Pink Floyd: Shine On You Crazy Diamond Meaning

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Shine On You Crazy Diamond Lyrics

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,
blown on...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Oct 2nd 2012 report

   The day this song becomes true will be the day you stop worrying about everyone elses problems. Look into your Self and invite your shadow. The things in you that you dislike, suppress. Learn from your own message and only then will you be able to adopt the message of Pink Floyd as your own. The possibilities are endless. But FIRST this song is about YOU.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 3rd 2007 report

   The first guy is right also realize "S"hine on "Y"ou crazy "D"iamond "SYD"

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 29th 2006 report

   Yes you people are right but I'm surprised no one pointed out this.......'S'hine on 'Y'ou crazy 'Diamond'
4. anonymous

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   Sep 1st 2019 report

   It's about how people have a need to seek the approval of other people. "Look at me, I have value (shining like a diamond)". But it's "crazy" because , really, why should you care what anyone else thinks of you? It really drives home the fact that most people are idiots.
5. anonymous

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   Jul 29th 2018 report

   "S"hine on "Y"ou crazy "D"imond....
   SYD!
6. anonymous

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   Jul 19th 2018 report

   You’d all do well to read (at the least) “Inside Out” by Nick Mason...enlightening. Also, the comment about “you reached for the moon too soon”... this is not about Barrett howling at the moon at a Yorkshire cottage. Check the album release dates. “The Dark Side of the Moon” is the Floyd’s seminal work. Everyone has their favorite (I get it), but Dark Side resonates so deeply across generations that it’s spent more than 900 weeks on Billboard’s top 200 (that’s YEARS more than any other album). The album has become culturally significant as well as popular. The line “you reached for too soon” in “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is a reference to the album “The Dark Side of the Moon”. Each band member acknowledges the monumental influence Barrett had on the direction of the band. The line is thus an homage within the homage of Diamond; a recognition, if you will, that without Syd, Dark Side would not have been possible.
7. anonymous

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   Dec 10th 2013 report

   Besides Barrett. The song is to stay strong, avoid nihilism, and focus on your visions.
8. anonymous

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   Oct 2nd 2012 report

   The day this song becomes true will be the day you stop worrying about everyone elses problems. Look into your Self and invite your shadow. The things in you that you dislike, suppress. Learn from your own message and only then will you be able to adopt the message of Pink Floyd as your own. The possibilities are endless
9. Boudicca7

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   Apr 1st 2012 report

   The inspiration for the song's lyrics was definitely original guitarist/singer Syd Barrett. This has been verified by all of Pink Floyd's members at one time or another. According to Roger, Syd developed schizophrenia either subsequent to his hallucinogenic dependency (from which he basically never returned to real time) or as a direct result of it. He didn't specify so it's anyone's guess, though schizophrenia usually develops in people in their early 20s; it may have collided with the end results of the acid trips. As for Syd showing up at the studio, I believe in synchronicities and not coincidences. To me, it is downright EERIE that he would find them and still believe that he was in the band at the time they were recording a song about him. Of course, we're free to believe whatever we like, but I think it's causally connected.
10. anonymous

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    Dec 28th 2011 report

    It's actually about Syd barrett and how he was mentally ill the lyric 'you cried for the moon' refers to when Syd had a cottage in the yorkshire moores and used to howl at a full moon. Also the lyric 'well you wore out your welcome, with random precision' refers to when Syd was in the band and when they wrote songs and played them, Syd would play something totally different to what they had written.
11. anonymous

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    Apr 17th 2011 report

    Syd Barrett showed up at the recording studio to work on Wish You Were Here and the guys had to remind him that he was not in the band anymore, even though he believed he was. Barrett took alot of acid and became crazy.
12. anonymous

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    Dec 18th 2010 report

    Of course this song is about Syd. I once saw an interview with David Gilmour in which he stated that the reason the band broke up was that all Roger Waters wrote about was madness and war. The madness from Syd and the war from losing his father during WWII.
13. paldebayan

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    Sep 4th 2009 report

    Come on guys....the SYD thing from 'S'hine on 'Y'ou crazy 'D'iamond is crazy...its a co-incidence.....just like the co-incidence that Syd suddenly visited the studio in which the song was being recorded,and met the PF members almost after 7 years....it was highly co-incidental and roger waters broke down to tears...and David did not even recognize Syd initially....but the SYD thing is crazy!
14. anonymous

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    Aug 18th 2009 report

    An interesting thing about this song is that allegedly Syd Barret arrived out of the blue with no invitation or notice to abbey road when Pink Floyd was recording the song.
15. PAJOFLOYD

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    Jul 27th 2008 report

    Pink Floyd is my religion and I never noticed the "S"hine on "Y"ou crazy "D"iamond (SYD) thing. Good job guys, you're all right with your interpretations; this song's about Syd.
16. dritani176

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    Aug 14th 2007 report

    The song is a tribute to Syd. Although he got sick, he is still as precious as a diamond and is a guide light for them (shine on).
17. anonymous

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    Mar 20th 2006 report

    The first guy is exactly right. I have nothing else to say.
18. anonymous

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    Feb 10th 2006 report

    The above is correct, I am a Floyd fan as is my Dad, I have done my research about this song and I believe that it is summed up correctly in the previous interpretation. A tribute to Barrett from the band.

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