Syd Barrett’s single, “Octopus”, is now available on the Syd Barrett YouTube channel @SydBarrettOfficial.

The story and making of “Octopus” is fairly straightforward.

Syd Barrett entered the studio under Peter Jenner’s supervision in 1968. On 20 July that year, he and a group of uncredited session musicians recorded “Clowns and Jugglers”. Work then halted for nearly a year. Recording resumed in May 1969 with producer Malcolm Jones and Soft Machine. Though nearly finished, Syd re-recorded the track in June 1969 with David Gilmour, raising the key.

The song was once considered as the album opener, which makes sense given it was also released as a single in November 1969, about six weeks ahead of the LP. Octopus, besides being the only solo Syd Barrett single, is by far his most streamed song on Spotify, with over 3 million plays. For deeper analysis, Paul Belbin’s Untangling the Octopus covers the song’s references in detail. Syd used a rudimentary cut-up technique—less chaotic than on Barrett, but still fragmented. I reflect that in the video using cut-up typed paper strips.

After the surprise success of “A Nice Pair” in December 1973—riding the wave of Dark Side of the Moon—EMI decided to reissue Syd’s two solo albums as a double package simply titled Syd Barrett. The records were nearly twins, and the gatefold mirrored “A Nice Pair”, featuring outtakes and ephemera.

The release likely saw some success, as it revived interest in Syd. Not long after, he reunited with Peter Jenner at EMI Studio 3—where they’d begun nearly five years prior. The result: meandering rhythm and blues jams, widely seen as subpar.

Storm Thorgerson recalled visiting Syd at Chelsea Cloisters, only to be greeted with a blunt “f**k off.” He noted the fruit on the front cover wasn’t collage—it was real, adding a third dimension. The rest consists of Syd press photos and ephemera. From the liner notes and some research, it seems the inner gatefold is made up of three sections: on the left, photos from Blackhill Enterprises and Lupus Music (Bryan Morrison); on the right, images from the 1969 “Yoga” session at Wetherby Mansions; and in the centre, clippings and miscellanies from the Syd Barrett Appreciation Society, courtesy of Bernard White and likely Nigel Gardner. The front cover features Syd in the lotus pose, surrounded by a plum, an orange, and a box of “The Ship” matches. (Note: the US version has Bryant & May matches.)

Written by ARTIST ON THE BORDER, Alex Teglbjaerg, who produces videos for the Syd Barrett YouTube Channel.

Long ago, before joining the Barrett channel, I made animated GIF-style loops of Syd’s original LP covers—including the French Octopus single—available on my channel. I always wanted to bring the Syd Barrett double to life, and a vague idea of a stop-motion orange rolling across the front cover stuck with me. Fifteen years later, I finally stepped into someone’s shoes—Storm’s, perhaps. Though the inner cover may owe more to Richard Evans, with input from Bernard White and Nigel Gardner. This project was always in the pipeline. When I joined the Barrett project in 2023, I listed it as a goal. Over two years, I catalogued every image and object on the inner sleeve into a spreadsheet, ticking them off as I found them. Most are rare press photos, likely from Blackhill. Some parts—particularly from the yoga session—were missing, so I recreated them with artistic tools and reconstruction. This has been my most practical video—shot almost entirely in-camera—and perhaps the deepest dive yet into a strangely overlooked 1973 reissue. I decided to pop in a daffodil just because it grew outside. Artistic licence. As for the orange, plum, and matchbox and that grapefruit! — some say they point to a legend about Syd. But that’s a tale for another time.