Writes Pete Townshend, in "'It Came From a Place of Resentment’/Pete Townshend began writing ‘My Generation’ as an anthem for his disaffected peers. Then the queen got involved" (NY Magazine).
Yes, my generation is passé. We're the ones who considered it passé to even have a political stance.
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38 comments:
When I think about my generation, I close my eyes and hear this song.
Jo Stafford ft Paul Weston & His Orchestra - I Should Care
I'm asking why... who?
With all due respect to Mr. Townshend, That's exactly what an indoctrinated British person would say.
Music does, indeed, create a revolution - or, perhaps, is a element or symptom of an underlying revolution.
Brits do have freedoms, just as long as they are government sanctioned.
That's a damn click bait headline: "...as an anthem for his disaffected peers. Then the queen got involved." I clicked to see how the queen got involved. Skimmed the article, hardly any mention. Ctrl-F Queen is mentioned 3 times. The headline, and then the only part that matters. His car was towed by request of the Queen Mother got tired of looking at his car when drove by. They repeat the sentiment for the third mention.
It wasn't, "then the Queen got involved". That's backwards. The Queen Mother had Townshend car towed, and then Townshend wrote the song. She also wasn't "the Queen". She was a Queen, but "the Queen" was her daughter.
Is the problem that your generation didn't die before they got old? Is that what you're saying?
Number 1 rule of thumb with Pete Townshend: He'll reverse whatever position he just took within 6 weeks from now. He's been doing it since his first interview. I'm a long time fan of Pete and The Who and it's just one of the crosses we have to bear.
from the bbc link
Like The Smiths' How Soon Is Now? in the 80s and Pulp's Common People in the 90s, My Generation is a song that captures the youthful zeitgeist of its time and has become indelibly linked with the era that made it famous. The Who's turbocharged hit was the sound of mid-60s rebellion, and it was so dangerous the BBC decided to ban it. But wait a minute; the song didn't offend censors at the implication of a swear word that never quite materialises, or because of the anarchical outro they'd play live that would sometimes involve Pete Townshend smashing his guitar to pieces and Keith Moon blowing up his drum kit… the record was actually banned because of Roger Daltrey's vocal stutter, and the fear that it might be offensive to other stutterers. By the time the single had sold around 300,000 copies, and given that other stations were playing it on heavy rotation, the BBC relaxed its ban.
its a catchy tune, don't be pretensious about, so is pink floyd's the wall until you really examine the lyrics,
'we don't need no education' well in point of fact, if you don't know the history and customs of your country, you can't defend it nor have any desire to,
now it's to be expected the generation that came up during the depression, felt differently than those who had arisen in the eduardian era for example, but society was fundamentally different in the post war era,
Leland points out the falsity in the headline.
But they also mislead about the reason for the temporary BBC ban. It wasn't about politics or the message in the song - it was because of the stutter being offensive to stutterers.
It's not a very good song. Not catchy or pleasing. More of a recitation of grievances.
As narciso said above! If you had used a line break or two I would have read it.
Destroying their instruments after playing was the Who's big gimmick. Destroying them before playing would have been even better.
no, they were generally very talented, which wasn't always true of bands of that era,
I love Pete and loved the Who. The idea that the manager even needed to urge them to "rock it up" is kind of funny, considering the best description of the band is "three musicians playing solos simultaneously while the singer screams." Entwistle was virtually incapable of playing bass without constant arpeggios and Keith Moon is the archetype for the Muppet Drummer, Animal.
Other than that (and the misleading headline) this is a sweet little origin story that may or may not be true in part or in whole. As an example, it was widely reported (perhaps Rolling Stone back when that magazine actually was cool) that Daltry used the stutter as an allusion to Mod youth who were popping pure Dexedrine pills and for some the stimulant would cause a stutter.
And the story then was the BBC heard that rumor and didn't want to play the song because it "encouraged drug use," which sounds a LOT like the authority figures of my youth, always on the lookout for secret or hidden drug references. (Well into the '80's when Tom Petty refused to change "let's roll another joint" in the song "You Don't Know (How It Feels). It's more believable than a deference to stuttering people. That excuse sounds rather modern and woke. As in, you can't do that now.
“It was considered to be passé to even have a political stance then."
That’s how I remember it. Why don’t ya’ll just fade away.
I got old, but didn't die. I mostly kept my politics quiet until the rise of social media!
I took the Cincinnati deaths a little too hard. That and the not dying before they got old thing. I didn't know them in their heyday, but the stuff they were putting out c. 1980 ("Athena" and Townsend's solo "Rough Boys") was annoying. That and Daltrey's "Lisztomania" movie didn't give me a positive impression.
Heh, a tune with just 8 unique verse lines & 2 essential chorus lines.
When the song ends, the story evolves with deficient purpose.
Great song. It holds up. Cool that it was the fans asking for it. Also cool that the writing process went the way it did, and that John Entwhistle saw the place to put the bass fills. Of course "hope I die before I get old is adolescent anger" and not a serious statement. The early Who singles are pure gold and always will be.
Serious tip for today’s madhouse: when educated folks reveal that they hate MAGA and its leadership, you are in a dangerous place and need to find yourself another group. No joke:
I thought the stutter with the "F" led the listener to think Daltrey was going to say "F*ck" (so that "F-word" is in the mind) before he actually says, "Fade". Would that be cause to ban it?
I think Mike had it - the stutter was mimicking Mods on uppers and that's why it was banned. I don't think anyone in the mid 60s had a 21st century empathy for stutterers.
Nobody complained when Bowie sang about Ch-ch-ch-ch changes. Or did they?
The tonality of the guitar tracks still does it for me. The WHO's
guitar tones have always sounded unique to me. They still do.
I don't think so,
My favorite Who album was The Who Sell Out. I consider Tommy to be The Who Strike Out.
Best Who songs (pious list):
Won't Get Fooled Again
Baba O'Riley
My Generation
Who Are You
Eminence Front
Squeeze Box
Magic Bus
Favorite Who memory: At a college party in the 80s, Baba O'Reily was playing. At the classic last part of the song, everyone, every single one of the 30 or so people at the party, started bouncing up and down in unison to the increasingly fast beat. It was an old house turned into student rental. The floor started flexing up and down around 8-10 inches. At the end of the song, everyone jumped up and yelled "HEY!" It was like a flash mob. I'm still amazed that the floor didn't collapse.
Mike (MJB Wolf),
Uhh, what's wrong with arpeggios? (asks our local arpeggio-loving bass player.)
"Brits do have freedoms, just as long as they are government sanctioned."
So, as with America.
Nothing at all, Kirk! It wasn't meant as criticism of Entwhistle. (His playing was filled with all kinds of cool runs and licks)
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