Chords for Locked in a Room with Syd Barrett (January, 1970)

[C] _ [F] _ [C] _ [Gb] _ [Db] _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [C] In January 1970, a few days after the [D] release of the album The Madcap Laughs, Melody Maker
[F] magazine arranged an interview with Sid Barrett to talk about [Dm] the album and see what he was
up to.
A few years ago, Barry Wentzel, who was [Am] the magazine's photographer at the time,
shared these memories about the interview.
Here's the amazing spotted Sid Barrett.
We went down to do an interview with him and
[Ab] his manager came up very apologetically [C] saying, Sid has locked himself in a room and he won't
come out.
[D] Can you speak through the keyhole and try and get him [F] out?
So we knocked on
the door and it opened a crack [Dm] and this little eye appeared and this very frightened [Am] character
saying, is that you guys?
I said, yes, it's us.
I said, quick, come in.
And he opened
the door, we came in, he locked the door again, put the key back in his pocket and [Em] then started
to tell us that his management were aliens [D] and they were after him and he was trying
to escape.
Very sad. _ _
[F] Sid Barrett is a happy creative, if somewhat confused [G] young man, who gave the Pink Floyd
hits and headaches when still [Am] in the group of his own creation, and after many months
of slightly mysterious obscurity, he has returned with an extraordinary solo album of odd, eccentric
songs.
[Ab] Sid has gaunt good looks and the same gentle humour common to his [C] old compatriots.
Roger Waters and Dave [D] Gilmour of the Floyd have been helping to reintroduce Sid to the
pop [F] world and produce the madcap laughs.
In fact [Dm] many friends have been anxious to help
Barrett, who seemed to [Am] succumb to the pressures of pop success in more drastic fashion than
most.
He has a songwriting talent that should not be wasted and a most original lyrical
concept.
[Em] When the Floyd first emerged from the UFO club and became guests of [D] Top of the
Pops, it swiftly became apparent to interviewers earnestly seeking to communicate with their
leader, that Sid was not [F] entirely together.
This confusion led him to part [G] from the group
nearly [C] two years [G] ago.
How is he [Am] today?
He seemed happy enough to talk this week and
while it was easy enough to detect a mood of mild elation and surprise at the interest
being shown in him, it was not always so easy to understand [Em] his erratic train of thought.
But he was eager to be [D] helpful.
How well was the single doing?
I enquired through the clouds
of cigarette smoke we blew at each other in his manager's [F] office.
I haven't noticed, said Sid, [A] pondering but not [G] wholly disturbed.
I don't think it was
[D] necessarily a [Am] good idea to do a single, but it was done.
It's a track off the album.
I've
spent a long time doing it, [C] since I left the group.
But it was done at a reasonable pace.
My time has been fairly well [Dm] spent since leaving.
I haven't had a particularly hard time and
I was okay for money.
[G] I've [F] heard of a few plans for me to do some appearances but there
is nothing [Em] positive enough to talk about.
There are vague [D] ideas about a group as well.
I've just spent my time writing fairly regularly.
I've certainly not been bored and there are
[Dm] still a lot of things to do.
[Em] When I was with the Floyd [F] the form of the music played on
[G] stage was mainly governed by the [C] records.
Now I seem to have got back to my previous
[F] state of mind.
With the volume used, they [C] inclined to push me a little.
Yes, there were
hang-ups [F] when I was with them, although it was not due to the travelling or anything,
[C] which you just put in the category of being a regular [F] activity in that kind of job.
Does
Sid like the [Am] music industry?
It's beautiful here, I never go [Ab] anywhere else.
Top of the
Pops is alright.
You [C] meet interesting people and there are always people around I know
and are prepared to like [D] me.
_ There's [F] no gloom or depression for me.
It's been [Dm] very exciting,
especially when I went to America for two weeks before the [Am] split up.
Then we came back
and played at the Albert Hall and it was very much a crescendo and I felt good.
I miss
playing to audiences, although I haven't missed it so much recently.
[Em] Was Sid satisfied with
the LP?
Well, [D] no.
I always find recording difficult.
I can only think in terms of, well,
I'm pleased with 40 [F] minutes of sound, but I can't in terms of the Pop industry.
[G] It's
only a beginning, I've written a lot more stuff.
[Am] _ Sid occasionally laughed, seemed agitated
or trailed away into silence during our conversation.
Anything that seemed uninteresting or irrelevant
[Ab] merely provoked strained and disordered replies.
[C] A reference to the unusual phrasing and choppy
lyrics of [D] Octopus drew a smile.
Sid said, Octopus [F] is a particular example of a recording
being discussed as something [Dm] exceptional because it takes an unusual meter.
I [Am] don't read much
but I think I picked up Shakespeare as a book that just happened to be lying there to read.
It was meant to be verse.
I like to have really exciting colourful [Em] songs.
I can't really sing,
but I enjoy writing [D] from experiences.
Some are so powerful they are ridiculous.
The straight
scene is best.
What happened [F] in Tottenham Court Road when we started was a microcosm
of what [G] happened later.
[C] I [G] think Pop today is a bit difficult [Am] to take in some ways but
it's fine.
I've never felt I have been left behind.
I'd like to play sometime on the scene.
Got to do something.
It would be a splendid [Em] thing to get a band together.
Meanwhile [D] Sid
is getting Sid together and those with a taste for any unusual talent on a supposedly wide
open scene that is often oddly [F] conservative will find much to intrigue them on his strained
[G] halting but often beautiful set of songs.
Laugh [Am] on, madcap.
[Dm] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _