In 1967, 59 years ago today, Pink Floyd made their first television appearance. They performed “See Emily Play” on Top of the Pops, a BBC music program. “See Emily Play” was the group’s second single, following “Arnold Layne.”
The song, which was originally called “Games For May,” was written by Syd Barrett, who was the band’s original frontman. He claimed he was inspired by a girl he saw when he woke up in the woods after one of the band’s performances.
“I thought, gosh, that’s nice, a song with my name, but I didn’t think it was about me,” Emily Young, the woman whom many people believe the song was written about, told Mojo. “And I don’t think it was now because Syd and me didn’t have a love affair, and he didn’t really know me. It could have been some other girl who played a part in his dream. It could have been Jenny, but Emily scanned better.”
Nick Mason, the drummer for Pink Floyd, spoke about the song with Louder Sound. “The attraction of Emily is that, in some ways, it’s a jolly pop song,” he said. “But then there’s a slightly blue mood about it, the minor key. ‘Wistful’ is the word.”
When asked about the songwriting process for “See Emily Play,” Mason admitted the details were hazy. “Back then, we didn’t have a clear way of working, but we’d collaborate once presented with an idea and improvise until we got a song. Syd [Barrett] was prolific, and the subjects and sounds were a curious mix, but we were really happy to try anything. It was so interesting that Syd would write something folky like the ‘Scarecrow’ but also have a load of ideas and sounds to put into ‘Interstellar Overdrive.’”
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Unfortunately, Barrett was kicked out of the band in 1968 due to his erratic behavior. “It’s guesswork what happened,” Mason said. “It might have been a breakdown, the use of LSD… I think he wanted to go back to painting.”
Barrett went on to have a brief solo career before leaving the music industry in 1974. He died in 2006 of pancreatic cancer. He was 60.