Rob Chapman- Pink Moons and the Pantheists at the Gates of Dawn

PINK MOONS AND PANTHEISTS AT THE GATES OF DAWN

Syd Barrett named the Pink Floyd’s debut album after a key chapter in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows. He drew on Mother Goose rhymes and children’s classics by Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and Hilaire Belloc for his lyrical source material, as well as the I Ching and other esoterica. Nick Drake developed a whole other metaphysical take on romantic poetry and remains a unique voice in the English music canon. Both men also drew directly upon the English hymnal for their inspiration.

I have a life-long love of both of these enigmatic artists. I’ve written a biography of Syd. I bought Nick’s records while he was still alive and there’s every chance he once gave me a lift! In my most recent novel ‘Unsung Unsaid’ I have fictionalised both men in order to step outside the established narratives and entrenched myths as a way of getting to the heart of what made them tick. In my talk I’ll be exploring all of this, comparing and contrasting the two men and the different ways in which  their creativity tapped into the folkloric tradition.