Octopus, also known as Clowns and Jugglers, is a 1969 song by Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...

, and appeared on his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs

The Madcap Laughs

The Madcap Laughs is an album by British singer/songwriter Syd Barrett, released on 3 January 1970. It was his first solo album after being replaced in the band Pink Floyd by his old school friend David Gilmour.- History :...

. The album's title came about as a result of co-producer David Gilmour

David Gilmour

David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...

 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 also notable for being Barrett's only single as a solo artist. It was released on November 14 1969, two months before the release of The Madcap Laughs.

An early version of the song was released on the Barrett rarities album Opel

Opel (album)

Opel is an album released in 1988, compiled from recordings made by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett between 1968 and 1970. It consists of 8 previously unreleased songs and 6 alternate versions of already released ones....

(1988) under the title "Clowns and Jugglers", which was recorded with the band Soft Machine

Soft Machine

Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

. The 1993 re-releases of The Madcap Laughs and Opel contain alternate versions of "Octopus" and "Clowns and Jugglers" respectively, as bonus tracks.
"Octopus" directly quotes a section from the poem "Rilloby-Rill" by Sir Henry Newbolt. The song features a variety of other influences as well.

The B-side of the "Octopus" single - "Golden Hair" - is an acoustic song set to the words of a James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

 poem called "Lean Out of the Window" which originally appeared on his book of poems entitled "Chamber Music

Chamber Music (book)

Chamber Music is a collection of poems by James Joyce, published by Elkin Matthews in May, 1907. The collection originally comprised thirty-four love poems, but two further poems were added before publication .-Summary:Although it is widely reported that the title refers to the sound of urine...

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