Did you ever see the faces of the children
They get so excited
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heaven's generosity
Peeping round the door
To see what parcels are for free
In curiosity
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
Surrounded by his friends
He sits so silently
And unaware of anything
Playing poxy pinball,
Picks his nose and smiles and
Pokes his tongue at everything
I believe in love
But how can men who've never seen
Light be enlightened
Only if he's cured
Will his spirits future level ever heighten
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
How can he be saved?
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me!
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me!
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Can you, can you, can you hear me?
How can he be saved?
Did you ever see the faces of the children
They get so excited
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heaven's generosity
Peeping round the door
To see what parcels are for free
In curiosity
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
They get so excited
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heaven's generosity
Peeping round the door
To see what parcels are for free
In curiosity
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
Surrounded by his friends
He sits so silently
And unaware of anything
Playing poxy pinball,
Picks his nose and smiles and
Pokes his tongue at everything
I believe in love
But how can men who've never seen
Light be enlightened
Only if he's cured
Will his spirits future level ever heighten
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
How can he be saved?
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me!
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me!
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Tommy, can you hear me?
Can you, can you, can you hear me?
How can he be saved?
Did you ever see the faces of the children
They get so excited
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heaven's generosity
Peeping round the door
To see what parcels are for free
In curiosity
And Tommy doesn't know what day it is
He doesn't know who Jesus was
Or what praying is
How can he be saved
From the eternal grave?
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I think Townshend is sending up the Christian notion that only the "chosen" are saved.
Is this a poke at organized religeon? It definately could be. If you listen to any Jethro Tull songs, Ian anderson was very adamant that praying all the time and going to church and acknowledging that you are a Christian are not necessary to get you salvation.
Also, the hypocracy of Christmas is key in this song. The children aren't getting excited because of Jesus, they are excited about the presents. They don't necessarily even believe in heaven. Most kids don't know what Christmas is really about at that age. They just want presents.
In conclusion, Tommy's parents are worried about him because he can't pray, and therefore, in thier opinions, he won't be saved. Tommy, however, has already had his spiritual journey and will be saved.(More likely him than his parents, who killed The man that Mrs. Walker was sleeping with while Cap'n Walker was missing.)
Heh.
I think this points out something that is a question one would start to wonder though... how can he be saved?
Some could say Townshend is making fun of Christianity and religion in general (it seems obvious throughout the movie), though I don't see that so much in this song.. my friend is convinced he's questioning God's power to save people - but I don't really see it that way.
Tommy connects to God, etc, through his dreams.
With regard to not knowing what day it is, that shouldn't really matter to someone who was deaf, dumb and blind. He wouldn't know that he was missing anything, yet he still cries out for help ("See me, feel me" etc). That suggests that although he is "unaware of everything", he still feels that he is missing something spiritual.
Even though Tommy is having fun playing pinball, his parents wish that they could have fun with him. His parents, unhappy that they can't have a normal family Christmas begin to think that they should seek a miracle cure for Tommy.
It's like in colonial america, when dyptheria ripped through Puritan New England, killing unbaptised babies (because Puritans didn't do infant baptism), and these babies were thought to be consigned to Hell (it is interesting to note that this helped lead to the prevalence of Methodism and the Baptist faith in America).