Release
The album's title came about as a result of co-producer David Gilmour mishearing a line from this song ("Well, the mad cat laughed at the man on the border..." - although the word "madcap" does figure in another of the song's lyrics, "To a madcap galloping chase"). "Octopus" is known for being Barrett's only single as a solo artist. It was released on 14 November 1969, two months before the release of The Madcap Laughs. In France, the single gained a picture sleeve, which had the drawing of an octopus on it.
It was included on the multi-artist Harvest compilation, A Breath of Fresh Air – A Harvest Records Anthology 1969–1974 in 2007. For later release in 2010, on An Introduction to Syd Barrett, David Gilmour added bass to four tracks, including "Octopus". In 2011, as part of Record Store Day Black Friday, a limited edition tin-set featuring a replica of the "Octopus" single yellow vinyl, with a 120-page book of photos of Barrett by photographer, Mick Rock, was released in the US.
Read more about this topic: Octopus (song)
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“As nature requires whirlwinds and cyclones to release its excessive force in a violent revolt against its own existence, so the spirit requires a demonic human being from time to time whose excessive strength rebels against the community of thought and the monotony of morality ... only by looking at those beyond its limits does humanity come to know its own utmost limits.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)