The Smiley Smile Message Board

This afternoon I did a quick cover of David Ivar Herman Dune's "My Brand New Bike."

This, then, would be that.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/s3kx80

A request - do Pink Floyd's "Bike".

I don't like Pink Floyd. But perhaps.

Well, it's early Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, so it's really nothing like the Pink Floyd most people think of. Actually, "Bike" is a lot like a Love You song, except with twisted 'mad hatter' English prose instead of the strange meanderings of a deranged middle-aged American suburbanite.

I've got Piper (as well as the other obvious ones), so I'm not unfamiliar with it, though I can't say I've listened to it in years. I'll dig it out and think about it, anyway. But I've never much ascribed to the Barrett cult. Guess a guy can only love so many drug casualties.

Yeah, I can understand. His music is to be appreciated more from an emotional angle as opposed to a structural angle. Like "Terrapin" or "Long Gone" off of the Madcap Laughs. He does so much with so little.

There was a time when I actually did like Madcap Laughs. I still prefer it to his time with P.F. I sort of half-like Barrett here and there, but not really. I mean, not really. It's more just like "oh, what a crazy f*** that guy is." I don't really see or hear any genius at all, to be honest. Those who do, more power to them. But I don't.

Yeah, I wouldn't call it genius, but there isn't a lot of music I'd call genius. Genius doesn't happen all the time. I feel like music fans are the worst at throwing the 'genius' moniker around. I don't know who started it, but if you read reviews for almost any artist there is almost always someone calling him/her a genius. I guess I always have the most respect for artists who at least try to do something different musically, whereas other people have more respect for people who just make well-crafted music. Barrett always reminded me of Cobain in that his uncanny sense of rhythm allowed him to do a lot with just a few chords. I've always felt that to be a great rhythm guitarist you can't be overly technical. I would say that Barrett made nice, quirky pop songs that are a fun listen, nothing more. I think he would've said the same. Listening to his music one doesn't get the sense that he'd hole himself up in a room for hours upon hours every day trying to craft a masterpiece like Brian Wilson did.