Pink Floyd
Arnold Layne/ Candy And A Currant Bun

"Arnold Layne/ Candy And A Currant Bun" is the first single released by one of the most influential bands in the psychedelic scene of the late '60s: Pink Floyd. Led by the "Mad Hatter" Syd Barrett, they recorded the single under the production of Joe Boyd on January 29, 1967, at the Sound Techniques Studios in London. Released on March 11, 1967, it entered the UK TOP 20 chart and was censored by Radio London for the side A lyrics, which spoke of a transvestite; too "abnormal" for the England of the time.

"Arnold Layne", although excluded from the masterpiece "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", is certainly the first great work of the old Syd, one of the best tracks of English psychedelia. The splendid arrangement, the keyboards touching the sky, the precise and essential drums, make the track one of the most important songs of the whole decade. Barrett, completely satisfied with the track's arrangement, clashed with the subsequent producer Norman Smith, who intended to create another version.

Setting aside the music for a moment, the innovation of "Arnold Layne" was the lyrics: a man named Arnold Layne (obviously) has the habit of collecting women's clothes, filched from the laundry of local ladies. The story, which really happened (it is indeed inspired by a guy who stole clothes from Barrett's and Waters' mothers during their childhood in Cambridge), dealt a strong blow to all of the prudish England of the time: it's not about simple allusions to drugs (just think of the naive/malicious "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds") or delightful dream-infant scenes (Tomorrow, Kaleidoscope... and partly the Floyd in "Piper"), we are talking about a real side of society, a crack in the seemingly immaculate English system that finds itself embarrassed in the face of such frankness and doesn’t know how to justify itself except by labeling as degenerates those who had the courage to highlight the issue.

"Arnold Layne" is a track that profoundly marked the history of English music: while in America the ruthless Velvet Underground were singing odes to heroin and talking about masochists and transsexuals, Pink Floyd, with a touch of malice and irony, sang the story of a transvestite with the same tone with which the Beatles sang "All You Need Is Love". For them, "Arnold Layne" was not quite normal, but neither could it be considered an exceptional case, at least as far as THEIR England was concerned. The superiority of the early Pink Floyd over other bands was not essentially a greater compositional ability, but a more open and critical mindset, sometimes manifestly ("Arnold Layne"), sometimes allegorically (much of "Piper").

"Candy And A Currant Bun" is the B-side of the 45 rpm; it's a psychedelic lullaby, somewhat frantic and somewhat surreal, which, in terms of content and charm, has nothing to do with the previous track. The keyboard solo falls in line with that of "Arnold Layne" and the melody, fun yet sloppy, renders the track trivial. Nevertheless, it doesn't clash with the rest.

This single is one of the most effective examples by which we can demonstrate the genius of Barrett and the early Pink Floyd: the singles until 1968, the first album, and the carefree "Jugband Blues", are the cornerstones of a brief but intense psychedelic reality. With Barrett gone, nothing would ever have the same flavor: good records, more or less, the later works, but nothing compared to the past.