“Weird genius”: Ian Anderson’s favourite Pink Floyd song
There’s no denying that Pink Floyd was born out of experimentation. In the moments leading up to their official formation, they went through several name changes and line-ups, wading through various sounds before discovering the power of long-form instrumentation. Although the latter years would see their music enter new realms of accomplishment, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson maintains the opinion that the messier, the better.
Prior to the addition of David Gilmour, Pink Floyd, comprising Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, had become pioneers of the underground scene, delivering innovative psychedelic music that made good use of reverb and echo thanks to Abbey Road’s echo chamber. The band’s breakthrough, of course, came in the following years, but many songs from the early days and on their debut album ended up becoming staples of live sets and enduring talking points.
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, despite being the only project made under Barrett’s leadership, is a pretty good capsule demonstrating who and what the band was at its inception. Not only had they formed under the creative freedom of their own trial-and-error methods, but the music was suddenly a staple of underground experimentation, despite the fact that they didn’t intend to land on such a label whatsoever.
Despite Pink Floyd’s evolution into a more refined prog-rock sound over the years, their earlier material continues to resonate and inspire many, including Anderson. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn still captivates him, even with its relatively amateur vocal and instrumental performances.
“I have a thing about the first Pink Floyd album, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn,” Anderson told Louder. Although he emphasised he doesn’t dismiss Gilmour’s later contributions, he enjoys the first album because it represents “a landmark in the origins of what became of the prog rock era that inspired me, among others, to begin life-after-blues/Tamla/R&B.”
When prompted to single out one song in particular, to him, there was something about ‘Scarecrow’ that particularly resonated, especially considering the ways Barrett’s input gave the album a distinctive touch that wasn’t present during the latter years. “The track stands out as whimsical,” Anderson explained, adding: “[It’s a] surreal and quintessentially English example of [Barrett’s] wayward, weird genius.”
Considering the band’s estranged relationship with the ‘experimental’ label, ‘Scarecrow’ is musically one of the most avant-garde tracks on the entire album. It also shows Barrett’s typical simplistic lyricism and his interest in existentialist themes before such musings became a mainstay of the band’s entire repertoire. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn might be acquired by today’s standards, but understanding the foundation of Pink Floyd is perhaps the gateway to opening up a world of possibility when it comes to appreciating the more established parts of their discography.
