Roger Waters:
lead and double tracked vocals, bass guitar
Dave Gilmour:
treated guitar, lap steel (slide) guitar
Nick Mason:
percussion
Rick Wright:
Hammond organ, VCS-3
Doris Troy, Lesley Duncan, Liza Strike, Barry St. John:
backing chorus
Roger the Hat:
spoken words
Written during the recording of Meddle, "Brain Damage" is primarily about Syd Barrett, as evidenced by the final two lines of the song. Although Syd's insanity sparked the creation of the song, Waters thought it could also strike a universal chord and fit in well with the theme of the Dark Side album. Waters would go on to explain that we are all lunatics to some extent, hiding our wild inner selves from others. The child, easily visible in the on-edge personality of Syd Barrett, is merely suppressed.