The sun shines
And people forget
The spray flies as the speedboat glides
And people forget
Forget they're hiding
The girls smile
And people forget
The snow packs as the skier tracks
People forget
Forget they're hiding

Behind an eminence front
Eminence front, it's a put on
It's an eminence front
It's an eminence front, it's a put on
An eminence front
Eminence front, it's a put on
Eminence front
It's an eminence front
It's an eminence front, it's a put on
It's a put on, it's a put on, it's a put on

Come and join the party
Dress to kill
Won't you come and join the party
Dress to kill, dress to kill

Drinks flow
People forget
That big wheel spins, the hair thins
People forget
Forget they're hiding
The news slows
People forget
Their shares crash, hopes are dashed
People forget
Forget they're hiding

Behind an eminence front
An eminence front, it's a put on
It's just an eminence front
An eminence front, it's a put on
An eminence front
An eminence front, it's a put on
Eminence front
It's an eminence front, it's a put on
It's a put on, it's a put on, it's a put on

Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to
Come on join the party
Dress to kill
Dress yourself, dressed to kill


Lyrics submitted by PJ10

Eminence Front Lyrics as written by Peter Dennis Blandfor Townshend

Lyrics © Spirit Music Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Eminence Front song meanings
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49 Comments

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  • +15
    General Comment

    some people become so preoccupied with building up their image that they lose sight of the fact that they are just a fake bitch. some people try way too hard to impress others. its a put on.

    one of the greatest rock n roll songs ever created.

    BigMac7on February 24, 2006   Link
  • +12
    General Comment

    It's about how people can put on airs as if their material wealth and ciruumstances have truly solved all their problems and answered all their fears.

    As if they're really above everyone and everything ("Eminence"), but it's really just a Front. And thus a put-on. Because they really just want to "Forget they're hiding" - from fears, insecurities, weaknesses, and maybe even their mortality.

    And the way that they maintain this front, is to treat their lives like it's a care-free party, and abuse any who are not part of their lifestyle OR who threaten to reveal the shallowness and emptiness of their party ("Come and join the party - Dress to kill").

    But everyone eventually grows older, and/or hit a rough patch in life. "The big wheel spins" (luck changes), the hair thins (people become older and no longer so able to coast on their youth), fame dwindles ("news slows") and with it money ("shares crash, hopes are dashed") - but even then the desperate attempt to put on an Eminence Front continues, and they'll still aggressively go after anyone who brings them to reality so they can maintain their own, desperately needed front of superiority and splendidness.

    ideamonkeyon February 08, 2013   Link
  • +10
    Song Meaning

    "Eminence" is one of the proper ways to address the King of England. "Front" is an outward, often feigned, appearance or manner. Ever wonder why The Beatles were knighted? Why Mick Jagger (with a drug bust and to quote the newspapers at the time, "no known record of charitable work or public services." was knighted? And The Who weren't?-----Eminence Front "It's a put on."---------- I always admired Pete for this one.

    workingclasshon December 06, 2010   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Pete had much opportunity to observe the wealthy and powerful up close, and clearly could see that although on the outside these people seem superior and more blessed than the rest of us, underneath it is often the opposite case. Often their success has been achieved in an effort to get away from low self-esteem, self-hatred, loneliness, etc., and underneath the veneer of superiority lives a scared little child.

    mwahahaaon July 24, 2006   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    This song's meaning is way deeper than most people think...

    "The spray flies as the speedboat glides And people forget" (It's referencing the "boat and wake" analogy, about the past (Just search"Allan Watts boat and wake" he explains it very well.))

    Forget they're hiding (It's referencing the fact that people forget they're hiding from their true self, behind the ego, wich is the universal consciousness, or god, if you may call it that)

    The girls smile And people forget (Distractions, and pepople forget that fact)

    The snow packs as the skier tracks People forget Forget they're hiding (Same thing as the boat/wake, the skier leaves a track, but the track doesn't influence the skier. Same way the past doesn't create the future)

    Behind an eminence front Eminence front, it's a put on (Behind the ego (eminence front) it's a put on (life is a play)

    Come and join the party Dress to kill Won't you come and join the party Dress to kill, dress to kill (The human party, the human game. Dress (create and develop the ego) to kill it later.

    Drinks flow People forget (Again, distractions from reality)

    Honestly, if you couldn't understand what i pointed out, try to read something about buddhism/hinduism or just listen to some of the good old Alan Watss talks, and come back later to read this again)

    renan11571on February 28, 2019   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think this is about rich snobs that think they are better than everyone else and hiding behind their wealth.

    Finnbarron February 23, 2005   Link
  • +2
    My Opinion

    Acting like your a big deal. To me its not only thinking you are, but the image around you. This song is a party song. It's kind of like it's a good time but there isn't anyone to keep you moving. People hide despite sharing the same genuine feeling... it's a put on... some people will assume because your quiet that you aren't observant and it's a mistake... so many will assume there your unaware of what's going on. People are stupid and they assume just the same of others. It's also important to note that if you don't know someone and assume they're silence is oblivious.... dangerous move for people who are actually weak and hide behind their insecurities in the light of other people who are not like them. Good song. One of my favorite who songs.

    Ahourstoryon April 21, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Clearly this song full of wonder is no mystery as Pete ploughed the seeds of Acorns and Okra in a Mason Jar with a Sandy level base to grow a tree like totem of Blue Oak. Then a babe named Bullock came along in April and addressed him as His Eminence of Tupperware. I know this sounds like silly putty but the impression that Sandy left on the Maharaja was so significant that his timber rose to new heights like a column in the night. Then the grace of the skies sediment cleared and the continent of Asia proclaimed that Sandra Annette Bullock was a brunette country and that lumber jack tale is told on every gulf course on the globe as Paul proclaimed with a putter that Babe the Blue Ox rose from a tic tac toe board in the form of her son Louis Bullock.

    ZrichKrarkOon March 29, 2014   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    Remember this statement..."Hitler may have lost WWII, but Fascism won"...we live in a world owned by a VERY SMALL group of Corporate families that control governments and society thru printed paper money and their main weapons are the mainstream media and education. Their entire system is based upon turning us into mindless BOOBS! Thin-skinned, fragile, weak-minded people who JUDGE everything, instead of just "rolling with it". Like comedian Steve Hughes says, "You're offended? Who the fuck cares, you're an adult, deal with it...you don't get aids from being offended."

    What Pete is saying is that we have LOST our true values, which should all be based on Love...Family, Friends, Mother Nature & following our passions; however we have been mind manipulated to become Zombies pursuing Money, Power, Sex and Consumer conveniences. We're lost! We watch the news, game shows, sitcoms and Hollywood movies where NONE OF IT IS REAL! Like in the brilliant movie, Network, we have to "WAKE UP GOD DAMMIT" We are human beings...we should be exploring every inch of the globe in Peace and Freedom, giving and taking in balance and harmony with both nature and other human beings...not working for 50+ years at meaningless jobs just so that we can hopefully retire (sans cancer) and enjoy some kind of freedom!!!

    There are those that watch a movie like The Matrix and see only the fight scenes and action; while there are those who AWAKEN to the reality that we are working/consuming slaves to a power elite that doesn't give a fuck about us...at all...like the Super Furry Animals sang (borrowing the bridge from the Steely Dan song, Show Biz Kids), "they don't give a fuck about anybody else, no, they don't give a fuck about anybody else..."

    CharlieFreakon December 02, 2016   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It's about people escaping their problems by perpetually partying. Dress up pretty on the outside to hide the beast on the inside.

    OpinionHeadon October 01, 2004   Link

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