The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The Wind in the Willows
cw: Wind in the Willows Spoilers
I recently went down some ratholes involving Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, The Wind in the Willows and the k-drama “When the Weather is Fine”. It was one of those serendipitous occurrences when a random conversation led me to discover (or rediscover) the exact literature and music I needed in that moment. At the same time I found these various forms of expression intersecting with my own particular interests. I guess it’s a gift of being retired that I have a certain amount of time and freedom to follow random flights of fancy. This one has been particularly fascinating, so I wanted to write a longer form piece than will fit in Mastodon’s 500 character limit.
When the Weather is Fine is a romance set in Hyecheon, a fictional rural town in Gangwon Province, Korea. While it incorporates many of the standard romance tropes it also has some dark, supernatural vibes, and a Bergmanesque “art house” feel. Most of the action transpires during the cold winter months, and the camera spends a lot of time observing small details of the stark landscape and the natural world. The dialog is often very sparing, and we get long shots of various characters gazing at each other, or wearing a faraway look as they sip coffee and observe some small detail in their surroundings. The male lead is Im Eun-Seop, who owns the Goodnight Bookstore in this tiny village. Female lead Mok Hae-Won has been teaching cello in Seoul. When she can no longer handle her mean and exploitive employer she returns to Hyecheon to stay with her aunt, essentially next door to the Goodnight Bookstore, where she ends up working. Early in the series she observes that Eun-seop has multiple editions of The Wind in the Willows. When she inquires of him, he replies that it is his favorite book. They don’t ever expand on why the Wind in the Willows is Eun-seop’s favorite, but it got me thinking about Graham Greene’s 1910 children’s book, The Wind in the Willows, which I had not read. I’m not going to go into a full scale review of the drama here, but it is a dreamy and deep romance which is worth a watch.
When the Weather is Fine
A week ago, while my wife and I were still in the midst of When the Weather is Fine, I stopped at my local natural foods market in Felton, California. I happened to be wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt that my kids had got me years ago – black with the iconic prism and rainbow motif from Dark Side of the Moon. The twenty-something checker complimented me on the shirt. I said “thanks (smiling), do you youngsters still listen to Pink Floyd?” (sometimes I lean into my status as a senior citizen). She replied affirmatively, and further that she was particularly into Syd Barrett, the brilliant but unstable co-founder of the band with Roger Waters.
Now as a teenager in the 70s, Dark Side of the Moon was the soundtrack to countless evenings of chemically induced euphoria in basements (or my rather snazzy 3rd floor room) in my small New Hampshire town. I loved Umma Gumma, too, but I rarely listened to the earlier albums. I could not have named one song on their debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which is the only Floyd record to feature Barrett, though he did write one song on the follow-up A Saucerfull of Secrets. After that he became too erratic, and was replaced by David Gilmour.
I did regale the young cashier with my memories of seeing Pink Floyd’s Animals tour while flying on acid. They played the entire Animals album straight through, followed by all of Wish You Were Here. For the encore they played two tracks off Dark Side of the Moon, and they even played “Careful with that Axe, Eugene” off Umma Gumma as the final encore, which was pretty awesome. In any case, after this chance conversation I resolved to listen to some Syd Barrett era Floyd, and beyond that to learn a little bit more about the enigmatic Barrett and perhaps listen to some of his solo work.
I hunted around for a podcast about Syd Barrett, and found a very compelling conversation with his biographer Rob Chapman on the Strange Brew podcast. The teenage Chapman discovered Barrett before the formation of Pink Floyd, and was present at a number of storied early Barrett gigs. After Barrett left Pink Floyd, he spent the rest of his days at his family home in Cambridge. Chapman, also being from Cambridge, collected dozens of Barrett anecdotes. Although he never got to interview Barrett himself, it seems that Chapman’s A Very Irregular Head: The Life of Syd Barrett is the definitive biography, and he was able to interview many of the people who worked with and knew Barrett. Chapman is also an engaging speaker, and I encourage you to listen to the pod if that seems like your thing. One of the most interesting tidbits I learned from this is that Barrett’s favorite book is The Wind In The Willows.
I was now beyond ready to get my hands on a copy of The Wind In The Willows and see what all the excitement was about. It is on some level a charming story of various animals living in the English countryside – Mole, River Rat, Toad, Badger and others that Greene originally created as bedtime stories for his son. But let me tell you, beyond the humorous and tender interactions of the animals, we have some of the most lovely and compelling descriptions of nature that I have ever read. Greene’s prose, detailed observation and his love of nature leap off the pages – truly remarkable writing. Perhaps the most magical chapter of the Wind in the Willows is titled The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which lends its name to Pink Floyd’s debut album. Our protagonists Mole and the River Rat have been rowing all night on the river, in search of an otter pup who’s gone missing. Just before the dawn, they hear a beautiful, unearthly melody and follow it to an island. On the island their senses grow keener, their awareness of every leaf, every creature seems to heighten. It’s like the whole island is bathed in a mystical energy. Suddenly, who should they see, but Pan himself, cloven hoofed, horned, with a mysterious yet warm aspect. At his feet is the missing otter pup, curled up asleep.
Now folks, I have not seen Pan myself, but I believe he is real, and this is exactly how he appears to people (cf. The Findhorn Garden). I don’t know much about Graham Greene, but I would wager that he’s one of the rare humans to whom Pan has appeared. I just love that he appears in this children’s book. Of course after they recover the otter pup, Pan casts a forgetfulness spell on our animal friends, so they are left with only a strange sense of wonder after they return from the island. I love this part so much.
I have listened to the Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn once or twice now as well as Barrett’s solo album The Madcap Laughs which he recorded after leaving Pink Floyd (David Gilmour produced it). They’re the kind of records that can be enjoyed when you get in the right mood. Syd’s lyrics are really quite magical and psychedelic, his voice is lovely and he’s a solid guitarist as well. I need to listen to these more before I could properly review them. However, I can say that they open a very compelling window into Barrett’s unique mind and lyrical art, and they evoke a time and place when psychedelic rock was new and gestured towards other worlds and other realms. And I am all for art with the potential to transport us to other worlds.