Comments: 36

• AnonymousThis song appeared on American Bandstand in 1967 as one of the two new hits. It was not terribly highly rated, but I quite enjoyed it. It made me seek out the song, which I had never heard before.
• Corporal Clegg from U.s.s.a.@Captain Pugwash that he's a transvestite and not just a sniffer is implied by the first two verses. a sniffer wouldn't take clean clothes off the washing line, for one, and wouldn't need a tall (dressing) mirror that gave him his "distorted view"
• Captain Pugwash from BatterseaHow do we know he was a transvestite as he was never caught. I like to sniff panties but don't actually wear them apart from on my face.
• Jrbosch from New YorkThis was the very first professional pink floyd song recorded after they signed with EMI
  A great song with a real creepy vibe
  about a cross dressing guy who would steal
  lady's undergarments from washing lines in the moonlight.
  Nothing like this had ever appeared on pop radio
  before and according to the floyd themselves was based
  on a real guy , not necessarily named Arnold Layne
  but Syd and Roger grew up.in the same Cambrigde
  neighborhood that had a lot of young female students
  renting flats and hanging out their laundry to dry.
  Unlike the song ,they never caught the bloke.
  ....as the Brits would say.
  But in the song poor Arnold
  Is sent to jail to spend his days In a chain gang
  ...which , being of feminine senitive proclivities,
  "he hated! "
  The song ends warning poor Arnold
  "Don't do it again!"
  Unfortunately, alot of things written in here are wrong
  No syd never said , as far as I can find
  That naming pink floyd
  By taking the first names of early southern blues
  pioneers Pink Anderson and Floyd Coucil
  Came to him.in a vision
  Anything that sounds mystical about syd or juicy tid-bits
  of take on his sanity or lack there of
  are usually a load of crap
  As far as I know he just had an album
  That they recorded together and came up.with it by bopping their first names together
  And the person who said the maniquin video
  was done after Syd left the group is so wrong
  It's not funny
  That very video is posted on this very page and syd is
  Clearly in every scene
  Yes there is another video they made
  by a church where syd and roger appear to be fist fighting while rick walks back and forth across the screen aimlessly. Syd does mime the words " why cant you see"
  At the end of each chourus while the other 3 'play dead'
  It's cool to watch but the official EMI maniquin video on the beach is clearly the better of the two.
  Again Arnold Layne , like alot of 1967 floyd
  was pretty cutting edge and ahead of it's time
  Great song....marking a great begining of a great band
  
• Craig from CanadaI wonder if this song is related to "I'm a Lumberjack" by Monty Python?
• Mee from Milton Keynes, United KingdomSyd never left Pink Floyd,that is his band,nobody can replace him. He IS Pink Floyd.RIP Syd.
• Zep from Cape May, NjI know what you mean, Harry From IN, I loved watching that scene and how its all backwards.
  I tried that by throwing oranges at a wall, then a hat and a jacket, and then running away. Pretty fun!
  Oh yes, and only Pink Floyd, only Pink Floyd. xD
• Harry from South Bend, InOnly Pink Floyd can make an upbeat, catchy song out of a transvestite. I enjoyed the video to this; Roger's backwards scene was fun to watch
• Chloe from St. Louis, Molol. they were such freaks- brilliant, unsurpassingly genius freaks. but thats what made them so awesome, isnt it?
• Doug from Kansas City, Moits time we had more songs about cross dressers, since about half the male population does it. The other half are liars!
• Bryan from York, United Kingdomam i mistaken or was the 'video' for arnold layne
  filmed on wells -next- the- sea, North norfolk? can anyone help me on this one??
• Andre from Portland, OrThe "mannequin video" was made after Syd left the band; an earlier promo video (of the band in the woods) actually does show Syd mouthing the lyrics. Both videos can be found on YouTube.
• Arnold from Cambridge, EnglandLot of crap written on here, won't bother correcting any of it, not worth the bother. Shine On
• Onnie from High Point, NcThe guitarist was the band's first creative force and an influential songwriter, penning their early hits.
  
  
  Born Roger Barrett in Cambridge, he composed songs including See Emily Play and Arnold Layne, both from 1967
  
  Tuesday, 11 July 2006, 16:24 GMT 17:24 UK
  
• Ozzy from Fresno, Cathe music video for this is real bizzare, but remember wat its about and the awkwardness is matched...its a shame they kicked barrett out. i bet the other members didnt REALLY like him they just never understood his awesome genius =)
• Shelby from Out Beyond The Wall, Kylove the accompanying video Syd looks so handsome in it =]
• Rory from Charlotte, NcPink Anderson and Floyd Council were not Syd Barrett's favorite blues musicians. He found their names on the liner notes of another blues album and decided to put them together.
• Lizz from Tampa, FlArnold Layne isn't the guys' name. THey never caught the guy. To spencer: he doesn't really go to jail for cross-dressing, he stole the things and went for stealing. :)
• Spencer from Los Angeles, CaI don't get it, why does Arnold Layne go to jail for being a crossdresser? Oh, and when Roger Waters plays Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun during his gigs, scenes from the video for this song play on the screen.
• Bill from Erie, PaYeah... I heard that David Bowie sung this song and "Comfortably Numb" at Gilmour's Royal Albert Hall gigs.
• Calum from Bathgate, ScotlandDavid Gilmour played this on his tour. It was great.
• Emma from .., CanadaGilmour and Barrett attended the same Arts College and knew each other. They practised guitar together at lunchtime and taught each other things. Then after college Syd went off with his band, and Gilmour had about 2 bands before he was asked to be in Pink Floyd.
• Helen from Oxford, Englandof course it wasn't.
• J from Atl, Gaanderson council that is clever anyway was arnold layne the cross dressers real name
• Gilmour from Lockport, NyChas from Webster I believe you are very confused.
  Syd started to go mad from a combination of drugs and a series of life events that he could not cope with. When Syd could not perform anymore they brought in David Gilmour to help out guitar playing and singing. They played 4 shows as a 5 piece band. On the night of the 5th show they decided that they had had enough and did not oick up Syd for the show. From that moment on David Gilmour became the guitar player and lead singer of the band. Gilmour has not left since. He has been with the band for about 28 years now. Waters left officially in 1985.
• Ash from Charleston, WvNick Mason has the distinction of being the only member to be a part of every incarnation of the band, from its beginnings and all the way through to the present.
• Helen from Oxford, Englandi got this song played on the radio today! love it! And seriously, chas NY... what are you talking about?! Have a read of what scott NJ has said and educate yourself.
• Tine from Hasselt, BelgiumDavid Gilmour was actually Syd Barretts guitar teacher.
• Scott from Hillsborough, NjDavid Gilmore joined Pink Floyd around 67 and played with Barrett still in the band. He was a childhood friend of Barrett and Waters and was used to help cope with Barrett's lack of mental capacity. They later decided to not pick up Barrett for practice or shows and just parted ways but Barrett is still a member and being compensated. Waters and Gilmore equally took over as the lead songwriters after Barrett left. So Barrett was never replaced, he just stop playing with them. Waters was never replaced either but it is unnecessary at this point since they have enough money to hire top notch session players. Gilmore also went on to produce Barrett's two solo albums. He also played bass for Barrett when he performed his solo work live.
• Erik from Lund, SwedenI'll have to correct myself: the quote from the "Ecoes" compilation is a statement from Rick Wright, not Mason.
• Erik from Lund, Sweden"Arnold Layne" is a name Syd came up with, it just "sounded good" to him, although there was indeed a person stealing women's underwear from washing lines in cambridge around this time.
  
  Mick Mason stated in the CD folder of the "Echoes" compilation that he has troubles understanding the success of "See Emily Play" since he thinks "Arnold Layne" i "Much better".
• Nickc from Ft. Wayne, InWaters, Mason, Wright, and Barret were the founding members. Gilmour hooked up with them which allowed them to let Barret go when his drug habits turned him into a drooling mess on stage. Nobody replaced Barret; they just went back to one guitar. When Waters left after the Final Cut and Wright came back, they filled in for him with a variety of other bass players, but no regular band member. So he wasn't really replaced either.
• Si from London, EnglandNo, Syd Barret was replaced by Dave Gilmour. Waters was an original member.
• Helen from York, EnglandThere's a Pink Floyd Tribute band called 'The Anderson Council' :)
• Chas from Webster, NySyd wasn't replaced by Gilmour. he was replaced by waters, and gilmour was in the band. But when Waters took off, gilmour then took place.
• Lee from Durham, Ncthe first single but later apeared on relics, their first compliation album. Its about a transvestite name arnold layne "arnold layne had a stange hobbie"

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