 1969. |
20/03/1967 | Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk | 05/08/1967 | Take 5 - 20/03/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track A6 | Written by Roger Waters. With Pink Floyd. Vocals by Roger Waters. Backing vocals by Syd Barrett and Richard Wright. | ||
11/04/1969 | Terrapin | Lupus Music | Terrapin | 03/01/1970 | Take 1 - 11/04/1969 | The Madcap Laughs LP, track A1 | Written in 1964/1966. Last overdubs on 4 May. Possibly for Libby Gausden. |
19/03/1967 | The Gnome | Westminster Music | The Gnome | 05/08/1967 | Take 6 - 19/03/1967 | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP, track B2 | Written in 1965/mid 1966. With Pink Floyd. Possibly the only take. Inspired by Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. |
20/03/1967 | Scarecrow | Westminster Music | The Scarecrow | 16/06/1967 | Take 1 - 20/03/1967 | See Emily Play 7" single, B-side | Written in 1965/early 1967. With Pink Floyd. Overdubbed on 22 Mar. Promo video filmed on July. |
24/02/1970 | Two of a Kind | Rock Music Company | Two of a Kind | Jan. 1988 | Take ? - 24/02/1970 | The Peel Sessions: Syd Barrett CD, track 5 | Written in 1965/early 1970 possibly by Richard Wright. Recorded for Top Gear on 24 Feb. broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 30 May. |
04/10/1967 | Untitled | Rock Music Company | Untitled | 6 takes - 04/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1965/1967. Aka "Unknown Title" or "No Title". With Pink Floyd. Instrumental. Maybe recorded on 15-16 Aug. | |
09/10/1967 | Vegetable Man | Westminster Music | Vegetable Man | ? takes - 11/10/1967 | Unreleased | Written in 1967. With Pink Floyd. Live for Top Gear on 20 Dec. broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 31 Dec. Single scheduled. | |
Jan. 1965 | Walk With Me Sydney | 27/11/2015 | Take ? - Jan. 1965 | 1965: Their First Recordings double 7" EP, track 2.A1 | Written by Roger Waters. With Pink Floyd with Rado Klose. Vocals with Juliette Gale. | ||
27/02/1970 | Waving My Arms in the Air | Lupus Music | Waving My Arms in the Air | 14/11/1970 | Take 1 - 02/04/1970 | Barrett LP, track B2 | Written in 1965/1967. Some guitar and vocals added on 3 Apr. |
07/06/1970 | Wined and Dined | Lupus Music | Wined and Dined | 14/11/1970 | Take 10 - 14/07/1970 | Barrett LP, track B4 | Written in 1965/1967. Recorded as "Wined & Dined". Last overdubs on 23 July. |
27/02/1970 | Wolfpack | Lupus Music | Wolfpack | 14/11/1970 | Take 2 - 03/04/1970 | Barrett LP, track B5 | Written in 1965/1969. Edited from unspecified duration to 3:40. Probably overdubbed. |
21/07/1970 | Untitled | Rock Music Company | Word Song | 17/10/1988 | Take 1 - 21/07/1970 | Opel LP, track A6 | Written in 1965/1969. |
To know more about the songs not written by Syd Barrett, but that he performed with Pink Floyd or with others, go to this page:
However, those were just a few songs written by Roger Waters or Richard Wright that Syd played with Pink Floyd, while his total guest appearances would have been even less in number: we have to add some of the covers he played live in the early years to have no more than 34 songs, as you can see in the list below (the songs added are in grey).
LIST OF ALL SONGS NOT WRITTEN BUT RECORDED OR PERFORMED BY SYD BARRETT → | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The remaining unreleased songs may need to be treated as a separate group, also because of the legends surrounding them... (it's enough that the master tapes of 3 songs were erased or lost and the lyrics of 2 songs are unknown). They consist of at least 10 songs. Below is the link to the related page and a short list to see what songs they are.
LIST OF ALL UNRELEASED SONGS WRITTEN BY SYD BARRETT → | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The fresh irony in "Bob Dylan Blues" might hide serious consideration for the songwriting:
Well I sing about dreams
And I rhymes it with seams
Cause it seems that my dream always means
That I can prophesy all kinds of things

Syd Barrett was very fond of all of his lyrics — and not merely because in a 1970 interview he replied "very important" to the interviewer's question "How important are the lyrics?". For what was his last proper interview, he said to Mick Rock, who went to visit him at his home in Cambridge,
"I'll show you a book of all my songs before you go. I think it's so exciting. I'm glad you're here."
and Mick then wrote:
He produces a folder containing all his recorded songs to date, neatly typed, with no music. Most of them stand alone as written pieces. Sometimes simple, lyrical, though never without some touch of irony. Sometimes surreal, images weaving dreamily, echoes of a mindscape that defies traditional analysis.
It's unclear if the publishing companies still have exactly the lyrics Syd had in his hands: there are still doubts about some words, like the now popular doubt about "Octopus" if the word in a line was "madcap" and not "mad cat", and now the only surviving lyric sheet is that one for "It Is Obvious", which at least shows how he used to edit his typed lyrics, even counting beats and lengths.
Possibly at a much younger age Syd was already checking the different rhyme schemes for his later songs, writing some of the lines, with the great care that a 16 years old passionate boy can have in reading things like Lear and Carroll and writing
I write all night sometimes it rhymes
as a short poem for his girlfriend Libby in a love letter with things like "Equation: Lib's lips less love = sad Syd." Perhaps his subsequent girlfriend Jenny Spires would confirm she heard all of his compositions before he turned 21: Peter Jenner, his first manager, told "He did write incredibly quickly. All those songs were... all done by about June of '67". Much later, no longer involved in music, Syd admitted himself unable to write songs since the '70s. Again Peter Jenner: "I think you have to feel that he did a lifetime's work in a year".
In the first lines of "See Emily Play" you might find reminiscences from his youth:
Emily tries but misunderstands
She's often inclined to borrow somebody's dreams till tomorrow
Perhaps, even in the big amount of thoughts he used to write in his diaries, far to be songs, it would have been possible to find clues about his lyrics, but he burnt them shortly after his mom's death in 1991. Nobody seems to know much about what he was writing then, as in his later years, other than that he was writing much about painting.
You can find much about Syd's songwriting in the REVIEWS sub-section, as well as on the books and on the other articles in the ABOUT SYD section. Here we'll try to make an overview in order to compare all of the songs of his entire career. A rather commercial point of view would suggest to compare his songs by splitting his songwriting career with Pink Floyd songs and solo songs, that's a thought subtly denied by Syd's words in one of his last interviews, written by Steve Turner:
It is possible people still expect Barrett to produce work in the Floydian mould and are slightly disturbed to hear this slightly stoned voice singing very often with only an acoustic guitar. "It puts people off their guard" he says. "I think that people miss the fact that it's obviously a gentler thing because it's clever and it's into that more than content. The message might be a bit lost because people find it hard to grasp."
Whatever was the way he wrote songs, it didn't change very much, and also the subjects may have been his early ones, if not in his later ruminations on being a pop star or about his relationship with Lindsay Corner. The Pink Floyd thing is explained by Peter Jenner: "A lot of old songs were considered a bit too child-like and not sort of serious enough for this heavy psychedelic band."
Julian Palacios, author of one of the best biographical books on Syd Barrett, described very well and in detail the techniques Syd used on his songwriting on an essay on the internet. In introducing the essay, it's useful to read an excerpt from his book:
At seventeen, Barrett showed ample wit, with deft timing and juggling ability. ‘I did tend to take lines from other things, lines I liked, and then wrote around them,’ said Barrett. ‘It was writing good songs that mattered, really.’
One Cambridge friend recalls, ‘It was not unusual for him to be playing around on a guitar and writing. He would often play me a song or tell me he had a new song. His songs were not about any one person or another. They were impressions – notions, scenarios, fun. They were snippets, jumbled together – difficult to say what inspired him at any one given time.’
To Barrett, a song was to be shared, written to amuse friends. The word ‘you’ can be found by the hundreds in his lyrics, with far less ‘me’ or ‘mine’ as balance. A dialogue between ‘I’ and ‘you’ runs parallel throughout – a missing half to complete him. Writing songs was always related to playing, not for his amusement alone. It was exciting for him to have a thought and turn it into music.
Offsetting related tempos, Barrett’s songs had melodic richness and curious harmonic structures; his outstanding ear for melody being perhaps his greatest gift. His elaborate wordplay was rife with double meaning, irony and an evident eye for economically capturing essential images. Barrett’s work is rich with stormy contrasts, relentless rhythm or gentle acoustic strums, dense rhymes to nimble melodies.
The essay is listed on the REVIEWS sub-section too, but you can see it by clicking below:

The excerpt below is followed by two older quotes from two great guitarists, Fred Frith and Jimmy Page:
Composer Daniel Nass comments, ‘chromaticism forms Barrett’s 'dark' sound. Chromatics takes away pre-conceived expectations of what comes next. Isn’t it interesting his chromatic phrases tend to descend more often than ascend? So many instances of descending phrases (chromatic and otherwise) in his songs.’ This pointed directly to childhood nursery rhymes. ...
Beyond words Syd sang, his subtlety lies where he placed emphasis. Rhyme schemes changed from song to song. In ‘Lucifer Sam’, inside the song, with rhymes in two middle bars parried with one rhyme in the second, and ending with two in the middle of the last verse.Considered in detail, it’s great the way the lines which underpin the first part of each verse are made up of tiny units, each contributing to something which becomes greater in concept than any of them.
The playing not only reveals an acute perception of sound, but explores a little exploited region and menacingly undermines the apparent harmless and half sense lyrics.Syd Barrett’s writing with the early Pink Floyd was inspirational. Nothing sounded like Barrett before Pink Floyd’s first album. There were so many ideas and so many positive statements. You can really feel the genius there, and it was tragic that he fell apart.
The two guitarists rightly compared Syd to other great musicians to describe his songwriting:
Fred Frith: "Both Beefheart and Syd Barrett have in the past exerted this powerful questioning force by redefining the medium in which they operated."
Jimmy Page: "Both he and Jimi Hendrix had a futuristic vision in a sense."
If we argue that the more a comparison is objective the more it makes sense, we should expect that David Gilmour's description of Syd as "one of the three or four greats, along with Bob Dylan" will be explained at least as well as the other two comparisons above.
Having seen how Syd Barrett's songwriting is worth some analysis much more than the standards, with still much space to explore, it may be interesting to compare the 60 and more songs of his repertoire under various aspects, not only about those techniques which led to pleasure and admiration, but also about what was behind his creative process. This is hardly possible, but only on an accurate retrospect. The good thing should be that the infinite possible cross-references are limited within his own repertoire. A basic first step could be to search any sort of recurrence in his songs, starting from the words used, then the sentences, the types of rhyme and assonance, and so on, as well as starting from the occurrences of the chord sequences, then the techniques of guitar-playing and recording, and so on. Completing this would help to search what occurrences are the most significant to study them individually or for the totality of the work of the songwriter, trying to embrace it as a whole.
Would you ever discuss musical theory with Syd Barrett? Fred Frith's reply: "It would have been nice. But his compositional ideas tend to shine through his compositions, which is the way it should be."