I mean the lyrics are magnificent as is Roger's singing as well as John's acrobatic playing and KJ was damn good on this song but, in the end the song is owned by the man that wrote it! Just because it's not a pentatonic blues solo doesn't mean what were hearing isn't perfection...he's torturing his Schecter and it's a beautiful massacre!! That it was to be the last song on the last album says alot. For 6 decades the man has been on a spiritual journey and I'm glad I was along for the amazing ride. For me PT is the single most all around talent and I'm grateful for not only what he's contributed to rock but, to music and artistic creativity. He was right when he said 'you all see I'm the ONE!
@VJS1965 Thank you I agree wholeheartedly about Pete Townshend's uniqueness as a rock musician, composer but also as a human being.
@VJS1965 Thank you I agree wholeheartedly about Pete Townshend's uniqueness as a rock musician, composer but also as a human being.
It has truly been an Amazing spiritual Journey with him, and he has held nothing back about it all those years. It all really started with Tommy, but the spiritual layer is even more developed in Who's Next (the Lifehouse concept, actually) and Quadrophenia.
Influenced and inspired by Meher Baba, all those masterpieces have a theme of being lonely, being on the fringe, not fitting in, not feeling connected. This results in a quest for redemption, salvation, connection, in one...
It has truly been an Amazing spiritual Journey with him, and he has held nothing back about it all those years. It all really started with Tommy, but the spiritual layer is even more developed in Who's Next (the Lifehouse concept, actually) and Quadrophenia.
Influenced and inspired by Meher Baba, all those masterpieces have a theme of being lonely, being on the fringe, not fitting in, not feeling connected. This results in a quest for redemption, salvation, connection, in one single word: LOVE.
But this quest is also like a spiritual rebirth, because you have to give up (or at least see through) the superficiality of attractions like fame, stardom, the rock 'n roll lifestyle with booze, sex, drugs etc to find The Real Me. The concept of 'water' as a metaphor for death/rebirth and spiritual cleansing is important here, most clearly in songs like Bargain, Drowned, and Love Reign O'er Me.
But many other songs have this spiritual overt or covert layer: See Me Feel Me, Behind Blue Eyes, Song Is Over, almost everything that's on Who's Next plus the tracks that didn't make it like Pure and Easy, Water, Join Together etc.
Finally, I think there is no other band capable of going from the hardest, most aggressive, most extravagant, to the most subtle, tender, and spiritual level, all in one. And that is both the range of emotions within the Who's music, and the complexity and depth of Pete Townshend's personality, from which the music originates.
A truly unique person and band, unrivalled, unparallelled in the depth of their simplicity, and the simplicity of their complexity.
I mean the lyrics are magnificent as is Roger's singing as well as John's acrobatic playing and KJ was damn good on this song but, in the end the song is owned by the man that wrote it! Just because it's not a pentatonic blues solo doesn't mean what were hearing isn't perfection...he's torturing his Schecter and it's a beautiful massacre!! That it was to be the last song on the last album says alot. For 6 decades the man has been on a spiritual journey and I'm glad I was along for the amazing ride. For me PT is the single most all around talent and I'm grateful for not only what he's contributed to rock but, to music and artistic creativity. He was right when he said 'you all see I'm the ONE!
VJS
[Edit: Double post ]
@VJS1965 Thank you I agree wholeheartedly about Pete Townshend's uniqueness as a rock musician, composer but also as a human being.
@VJS1965 Thank you I agree wholeheartedly about Pete Townshend's uniqueness as a rock musician, composer but also as a human being.
It has truly been an Amazing spiritual Journey with him, and he has held nothing back about it all those years. It all really started with Tommy, but the spiritual layer is even more developed in Who's Next (the Lifehouse concept, actually) and Quadrophenia. Influenced and inspired by Meher Baba, all those masterpieces have a theme of being lonely, being on the fringe, not fitting in, not feeling connected. This results in a quest for redemption, salvation, connection, in one...
It has truly been an Amazing spiritual Journey with him, and he has held nothing back about it all those years. It all really started with Tommy, but the spiritual layer is even more developed in Who's Next (the Lifehouse concept, actually) and Quadrophenia. Influenced and inspired by Meher Baba, all those masterpieces have a theme of being lonely, being on the fringe, not fitting in, not feeling connected. This results in a quest for redemption, salvation, connection, in one single word: LOVE. But this quest is also like a spiritual rebirth, because you have to give up (or at least see through) the superficiality of attractions like fame, stardom, the rock 'n roll lifestyle with booze, sex, drugs etc to find The Real Me. The concept of 'water' as a metaphor for death/rebirth and spiritual cleansing is important here, most clearly in songs like Bargain, Drowned, and Love Reign O'er Me. But many other songs have this spiritual overt or covert layer: See Me Feel Me, Behind Blue Eyes, Song Is Over, almost everything that's on Who's Next plus the tracks that didn't make it like Pure and Easy, Water, Join Together etc.
Finally, I think there is no other band capable of going from the hardest, most aggressive, most extravagant, to the most subtle, tender, and spiritual level, all in one. And that is both the range of emotions within the Who's music, and the complexity and depth of Pete Townshend's personality, from which the music originates. A truly unique person and band, unrivalled, unparallelled in the depth of their simplicity, and the simplicity of their complexity.