"Octopus" (originally recorded as "Clowns and Jugglers" and also known as "The Madcap Laughs") is a song by Syd Barrett. In January 1970 it appeared on his first solo album ''

The Madcap Laughs ''The Madcap Laughs'' is the debut solo album by the English singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. It was recorded after Barrett had left Pink Floyd in April 1968. The album had a chequered recording history, with work beginning in mid-1968, but the ...

''.

Writing

Barrett reflected on the song's writing: "Octopus" directly quotes a section from "Rilloby-Rill" by English poet Sir

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

(1862–1938). The song also features a variety of other influences.

Recording

Syd Barrett left Pink Floyd in April 1968, along with their manager Peter Jenner. Jenner led Barrett into

EMI Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

to record some tracks in May, that would later be released on Barrett's first solo album. During the May sessions, Jenner failed to record, properly, any vocals at all for several tracks, including "Clown and Jugglers". Sessions stopped once Barrett was in psychiatric care, apparently after a drive around Britain in his Mini. After New Year 1969, a somewhat recovered Barrett decided upon returning to a musical career; Barrett contacted EMI, and was passed on to Malcolm Jones, the then-head of EMI's new

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

label, Harvest. Barrett wanted to recover the Jenner-produced sessions recordings; several tracks, including "Clowns and Jugglers", were improved upon. An early version of the song, recorded with the band Soft Machine, was released on the Barrett rarities album '' Opel'' (1988) under the title "Clowns and Jugglers". The 1993 re-releases of ''

'' and ''Opel'' contain alternate versions of "Octopus" and "Clowns and Jugglers" respectively, as bonus tracks.

Release

The album's title came about as a result of co-producer David Gilmour mishearing a line from this song (''"Well, the mad cat laughed at the man on the border..."'' - although the word "madcap" does figure in another of the song's lyrics, ''"To a madcap galloping chase"''). "Octopus" is known for being Barrett's only single as a solo artist. It was released on 14 November 1969, two months before the release of ''The Madcap Laughs''. In France, the single gained a picture sleeve, which had the drawing of an octopus on it. A very scarce exemplar of this single has been auctioned for 10,500 euros on 19 June 2016 (Lot 284) during an 8000 vinyl records sale organized by the "Discothèque de Radio France". It was included on the multi-artist Harvest compilation '' A Breath of Fresh Air – A Harvest Records Anthology 1969–1974'' in 2007. For later release in 2010, on ''

An Introduction to Syd Barrett ''An Introduction to Syd Barrett'' is a 'best of' compilation featuring the work of Syd Barrett spanning the period 1967–1970, including both material written during his time with Pink Floyd and his post-band solo career. Release The album wa ...

'', David Gilmour added bass to one track, "Here I Go". In 2011, as part of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

Black Friday, a limited edition tin-set featuring a replica of the "Octopus" single yellow vinyl, with a 120-page book of photos of Barrett by photographer,

Mick Rock Michael David Rock (born Michael Edward Chester Smith; 21 November 1948 – 18 November 2021) was a British photographer. He photographed rock music acts such as Queen, David Bowie, Waylon Jennings, T. Rex, Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop ...

, was released in the US.

Personnel

* Syd Barrett –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, acoustic and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s, producer * David Gilmour – bass guitar, drums, co-producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Octopus (Song) Syd Barrett songs 1969 debut singles Psychedelic songs Songs written by Syd Barrett Song recordings produced by David Gilmour 1968 songs Songs based on poems