Last night I heard "Baba O’Riley" on my iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 For all the file naysayers, did you forget the revelation of listening to music on your first set of headphones?\u00c2\u00a0 You feel so CLOSE!\u00c2\u00a0 You hear things you never heard before, even when the music has been squeezed to fit on the tiny hard drive in your hand.\u00c2\u00a0 And thirty five years later, despite all the classic rock radio airplay, the track was a revelation.\u00c2\u00a0 Because of the SOUND!\u00c2\u00a0 Which is still fresh.<\/p>\n
I looked for the repeating patterns in the electronic riff buzzing in my ears.\u00c2\u00a0 Wondered about Pete Townshend composing it.\u00c2\u00a0 And marveled at the creative process.\u00c2\u00a0 And when my back exercises were done, I couldn’t stop playing Who songs.<\/p>\n
I’d started with "How Many Friends", from "Who By Numbers".<\/p>\n
It’s true, after "Quadrophenia" the band was done.\u00c2\u00a0 Townshend had a hard time following the legacy.\u00c2\u00a0 He needed to go solo.\u00c2\u00a0 So he could be less bombastic and more personal, painting on a smaller canvas.\u00c2\u00a0 But, he did whip out a few good Who numbers after 1973.\u00c2\u00a0 Like "How Many Friends".<\/p>\n
How many friends have you really got?\u00c2\u00a0 People you can count on?\u00c2\u00a0 Who’ll come pick you up and take you to the doctor, who’ll listen to your endless drivel about your girlfriend who moved out years ago, even though she was never that great and is never coming back.\u00c2\u00a0 In an era where MTV paints an endless party it’s great to be reminded that we’re all truly alone, and somebody gets it.<\/p>\n
After "How Many Friends" came the aforementioned "Baba O’Riley".\u00c2\u00a0 And then "I’m One".<\/p>\n
There’s a version of "I’m One" from the "Maryville Academy" CD that you’ve got to listen to.\u00c2\u00a0 Because you can hear every member of the audience sing every word along with Pete.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what believing is all about.\u00c2\u00a0 Needing to go to the show to connect with your hero, singing along with his songs.\u00c2\u00a0 Not worrying about how you look, or what merch you buy, or even who you went with, just reveling in the raw FEELING of singing along, thrusting your arm into the air.<\/p>\n
The audience knows "I’m One" from its debut on "Quadrophenia".\u00c2\u00a0 Most people think of Roger Daltrey as the singer of the Who, but some of the most intimate, heartfelt songs were sung by Pete Townshend.\u00c2\u00a0 Like "I’m One".\u00c2\u00a0 It starts off all quiet, with an acoustic guitar, and then it EXPLODES!<\/p>\n
And it’s not only about Pete, but the rhythm section too.\u00c2\u00a0 Keith Moon and John Entwistle are right behind their leader on the freight train.\u00c2\u00a0 God, when Keith adds his fills you remember WHY he was so special.\u00c2\u00a0 Somehow, despite all he added, you never got the feeling he was overplaying, that it was about flash.\u00c2\u00a0 As for Entwistle…one thinks of his playing more like a lead than an underpinning.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s got a sense of MELODY!<\/p>\n
Still, the best version of "I’m One" is off Pete’s live solo disc "Deep End Live!"\u00c2\u00a0 Because it has the most INTIMACY!\u00c2\u00a0 The explosion is in Pete’s voice, not in his Gibson.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s got this funny exuberance.\u00c2\u00a0 The claim of the loner, the down-and-out denizen who believes in his RESURRECTION!<\/p>\n
That’s the American story, the American dream.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about what you’ve got, but what you BELIEVE you can have.\u00c2\u00a0 That with solely the power inside of you, you can change your entire world.<\/p>\n
The most fascinating are not the hucksters, trying to convince you of their superiority, but the loners, who surprise you.<\/p>\n
Every year is the same It’s the human condition.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody’s a winner forever.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if you went to Harvard or were born with a silver spoon in your mouth there comes a time when it all doesn’t make sense.\u00c2\u00a0 The hours turn into days, you seem slogged down in molasses, you see no way out.<\/p>\n Some commit suicide.\u00c2\u00a0 But most are waiting for a comeback.\u00c2\u00a0 When they’re firing on all cylinders, feeling their power, that what they does MAKES A DIFFERENCE!<\/p>\n And "I’m One" turns that way.<\/p>\n But I’m one This is how Pete Townshend felt, you just know it.\u00c2\u00a0 He had a prominent proboscis, he was gangly, but with the power of his guitar and his intellect, he was going to win.<\/p>\n Even to this day you feel this when you see the Who.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s an anger, a power, a need to SHOW PEOPLE!\u00c2\u00a0 Upon which you can only marvel.<\/p>\n But still, as much as you’re watching, you feel a part of the show.\u00c2\u00a0 Because this is YOU!<\/p>\n Everything sounded good.\u00c2\u00a0 My iPod slipped into "Behind Blue Eyes".\u00c2\u00a0 I heard the alienation once again.\u00c2\u00a0 Funny how things have flipped.\u00c2\u00a0 The stars of yore made it on their OUTSIDER status, they were a party of one, they fit in no group, no morass of partying fools.\u00c2\u00a0 Each band was an island.\u00c2\u00a0 With only their attitude keeping them together.<\/p>\n And then I heard that unmistakable sound in my right ear.\u00c2\u00a0 You remember it, from back when stereo effects were the Easter eggs of their day, before you looked for hidden gems on DVDs.<\/p>\n "Pinball Wizard" has that late in the evening all alone feeling that’s the essence of great rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 And when that electric guitar EXPLODES in your left ear you feel that with this sound you can win, you can defeat all obstacles in your path.<\/p>\n That’s what music used to represent.\u00c2\u00a0 Our essence, ourselves.\u00c2\u00a0 We vibrated like tuning forks with the works of our heroes.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s why this music survives, it’s why kids are drawn to it.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t made for a market, but straight from the act’s heart.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last night I heard "Baba O’Riley" on my iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 For all the file naysayers, did you forget the revelation of listening to music on your first set of headphones?\u00c2\u00a0 You feel so CLOSE!\u00c2\u00a0 You hear things you never heard before, even when the music has been squeezed to fit on the tiny hard drive in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-7y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And I feel it again
I’m a loser – no chance to win
Leaves start falling
Comedown is calling
Loneliness starts sinking in<\/em><\/p>\n
I am one
And I can see
That this is me
And I will be
You’ll all see
I’m the one<\/em><\/p>\n