"Lucifer Sam" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, featured on the band's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). The song is built around a descending riff with the dominant instrument being composer Syd Barrett's electric guitar, fed through an echo machine. The resultant sound has been likened to a "sinister" Duane Eddy. This is augmented by bowed bass and increasingly agitated organ and percussion effects.
Although the lyric frequently refers to Lucifer Sam as a cat, some speculation has arisen as to whether this was in fact slang ("a hip cat") for a man, real or imagined, in some type of relationship with Barrett's then-girlfriend, Jenny Spires (referred to in the song as "Jennifer Gentle"). However, Sam was simply Barrett's Siamese cat (and is referred to as such in the first line: "Lucifer Sam, Siam cat"), the track was originally called "Percy the Rat Catcher" during the recording sessions, which took place between April and June 1967. From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer_Sam
‘Lucifer Sam’ is the odd track out on the Piper album. Neither lengthy instrumental nor three-minute fairy tale, its taut style is a throwback to the Floyd’s earlier raw R&B. ‘Lucifer Sam’ has a compact form and driving riff that would have made it a prime candidate for a single (or at least a perfectly serviceable B-side) if there hadn’t already been stronger contenders. It’s a character song like ‘Arnold Layne’ rather than a still-life study like ’The Scarecrow,’ and by Syd’s oblique standards it is specific and direct. Jenny Spires appears thinly disguised as Jennifer Gentle and although the whole thing wiffs of stoned paranoia (‘that cat’s something I can’t explain’ – it’s just a cat, Syd, there really is nothing to explain) and menacing undertones it also possesses a nimble and playful wit. From: https://powerpop.blog/2020/10/07/pink-floyd-lucifer-sam/
