Well before Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd gained a cult following in the underground British psychedelic rock scene in the 1960's. Pink Floyd were local legends before they were global legends, and their initial ascent was driven by the creative forces of lead singer Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd became psychedelic musical juggernauts, reaching success at a scale no one is prepared for, and the grinding pressures of heartless business that fueled the industry of commercial music proved too disenchanting for Syd's soul. Although it is rare for psychedelics to contribute to persistent adverse side effects, many credible accounts of Syd's near-daily ingestion of them for years suggest they likely were a factor in him being unrecognizable by the time he synchronistically walked into the recording studio as his globally renowned bandmates were recording what became the classic ode to Syd's wandering into madness, Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
As Syd withdrew from the public eye to live quietly with his mother, paint, and garden, Roger Waters took the reigns of Pink Floyd and propelled them to international success on a level approaching The Beatles. 1973's global smash hit Dark Side of the Moon enjoyed an unprecedented run on the billboard charts and went on to become one of the greatest selling albums of all-time. Amidst Floyd's white hot success, Roger drew creative inspiration for classic Floyd tunes like Have a Cigar and Welcome to the Machine from the disdain he shared with Syd for the cold & ugly nature of the profit-driven side of the music industry. However, the centerpiece of 1975's Dark Side follow-up, Wish You Were Here, was the album's bookends, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, pts. I-V and VI-IX.
Water's lyrics honor his dear friend Syd, a miner for truth and delusion, and how he shone like the sun before being caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom, developing a look in his eyes like black holes in the sky, ultimately wearing out his welcome with random precision and setting sail on the steel breeze of madness. Shine On is a moving reminder of the joy & pain that come from reaching for the secret too soon. The story of Syd, and subsequently Pink Floyd, highlights the harrowing hell and transcendent beauty born of madness. The polarities inherent in madness are unrivaled. Some of the most extreme nightmares and Godly creations in human history found inspiration in pure, lucid, lunacy. Had Syd not tapped into dimensions and frequencies unfamiliar to most, it is unlikely that Roger would have penned the classics that became life soundtracks for Floydians the world over.
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Syd's channels to realms not easily accessed were the creative spark that burned a path to greatness for the entire band. Syd's madness touched Waters at the deepest part of his being, where it was impossible to deny it in himself. The force of creation expressed through artists is often both a gift and curse, the very fire that fuels ascent can ultimately engulf. Neil Young sang that it's better to burn out than fade away, lyrics Kurt Cobain included in his suicide note. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, Delores O'Riordan are but a few recent examples in the musical realm. Mozart seemed driven by a similar fire. Contemporary psychology and psychiatry leave no space for the transcendent and revolutionary power of so-called insanity, to them all madness is pathological. The time is long overdue for psychology and psychiatry to cultivate a balanced perspective on insanity that respects its extreme healing potential rather than focusing exclusively on its risk of fiery annihilation.
A balanced and more complete understanding of madness requires recognition of its gifts and its curses. In the end, Waters reminds of the universal in losing our minds as he, like all of us, will one day be joining Syd there. For those more readily touched by madness, psychology and psychiatry could do a great deal more to help people than to focus solely on pathology. To dismiss the rich history throughout humanity of the miracles born from those who danced along the proverbial fine line between genius and sanity is to deny our own transcendent brilliance.