Syd Barrett-Octopus
Octopus also known as Clowns and Jugglers is a 1969 song by Syd Barrett, and appeared on his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs whose title is from a line of this song. The song is also notable for being his only solo single, with "Golden Hair" as the B-Side, released on November 14, two months before the album.
An early version of the song can also be found on the album Opel under the title "Clowns and Jugglers" which was recorded with the band Soft Machine.
The B-Side of the Octopus single - "Golden Hair" - is an acoustic song set to the words of a James Joyce poem called "Lean Out of the Window" which originally appeared on his book of poems entitled "Chamber Music".
Trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
trip, trip to a dream dragon
hide your wings in a ghost tower
sails cackling at every plate we break
cracked by scattered needles
the little minute gong
coughs and clears his throat
madam you see before you stand
hey ho, never be still
the old original favorite grand
grasshoppers green Herbarian band
and the tune they play is "In Us Confide"
so trip to heave and ho, up down, to and fro'
you have no word
Please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride!
Isn't it good to be lost in the wood
isn't it bad so quiet there, in the wood
meant even less to me than I thought
with a honey plough of yellow prickly seeds
clover honey pots and mystic shining feed...
well, the madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the Talbot
"Cheat" he cried shouting kangaroo
it's true in their tree they cried
Please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride!
The madcap laughed at the man on the border
hey ho, huff the Talbot
the winds they blew and the leaves did wag
they'll never put me in their bag
the seas will reach and always seep
so high you go, so low you creep
the wind it blows in tropical heat
the drones they throng on mossy seats
the squeaking door will always squeak
two up, two down we'll never meet
so merrily trip forgo my side
Please leave us here
close our eyes to the octopus ride!