Publius Enigma

I’ve heard about Publius Enigma quite lately for the very first time. For those who don’t know: it’s an Enigma riddle first mentioned by an unknown character named Publius in 1994 during the Division Bell world tour of Pink Floyd. It’s about some message hidden in the Pink Floyd album The Division Bell. Publius mentioned that there are hints in the booklet artwork and the lyrics that reveal an underlying message. The Enigma is not yet officially solved until today. For more background information, please feel free to start at Wikipedia. Also, there is a Facebook group that looks very official, indicating that Publius is still alive over 25 years after his or her first message.

This is my contribution to solving this Enigma that keeps its fascination until today. I am not sure to which extend my thoughts „solve“ the Enigma as there may be details that are not covered by my approach – you never know until it’s officially declared to be solved. But I want to shine light on an aspect that has been mentioned very rarely. My thoughts are based on many sources, as there are (i. a. o.) :

Thank you very much to all these sources and authors for contributing and sharing their information!

In the following, there are mainly observations of my own. Of course, some of them relate to the sources cited above. Though, this overall perspective is not yet to be found in other sources, as far as I know.

The Three Dots

On the side of the (European version) jewel case, there are three red-white-coloured dots.

  • The outer ones can be interpreted as the metal heads‘ eyes, as they share the same design. Then, the middle one would be a kind of third eye, like a bindi in Hindu. The Bindi is also red and it is the „point of creation“.
  • The figure or person represented by the metal head(s) would then be a person of creation. Whom was Syd.
  • The figure or person represented by the metal head(s) would then have an invisible Hindu symbol on his mind and a Christian church in his silent mouth. This is a religious junction but also a religious and cultural conflict. Syd, in his younger and creative days, had a strong interest in a religious group called „Sant Saji“, but he was rejected by them for being „too young“. It is said that this rejection had a deep emotional impact on him.
  • The eyes represented by the two outer dots are quite open and bright ones. Syd Barrett in his younger days was loved also for the brightness of his eyes.

Three Dots In The Lyrics

Three abnormally wide spread dots appear as singing pause indicators in some of the lyrics. If the three dots do point on Syd (who has a three-letter name), you could read the lyrics as:

  • „Did you know, Syd, it was all going to go so wrong for you“ and „Hey you, Syd, did you ever realise what you’d become“ (Poles Apart). Now, Poles Apart is quite obviously a song about Syd, giving more weight to the argument „three dots stand for Syd“ in turn.
  • „All the bitter residue slipped away, Syd, slipped away“. This one does not fit as smoothly as Poles Apart, but the relation makes sense.
  • Remarkably, the lyrics of „Wearing The Inside Out“ contain three times the dots. But, only the third appearance is wide spread („And hurled into the furnace he’ll
    . . . curse the place“). It is unclear, whether this is „by design“.
  • „And headed straight . . . into the shining sun“. Not that fitting in a grammatical sense. Nonetheless, it could be seen as an indicator of the song’s „I“ being Syd. „You“ could then mean the rest of the band.

Other notation anomalies

In his or her messages, Publius has sometimes written the beginnings of some words upper-cased so that the upper-case letters form new words, e. g. song names or „Syd“. This indicates that upper-cased word beginnings the in booklet artwork are worth of notice.

  • „Ship of Fools“ (Wearing The Inside Out) with an upper-case „S“ and „F“. In literature and overall, „ship of fools“ is sometimes written upper-case. It may be exaggerated to give this SF a meaning.
  • „G-d knows I’ve tried“ (Take It Back) – this one is obviously remarkable. The religion theme is picked up (see thoughts on „The Three Dots“). „G-d“ has been understood as a reference to the singer himself, „Gilmour, dave“. So it would read alternatively: „Dave knows I’ve tried“. But it seems quite unlikely that Gilmour sings of himself with a godly synonym. Though, he would have reason to do so ;-). It might be fine to understand this letter elision as a sign of respect, as it’s meant in Judaism.
  • The „Right One“ with an upper-cased „R“ and „O“. Most probably a link to Roger, since the song is about a conflict.
  • Question marks: there are questions in „What Do You Want From Me“, „Poles Apart“, „Coming Back To Life“, „Keep Talking“, „High Hopes“ and „Lost For Words“ – but only the latter contains question marks: „Can you see your days blighted by darkness? Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?“ Might be seen as an emphasis.
  • „Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway – Do they still meet there by the Cut“ – These places mentioned here are written upper-case as if they were names.

To sum it up, besides the some dot and question details that might be over-interpreted and the elision of the letter „o“ in „God“, the following letters are upper-cased:

  • S & F
  • R & O
  • L, R, C & C

If this resonates in someone, please let me know.

The cover’s metal head(s)

  • The bottom parts of the metal heads shape a kind of (a divided) bell (bottom).
  • The Division (of the) Bell is also visualized as a divided head. A divided brain. Something about personality. Then, Syd Barrett comes to one’s mind, as he was said to suffer from schizophrenia or a bipolar disorder.
  • The meaning of the term Division Bell is a signal that rings when the members of a congress have to vote. There is no clear relation to the Band History or Syd interpretation of TDB. It could possibly mean the day that Syd was told to be too young to be part of „Sant Saji“. It could also mean the day when the rest of the band decided not to pick up Syd because they couldn’t communicate with him anymore, and he was unreliable, mentally ill and still on drugs.
  • The (combined) mouth of the two heads is wide open. Relating to „I can’t seem to speak now.“ (Keep Talking)
  • When the third dot (the middle one, standing for creation and creativity) is projected on the combined metal head, it is the Division of the one head into two halves itself, that made this middle point disappear. Which fits perfectly on Syd’s story, being driven into schizophrenia by outer system pressure by a time where he was interested in spiritual things.
  • The metal heads appear on some pages of the booklet. The songs are: Marooned, Keep Talking, Lost For Words and High Hopes. Each head’s facial expression shows a relation to the song’s emotion. Cluster One and Take It Back and perhaps Lost For Words are the only songs whose booklet pages do not show any obvious relation to the two heads. The other songs show variants of the Metal Head idea. If this is all about Syd’s illness, we are told which songs refer to him by the booklet design.

The Division Bell as a band history (possible interpretations)

  • Cluster One : The creation. Becoming (kind of) stars. The photograph on the booklet shows La Silla observatory in Chile. La Silla was founded in 1962, when Syd Barrett joined his first first band. The first buildings of La Silla were finished in 1967, just when the first Pink Floyd album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, would appear.
  • What Do You Want From Me : Syd’s struggle with outer expectations and his disorientation between being a band member and his religious leanings.
  • Poles Apart : The contrary situations of Syd and the rest of the band.
  • Marooned (looned?) : A possible interpretation of Syd’s lonelyness.
  • A Great Day For Freedom : A resolution of a conflict. No clear relation to Syd.
  • Wearing The Inside Out : The most depressive lyrics. Richard Wright might have written them having the life of Millie, his back then almost-wife, in mind. Like two years later, he published Broken China, explicitly written for Millie. Anyway, the song fits very well to some days of Syd’s life, as Nick Kent has described in 1974.
  • Take It Back : No obvious relation to Syd.
  • Coming Back To Life : Syd reflecting and recovering in a sense. The song takes kind of a good end, resembling the watching man of the High Hopes video clip who opens the back doors to let the ballons fly (at the beginning of the guitar solo).
  • Keep Talking : Syd sitting in a room, reflecting. Worth of notice, this is the song at which the Pink Floyd stage lights showed „Enigma Publius“ at East Rutherford. The lights are shown just at the transition of David Gilmour’s guitar solo to Richard Wright’s synthesizer solo, which is kind of the song’s moment being the farest away from any sung words. Keep singing.
  • Lost For Words : The story of a conflict, probably between Dave and Roger (the „Right One“ RO).
  • High Hopes : Looking Back on the early days. (The time circle is closing in a reflective way.) Within the song High Hopes, the bells heard are from a church, presumably Ely’s Cathedral.

Summarized, most of the album can be related to Syd. Some of the songs have an obvious relation.

The High Hopes video clip

The song and the clip are a band history on their own. In the clip there are:

  • Students (wearing doctoral caps).
  • Students playing on grassland, representing the lighter moments of that time („The grass was greener“). They play with white airy balls. The same balls are to be released from the car of the „lonely“ symbolizing memories.
  • A man, looking towards Ely Cathedral. It feels like he is just looking „back“ onto something from his past, very much alone on his own. He is standing at his car at the line „Encumbered forever by desire and ambition, there’s a hunger still unsatisfied“. I perceive him to be a reflecting Syd Barrett.
  • Two „identical“ or twin sleepwalkers with a young-Syd-like hair, again showing a relation to schizophrenia.
  • A white statue appears as a memorial that is still to be raised and that looks like Syd at his best. It has very light, wide opened eyes. (Compare to the famous „light in your eyes“ (Poles Apart) / and the reference to the formerly bright eyes in „Shine on You crazy Diamond“. There’s lots of further connections to Syd’s eyes.)
  • A boatman (line „the endless river“)
  • Three guys (David, Nick and Richard) with big suitcases (full of money) who walk high up in the air (have success), the central theme of Have A Cigar.
  • Three guys wearing big bells like a burden.
  • Three men riding bike.
  • Three guys wearing coloured flags. At some point, they release the flags – could be interpreted as their dreams having become independent.
  • One man wearing a black flag (Roger), looking a bit grumpy and walking in another direction. There is a fire (smoke) behind him, as a symbol of a conflict still smoking („bridges glowing behind us“).
  • One man having to push a singular big wheel by hand.
  • Five people wearing bells at the very end – in the end, there were five Floyds – a peaceful, placative symbol. They all carry their part of the story.

While the lyrics focus on the desire to get the back the easiness and happiness of life in the younger days, when the Floyds were students, the video clip only shortly mentions this, showing students playing in the fields. Instead, it focuses on the subsequent time, when the former band mates went in different directions.

The Page Number Head Symbols

There is something important about the page numbers, as Publius has written. This doesn’t say whether it’s about the specific numbers, the specific languages, or about the head symbols.

  • The head symbols point in different directions.
  • There seems to be no common system, harmony, order or orientation.
  • There have been considerations of an overall number meaning, like the sums 108 and 54 (and 27). I was really starting to like the 54 / 108 idea, because 27 / 54 / 108 would / could give a connection to the band’s history. 1967 to 1994 would be 27 years, but the idea is not clearly convincing. Especially, the U.S. booklet shows the Symbol page number symbol of Coming Back To Life nearly at the opposite corner (European: bottom left, U.S. almost top right). This means:
    • Either the theory about the relations 54 / 108 is misleading.
    • Or the numbers have to be arranged in a different way if you start from the American continent (quite unlikely).
    • Or the American booklet designer has messed it up.
  • The heads seem not to be able to communicate with each other, though they have the same shape and function.
  • The most of them point away from the lyrics or out of the page center, symbolizing they are „on the turning away“. (In fact, On The Turning Away is about Syd as well as some argue.)

Ely Cathedral

Could be seen as a symbol for the art of Pink Floyd.

  • The art has become independent of its origin (diverse styles, romanic and gothic). Pink Floyd changed styles over the years, just as Ely Cathedral over the centuries.
  • It is of specific interest for architects – as many Floyds were in their younger days.

Religious Relations in The Division Bell

  • Ely Cathedral
  • The third eye
  • The metal heads in the style of the heads on the Easter Islands, called Moais. The Moais are believed to be monument for the ancestors. Following this, the metal heads are a monument for Syd and also, The Division Bell is a tribute to him.
  • „You can drift, you can dream, even walk on water“ (What Do You Want From Me) : an allusion to be or feel like Jesus
  • „Sell your soul for complete control“ (What Do You Want From Me) : The one you sell your soul to is the devil.

Numerology

Numerology has always been a beloved discipline amongst Publius Enigma puzzlers. To me, two numbers seem to have numerous relations: 9 and 11.

  • The Division Bell contains 11 Songs, 9 of which have verses (lyrics).
  • Ely cathedral was given its cathedral status in 1109.
  • Berlin Wall „came down“ on November, 9th.

Summary

  • Three topics occur: Religion, Syd and the band’s history.
  • Quite much of my observations about Syd and the band is simply song interpretation. Some points are obvious, some are not and some observations may even be overdone. Anyway, these aspects themselves seem not to be a riddle.
  • Religion appears more as a theme shining-through.

What it the Enigma then?

  • The Enigma is related to the page numbers (as emphasized by Publius).
  • Keep Talking might be the song closest to the riddle, as the white lights „Enigma Publius“ appeared during this song.
  • The Enigma should have relations to Syd, the band’s history and religion.

The missing link between the heads with different languages and Keep Talking is a religious one then. It is the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel is a symbol for the Pink Floyd band members who have forgotten to keep talking to each other and who thereof have started to go in different directions.

The Division Bell and Tower Of Babel

  • The page symbol heads speak different languages. Just as mankind did after God had decided it.
  • The page symbols are heading towards different directions. People went different directions after they had been starting speaking different languages.
  • The story of the Tower of Babel is written in the book Genesis. Genesis was the name that Publius (or someone appearing as Publius‘ surrogate) used in the meantime.
  • The Tower Of Babel is written in chapter 11 of Genesis and it has 9 verses. The Division Bell has 11 Songs, 9 of which contain verses (lyrics).
  • The number of languages god gives to mankind is 72. This number is not yet prominently found in the TDB numerology.

Apart from the small numerology, there is not much Enigma-tic character about this. It’s more like an interpretation or another brick in the wall, as some might name it…

The underlying theme of The Division Bell

The album’s songs describe conflicts, separation (division), loneliness and attempts to avoid all this. Or in other words: social separation vs. social cohesion.

Regarding the „division bell“ in this meaning, the bell could remain as a signal for a resolution to be made, as it is in its original meaning. Moments of division that have lead to Syd Barrett’s loneliness and madness have been his exclusion from Sant Saji membership and the moment that the other band members decided not to pick him up, because things were not working any more.

It’s highly speculative, but maybe one of the remaining Pink Floyd members has raised the question „How could we maybe have avoided all this drama concerning Syd?“. And the answer was found in: „We could have talked more often.“ And this is where the idea for The Division Bell emerged from.

Maybe my phantasies are running wild with this interpretation, but I’ve had my personal Syd Barrett experience with a band mate, whom I’d been playing for about 18 years together with. He was a fantastic bass player, he had his very own style. He, like Syd, had lost his father very early, and our band circle had been the entrance door for his drug consumption. One day, he was excluded from the band, because playing with him was not manageable any more. I personally feel the grief of remaining band members who see this tragedy. My long-time band mate has died about five years after his exclusion from the band. You live on, Stefan.

Side note: the person behind Publius

Cordelia of paradigme.ch has argued that Publius may probably be Polly Samson. Publius has always emphasized that the identity of him- or herself is not important. It is obvious that Publius must have been deeply involved in the lyrics work of The Division Bell. And he or she must be sophisticated to think in analogies, in a poetical way. To me, Publius being Polly Samson makes very much sense for the reasons described by Cordelia.

It doesn’t have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking

As a kind of self-reference, the Enigma is about discussion itself. Keep talking about Keep Talking. Keep talking about The Division Bell. Find the many truths that can be comprised in one album. Build your own interpretation. Interpretation depends on knowledge, depends on language. Just keep talking. Don’t find yourselves being separated because you’ve ceased talking.

So…

What do you think about it? Does it make sense to you? Or am I combining things improperly? Would you say that this is the solution of the Enigma? Please feel free to discuss about my post on the Publius Enigma Facebook site (or wherever you may like to). I would be very happy if you would please inform me about your thoughts.