Syd Barrett hand-written lyrics for Pink Floyd's Vegetable Man up for auction
Written by Matt   
Wednesday, 26 October 2022

Syd Barrett's handwritten lyrics from Vegetable Man - excerptBonhams Auction House in London's Kensington have an achingly rare Pink Floyd item coming up for sale in their Rock, Pop & Film auction to be held from 1pm GMT on November 16th.

With a guide price of £30,000-40,000, which feels like an underestimate, the lot dates from 1967, and has each verse and the chorus of Vegetable Man written by Syd Barrett across 32 lines of two pages of lined paper in blue ballpoint pen, with handwritten musical chords, and accompanied by a letter concerning the provenance, and measures 8in x 13in (20.5cm x 33cm).

Vegetable Man was recorded by Pink Floyd in mid-October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios, London, with Norman Smith as the producer. The song was originally intended for inclusion on the band's second album A Saucerful of Secrets and even considered for the third single release from the LP. However, it was later omitted. It was later released by Pink Floyd in 2016 as part of the anniversary boxset The Early Years 1965-1972, and Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets now perform it as part of their live set.

Bonhams believe this is the first time a complete set of Syd Barrett handwritten lyrics have been offered at auction, and certainly we've never seen any in all our years of collecting. This set was acquired by Pink Floyd's first manager at the time the song was written and has been in his possession since. Images of the lyrics have been seen and acknowledged by a representative for the Syd Barrett Estate. The lot is sold without copyright, all rights remaining with the Estate of Syd Barrett.

To keep an eye on how much these lyrics eventually sell for - or even, for those with deep pockets, to put a bid on - visit Bonhams.com where you can also see the image in greater detail.

UPDATE: Bids for the lyrics didn't meet the reserve price, so didn't sell in the auction.