Mind trip

nobody@vox.com(Hafeez) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 12:17:58 +0800

EMI (I reckon) has recently released a (another) mastered version of Pink Floyd's classic debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the album's release. I think people will never stop re-releasing Piper because it is without doubt one of Pink Floyd's greatest album. I'm not really excited about the release because I already have one (a 1994 remastered version). When I first listened to the album I was at lost for words - everything seemed like a huge mess of nonsensical, maniacal, hysterical, childish mishmash; even more surprised to know that this is the album that generations of music critics have heaped praises upon praises on. There was no cohesion between songs, just one frenzied mind trip, but I quickly forgave the album's quirkiness considering that Syd Barret was himself (sort of) a raving lunatic. No disrespect to the late Syd Barret; it's just a form of expression. I am in fact an admirer of Syd Barret. You know like how people have their own guitar hero? Syd is my guitar hero. It's a love that blooms from my first listen to Astronomy Domine, the opener to Piper. It even actually once inspired me to take psychotropic drugs and compose song while under the influence. Luckily I never got round to do it.
One of the main reason why I thought of taking drugs to make music is not because of wanting to emulate Syd in my own effort to make my own version of Piper but back then, I was fascinated by music that you describe as 'out there'-ish. That was about the same time when I was also big on 'the soundtrack to a sci-fi movie' sound of Damn Dirty Apes. It was the sort of music that you listen to while lying on the roof of your house, at night, staring at the stars, stoned, and are 'floating' away into the outerspace - the whole mind trip thing. Secretly, I do actually feel a little regret for not having a go at taking psychotropic drugs. It's not really about 'running away' from the reality, not wanting to face the harsh fact about life, it's just about 'taking a break' from reality and indulge myself to the fantasy. It's not about giving up on life, it's just looking for something 'amazing' to 'color' up my somewhat dull, dreary, dark and gloomy life. Probably because of the environment because (as Pa'an had once said to me) Subang is somewhat a very gloomy and lonely place.
Now I no longer live in the bleak-ly Subang, but in the hauntingly empty and sepulchral Sungai Buaya. It was probably a move from worse to worst but luckily my campus is in Gombak; where the sky is in a lighter shade of blue and there are quite considerably more people with quite considerably more noise. Better still, I have also now picked up on jazz and 'sunny field' 'rowing down a river in the middle of a dreamy summer afternoon' acoustic folk. I am now myself making the 'rowing down a river in the middle of a dreamy summer afternoon' type of acoustic folk - the grass is green, the sky is clear, the birds are singing; the sunshine stuff. I have a job now (although only on a part-time basis). In short, life is good.

Astronomy Domine

But, I do still maintain that if I ever had the chance to do it again - going on a mind trip - I would give it a second thought. Maybe by then I can write something like Astronomy Domine; or better.

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Conjuctio anima est cognatio

Mind trip