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Who are The Who? The Who
are The Who, that's who they are.
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A rock group, veterans of Woodstock,
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and now they're authors
and performers in a rock opera.
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Pete knew that he'd got to write
something more substantial
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00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,440
and he'd always had this thing
about writing a rock opera.
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# Ever since I was a young boy
I played the silver ball... #
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I felt...
the band, and myself as a composer,
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deserved one big last splurge.
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If that album hadn't made it,
the band would have disbanded.
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# Sure plays a mean pinball... #
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Tommy is one of the most important
albums ever made, and was
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Pete sitting with his guitar,
trying to make sense of the universe.
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# Tommy, can you hear me?
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# Can you feel me near you? #
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When we played it live
it changed me completely.
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I just grabbed it by the scruff
of the neck and said,
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"Right,
let's make this person live."
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# I'm free
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I'm free... #
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I'm fed up with talking about it. I'm
certainly not fed up with playing it.
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We always had an idea that Tommy
was going to mean something.
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It was a series of great hit singles,
it's a great concept album,
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it's a rock opera, it's a great
concert vehicle for The Who.
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# Listening to you... #
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I just knew we were good.
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I didn't quite know how or why
or what, but I knew we were good.
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The reviews they got
were overwhelming,
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and so they'd suddenly arrived,
and Tommy changed everything.
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Tommy was the first time
that we really tackled
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the idea of doing an album
as a piece of art.
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It was meant, in a sense,
to hold a mirror, you know,
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to what we were doing at the time
and what was happening to us.
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And when you look
at sort of what was happening,
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it then starts
to really take on extra resonance.
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00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,680
By '68, they seemed to be
running out of steam.
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They were in trouble, really.
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We were afraid that we were
losing our touch.
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We'd had a series of successful
hit singles, you know,
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from I Can't Explain,
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,
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My Generation,
Pictures of Lily, I'm a Boy.
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We were a singles band
going nowhere,
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and occasionally we might come up
with a hit single now and again,
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but on stage we had grown immensely.
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# I can see for miles and miles
and miles and miles and miles... #
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They were the group
that took the power of rock'n'roll
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most seriously.
I love the early Who singles.
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I think, you know, to me
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maybe the greatest rock'n'roll record
of all time is I Can See For Miles.
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I Can See For Miles,
which should have been number one,
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there's no question about it -
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it's a masterpiece as a pop song of
our genre - and it didn't do that.
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I think Pete thought
we were running out of steam,
53
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but then I always believed
in the chemistry of the band.
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There's something about the
mathematics of Who music, within it,
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that knitted it together,
and it had an incredible strength.
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# Talking about my generation
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# Talking about my generation
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# Talking about my generation
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# Talking about my ge-ge-ge...
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# Talking about my generation
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# My generation
This is my generation, baby... #
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They were just a great live band and
that sense of, you know, you just
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had this feeling like, you know, at
any moment they could just levitate.
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GUITARS SCREECH
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It's an image that remains
in my mind about the energy
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and danger that he had
in his performance.
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Pete was playing
and was bleeding from his hand.
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DISTORTED GUITARS
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# My generation... #
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00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,440
The Who had this enormous image
set for them in stone, really,
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by My Generation
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and the Mod connection
and smashing up equipment,
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and so they wanted
to destroy that image
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and prove that they could do
something of real importance
and value.
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And we were writing more
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and more stuff that didn't fit in
with the singles market.
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The shortcoming was mine.
I wasn't coming up with the singles.
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And I knew that I couldn't do better
than I Can See For Miles,
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and I was kind of groping,
in a sense, to find
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00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,440
something that would work
for the band at this time.
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00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,200
He knew that he'd got to write
something more substantial
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00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,160
and he'd always had this thing
about writing a rock opera.
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Pete obviously wrote the songs,
84
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,400
but it was huge,
huge input from Kit Lambert.
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00:04:54,520 --> 00:05:00,880
And, you know, Kit was always
pushing Pete to write deeper,
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00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,440
write for a bigger stage.
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00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:08,360
There is more valid, new creative
music being made at the pop end.
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I don't see any good classical
composers emerging at the moment.
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00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,120
I certainly haven't heard a decent
new symphony
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or a decent new opera
in the last 18 months.
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And I think opera, as we know now,
is absolutely defunct.
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One needs
a completely fresh approach,
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and I think
pop's going to provide it.
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There were other attempts
to do similar kind of things,
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although nobody took much notice
of them at the time,
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it has to be said. There was Mark
Wirtz's Teenage Opera, which was
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a single, but was actually intended
to become a full-blown opera.
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And then The Pretty Things had been
working on something
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called SF Sorrow,
which was a concept album,
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and they later claimed
that this was the first rock opera.
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I felt we were first anyway
because we'd done, you know,
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two operas, we'd done... It's just
that they didn't look like that.
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It's a group of numbers off our LP
written by Pete -
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it was part of an opera he wrote.
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It's a bit shorter
than it was supposed to be.
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It's one called A Quick One.
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It was a piece that ran about
11 minutes long that really
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showed the potential of the band.
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The Who told stories.
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You know, there was a narrative arc
in all of those songs,
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however short.
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Cos what A Quick One While He's Away
was, I think,
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five or six songs which I was working
on, this story about child abuse.
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Mainly it was a story
about evacuees,
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because when these kids came home
and they told their parents
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about the fact that they'd had
a terrible time,
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their parents said,
"Listen, shut up.
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00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,440
"You're alive, you're lucky,
you know,
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00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,320
"you weren't blown to bits in the
Blitz. Just keep your mouth shut."
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So everybody went into, you know,
huge denial.
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I'm on the stage and we get to the
end - "you are forgiven".
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00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,120
This is at the end of A Quick One,
I went, "You are forgiven.
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00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,240
"You are forgiven. You are forgiven.
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"Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven,
forgiven, forgiven, FORGIVEN!"
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You know. This incredible...
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When, of course, no forgiveness
there at all.
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And then finally...
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# We're all forgiven... #
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But we'd also done another one
called Rael, which was...
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you know, a full-length,
two-hour epic opera
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squeezed down to seven minutes.
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# He's crazy if he thinks
we're coming back again
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# He's crazy if he thinks
we're coming back again... #
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I felt I was in a climate
where everybody was going to be
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doing this kind of thing.
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Cos it was on an extraordinary
period, that psychedelic period,
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of...
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Because people were opening up
their minds with psychedelic drugs.
139
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,600
New attitudes
and the whole love movement,
140
00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,360
and a sort of philosophical kind of
revolution took place very quickly.
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00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,200
And people were searching
for their own kind of answers.
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The Who weren't, you know,
immune to all of that.
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I mean, in their own way,
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like Townshend himself was very
interested in philosophy
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and all kinds of mysticism,
in a sense,
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and experimentation with drugs
wasn't unknown to The Who.
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Pete had had that LSD
bad trip he took
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when coming back from the States.
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It was the most extraordinary drug
experience
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that I've ever been through.
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It was just absolutely bizarre,
like Alice In Wonderland,
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like extreme mental illness.
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Nothing good about it at all, but
so disturbing that I left my body
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and I floated up
on the ceiling of the aircraft,
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looking down at myself, and I'm
sitting there and I'm unconscious.
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It's extremely disturbing
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and I'm very, very frightened
I'm going to die.
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And when I get home, I kind of think
about this and I think,
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"I left my body.
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"I just left my body, so I know
that I am not my fucking body."
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And it shook him up,
and from then on
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he gave up psychedelic drugs
and got very anti-psychedelic drugs.
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There was that sense that
we needed an alternative to this
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extraordinary colourful world that
we discovered in hallucinogenics.
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At that point
everybody, it seemed like, you know,
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was exploring some or one or another
aspect of, you know,
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kind of a spiritual development.
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You're looking for some answers.
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You're looking for some ways
of living.
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You're looking for something
that's going to bring you
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some peace of some kind,
and I think Meher Baba offered that.
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When Mike McInnerney introduced
Meher Baba to Pete,
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I think he gave him a book.
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It was called The God-Man
by an eminent British journalist
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00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,720
called CB Purdom, and I kind
of immediately warmed
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to the way he looked in the photo,
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but what really struck me is
as soon as I started
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to open the book up, I started to
read things, I felt that I'd found
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answers to so many of the questions
that were rolling round in my head.
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00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,360
And the really, really simple thing
is -
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and it's really not complicated -
was that he asked you to love him.
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It was the simple stuff
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that I liked.
It was "don't worry, be happy.
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"Do your best,
leave the results to God."
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You know what you should do,
basically,
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that's why I think he didn't speak.
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He took a vow of silence in 1925
or something,
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and I think he didn't speak
because he said it had all been said,
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do you know what I mean?
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There's no point giving
more messages, it's all there.
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00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,200
You can't describe
the kind of the discovery,
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the feeling you get when you feel
the presence of someone like
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Meher Baba on Earth, on this planet,
at this time, in this universe.
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It changed him completely.
He was absolutely fired up by it.
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He was absolutely...
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I mean, it was the most profound
change he'd ever had in his life.
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You impede your own spiritual
progress by doing things
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00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:18,680
which are against the grain
physically,
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00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:24,240
by self-indulgence, by indulging
in lust, by indulging in greed.
200
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And we just had to stop fucking
around, you know.
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We had to stop taking acid,
202
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stop pretending
that we could have sex
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with whoever we wanted
to have sex with
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and just get serious about life.
205
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Let your own intuition guide you.
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00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,280
Like, when you're writing
a song or something,
207
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just write it with the best
intentions - probably to entertain
208
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and to please people -
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and via doing that,
you might create a spark in them.
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When I did discover Meher Baba,
I think all the pieces of the jigsaw
211
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fit into place and then I was able
to start on Tommy in earnest,
212
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and I think I was inspired to write
Tommy as a spiritual story.
213
00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,920
The idea was that Tommy would be
a young boy who would grow up
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00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,080
in adverse circumstances,
but those adverse circumstances
215
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,880
would lead him
to a spiritual pathway.
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00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,840
He would then be elected,
217
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,360
if you like, by the masses
as a spiritual teacher
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00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:23,640
and then he would, in a sense,
misuse his powers and pay the price.
219
00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,040
And that was the original story.
220
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:33,560
This is 1918.
221
00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:38,520
Captain Walker is missing, believed
to be missing with a number of men.
222
00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,320
Then Mrs Walker has a child, a son.
223
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:44,320
ALL: Absent friends.
224
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,040
# Captain Walker didn't come home
225
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,600
# His unborn child will never know
him... #
226
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:56,840
The war is still on...
you know, it's about to end.
227
00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:58,640
A mother has bore a child.
228
00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,040
# It's a boy, Mrs Walker
229
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,040
# It's a boy
230
00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,080
# It's a boy, Mrs Walker... #
231
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,240
She doesn't know, you know,
if it will have a father.
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00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:14,760
She's taken a lover.
233
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:20,800
# A son, a son, a son... #
234
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:26,480
I had to create this viable boy
that my audience, Who fans,
235
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could occupy, get inside him,
and then they become the hero.
236
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:34,800
Then Captain Walker comes back.
237
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:36,440
Now, the first song is very vague,
238
00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,480
you don't really know
what's happened.
239
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,640
# I had a feeling
'21 is gonna be a good year
240
00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:51,480
# Especially if you and me sit in
together... #
241
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,200
All around me, when I was a kid,
242
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,960
there were these intrigues going on,
you know, marital intrigues.
243
00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:58,960
My mum, she fell in love
with this guy
244
00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,840
and she wanted to run away with him,
and what she wanted was romance,
245
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:07,120
and that was the thing
that my dad couldn't give her.
246
00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,400
# I had no reason
to be over-optimistic
247
00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:17,240
# But somehow when you smile
I can brave bad weather... #
248
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,120
A smile, a loving touch,
this is what life was about.
249
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,480
# About the boy, about the boy
250
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,040
# About the boy, he saw it all
251
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,280
# You didn't hear it
You didn't see it
252
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,200
# You won't say nothing to no-one
Never in your life
253
00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,520
# You never heard it
254
00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,000
# Oh, how absurd it all seems
Without any proof... #
255
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,080
It turns out - although you
wouldn't know it from the record -
256
00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,080
that the father came back
and found the mother with her lover
257
00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,400
and he killed the lover,
and the boy witnessed it.
258
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,240
As a child he sees this murder,
259
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,720
as a child he sees
a reflection of the murder.
260
00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,600
He doesn't actually see the murder,
he doesn't see the blood,
261
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:04,160
he doesn't hear the cries, he just
sees this happening in this mirror.
262
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,920
And as a result of them saying,
"You didn't see it.
263
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,320
"You never saw it. You won't tell
a word about it," he has a trauma
264
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,520
and he withdraws himself
and becomes deaf, dumb and blind.
265
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,200
# That dumb and blind boy
He's in a quiet vibration land
266
00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,280
# Strange as it seems
267
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,840
# His music dreams
ain't quite so bad... #
268
00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,560
The amazing journey was
the nucleus of Tommy,
269
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,200
as far as I was concerned,
and it sticks in my brain
270
00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,160
and has been the song
that kind of said it all.
271
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:44,840
It's about going through life
in this strange other world.
272
00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,280
With the deaf, dumb and blind boy,
I was looking
273
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,840
for an analogy to the fact that it
seemed to me that we are deaf, dumb
274
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,560
and blind, if you like, with respect
to our spiritual genome.
275
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,600
Whatever it is in us that drives us
spiritually
276
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,600
is effectively deaf, dumb and blind.
277
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,280
I think Townshend totally got
how, underneath
278
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,320
all of your aggression
and all of your violence
279
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,840
and all of your anger
is a real sensitivity,
280
00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,840
a desire to somehow be accepted.
281
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:24,880
# Sickness will surely take the mind
where minds can't usually go
282
00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:32,400
# Come on the amazing journey
and learn all you should know... #
283
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,760
I'd written this epic poem,
284
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:46,240
it was about somebody who gets very,
very, very close to God-realisation
285
00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,040
and then makes a disastrous mistake.
286
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,720
"As time passes
boredom forces me to amuse myself.
287
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,040
"I marry and justify a lifetime
of obsessed
288
00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,720
"money-making
in order to keep my family.
289
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,560
"I justify an eternity of oblivious
dreaming to counter
290
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,120
"the strain of all my money-making."
291
00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:11,280
The music business itself
would appear to be very shallow
292
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,360
and very kind of one-dimensional
in a way, you know,
293
00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:18,000
leading a lifestyle
that is not always satisfactory.
294
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,120
I don't know how he coped, you know?
295
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:22,360
This was a guy in two worlds,
you know?
296
00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:24,200
He's in a rock'n'roll world.
297
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,080
He's coping with stardom
and, at the same time,
298
00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:31,000
he's trying to be a boy,
trying to understand himself,
299
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,320
and he's trying
to be a man and be a good husband.
300
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,520
It is a warning that if you don't
use the experience that you have,
301
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,760
if you don't use the qualities
that you develop wisely
302
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,160
and kindly and in a good way,
you know, you end up in shit.
303
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,680
MUSIC: "Eyesight To The Blind"
by Sonny Boy Williamson
304
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:06,440
There's that brilliant use of Sonny
Boy Williamson, one of the, you know,
305
00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,960
original great blues figures, and a
song called Eyesight To The Blind,
306
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,360
you know, a nod to both
where this music came from,
307
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:21,600
where The Who came from and a perfect
use of an old song in a new context.
308
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,000
I was attracted to it
because it was about...
309
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,800
He refers to a deaf, dumb and blind
guy in his song.
310
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,520
I like singing this...
311
00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,280
probably most out of all the things
we've ever done.
312
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,960
It's challenging,
it's incredibly challenging
313
00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,440
but, at the end of it,
it's incredibly rewarding.
314
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,640
And it fit in beautifully, I think.
315
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:49,680
It created a reference
back to our lineage, our heritage,
316
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:54,600
our influences...
and it's a fucking great song, too.
317
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,080
# You talk about your woman
318
00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,800
# I wish you could see mine
319
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,400
# Yeah, you talk about your woman
320
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,360
# I wish you could see mine... #
321
00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:11,960
I don't know why Kit...
322
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,280
It's always puzzled me
why he double-tracked everything.
323
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,640
It's not like I haven't got
quite a fat voice to start with,
324
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,520
but it did give it
that kind of other worldly quality.
325
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,000
# She's got the power to heal you
326
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,120
# Never fear
327
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,760
# She's got the power to heal you
328
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:35,800
# Never fear... #
329
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,520
It solved a problem in a narrative.
330
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,040
I wanted there to be a pimp.
331
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,480
I wanted the Acid Queen
to have a pimp.
332
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:47,600
I didn't want the Acid Queen
to be entirely responsible
333
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,720
for corrupting the boy,
sexually speaking.
334
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,280
Pete just has a darker turn of mind
335
00:19:54,280 --> 00:20:01,120
and, you know, addressed
these things, and powerfully so.
336
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,440
Nothing at all could ever be
too strong for an album
337
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,200
and nothing was off-limits.
338
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,440
It was amazing
that the band supported him
339
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,360
and were not anti-critical of him,
Meher Baba and all the rest of it.
340
00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:14,040
Cos the thing was that they could
probably sense that he was
341
00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:15,960
definitely inspired
from his confidence
342
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:17,320
that he got from Meher Baba.
343
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:18,760
We were always supportive,
344
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,400
that had been going on for years,
but there was something
345
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,160
in Kit's belief in us that
I always knew that it would be OK,
346
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,200
and that Pete would kind of go on
to write this kind of work.
347
00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,520
# Did you ever see
the faces of the children?
348
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,600
# They get so excited
349
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,440
# Waking up on Christmas morning
350
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,080
# Hours before the winter sun's
ignited... #
351
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:53,880
On Christmas Eve,
I would be left on my own,
352
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,360
and with a fire and all the presents
round the tree. Magic.
353
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:01,560
Just waiting, waiting while my mum
and dad went to the pub,
354
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,480
got smashed, came back at one
o'clock in the morning,
355
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,120
put me to bed. Then I'd wake up
and open my presents and, yeah,
356
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:09,720
that was good times.
357
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,400
# And Tommy doesn't know
what day it is
358
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,800
# He doesn't know who Jesus was
or what praying is
359
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:27,960
# How can he be saved
from the eternal grave?
360
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,600
# See me
361
00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:36,680
# Feel me
362
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,800
# Touch me
363
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,040
# Heal me... #
364
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,560
There is that extraordinary moment
in the recording of Tommy
365
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,040
where I arrive late, looking forward
to doing my bit, you know,
366
00:21:53,040 --> 00:22:00,320
which is singing the emotional bits,
"See me, feel me..."
367
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,000
You know, because, you know,
I had such a tough childhood,
368
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,200
so I would be able
to really sing it.
369
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:07,560
And I knew that, you know,
370
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,360
Roger had had a couple of goes,
and Kit had kind of gone,
371
00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:12,760
"I don't think you'd better do this,
Rog.
372
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,360
"I think I might better leave this
to Pete."
373
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,480
And I come in and I hear this.
374
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,240
# See me
375
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,200
# Feel me
376
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,800
# Touch me
377
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,120
# Heal me... #
378
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,320
And I realised that Roger has
occupied Tommy,
379
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:41,520
in such a way, though, that other
people were unable to occupy him.
380
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,800
# Heal me... #
381
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,240
I was just inhabiting the music.
382
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,360
I think everybody has a longing
in them...
383
00:22:53,560 --> 00:23:00,280
..to be understood, to be loved,
and that's what I tried to do.
384
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,800
I was very, very well aware that
385
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,080
it was going to do something
a little bit deeper,
386
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,560
and in that Kit Lambert was
an absolute dynamo of support.
387
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,800
But then, it wasn't just Kit,
we did have Chris Stamp in there
388
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,360
who's, again, very, very
influential on the input of Tommy.
389
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:28,680
Their partnership
and their work together
390
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,280
was extraordinary and magical.
391
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,680
Tommy was everything.
392
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,440
You know, we were going to...
we were going to sort of
393
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,320
put everything into Tommy.
It was going to be the, sort of,
394
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,480
the great big last-ditch effort,
you know,
395
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,920
of all this sort of creative juice
that we'd had for all these years.
396
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,640
If ever I had any doubts, you
know... If ever I said, you know,
397
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,880
"Oh, God, you know,
it all feels a bit pretentious,"
398
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,360
he would just say, "Oh, fuck them."
399
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,840
You know. "Just fuck them all,"
you know?
400
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,320
"What does anybody know
about opera?"
401
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,360
But the person that was most helpful
to me in constructing
402
00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:07,280
the story was actually the guy doing
the artwork - Michael McInnerney.
403
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,360
As a creative in the band, you know,
404
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,520
Pete needed somebody to be able
to talk his ideas out to.
405
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,280
We were still in the studio
developing the music,
406
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,360
so I would go and I would talk
to him about it,
407
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:19,160
I would play him my demos.
408
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,160
He often got to hear
my songs before the band.
409
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,560
The cover carried
a kind of symbolic idea
410
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,920
of what I felt the overarching idea
of the album was.
411
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,040
I was trying to carry this idea
of what it would be like,
412
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:34,880
in a sense, to be this character,
413
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,120
trying to imagine what it's like
414
00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:42,200
if you can't see, you can't hear,
you can't speak, what kind of world
415
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,680
you're in, you know, how infinite
and how large that might be.
416
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,240
I had to try and find a kind
of visual method to sort of do that.
417
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,680
I don't think Mike has ever
surpassed it.
418
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,360
He's done some fantastic work,
419
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,520
but I do think that it's up there
with Magritte.
420
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,640
# Extra, extra, read all about it
421
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,200
# Extra... #
422
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,520
My first major interview about Tommy
was with Jann Wenner
423
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,720
of Rolling Stone magazine
before the fucking album was made,
424
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,880
in which I pitched the album
and he printed it in its entirety.
425
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,400
I didn't know at the time that was
the first time he'd, apparently,
426
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:17,880
had ever articulated that,
427
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,240
and I think that he might have been
making it up
428
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,640
as he was going along, you know,
it was kind of occurring to him.
429
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,360
But he'd laid it out
in very rational form.
430
00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:31,240
And he said that, really,
that interview cleared it -
431
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,600
clarified it in his head.
432
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,800
What's interesting,
reading that interview
433
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,000
is the conviction that I had
that we, as a band,
434
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,760
could kind of create this journey
for this boy.
435
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,240
We could sort of make this music
436
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:48,160
that evoked all of these different
aspects of life
437
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,160
and very, very ambitious, you know,
438
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,280
but I was convinced
that we could do it.
439
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:59,560
# We're on our own, cousin
440
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,960
# All alone, cousin... #
441
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,120
Pete Townshend is one of the most
sensitive souls who's ever
442
00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,240
found their way into rock'n'roll.
443
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:13,320
And I think that's the secret
of Tommy, is he was sensitive
444
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,640
to his own issues and to the fact
that there were probably
445
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,680
other people out there dealing
with some of the same psychosexual
446
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:26,880
childhood abuse, bullying, all these
themes that are so of the moment.
447
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:31,040
Young Tommy went through, you know,
sexual molestation, bullying,
448
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,520
drugs and whatever,
that Pete had gone through.
449
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,560
Pete was an unhappy kid, you know,
full of, you know, doubt
450
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:43,560
and shame and feelings of inadequacy
and the inability to get a girl.
451
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:47,880
And he's really...pretty
painfully frank in his music...
452
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,640
..at a time
when you're not supposed to be.
453
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,400
# You won't be much fun
being blind, deaf and dumb
454
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,840
# But I've no-one to play with
today... #
455
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,040
Bullying at that time, it was just,
you know, it was just...
456
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,760
It was par for the course. It was
the way that society operated.
457
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,600
Policemen didn't pull you aside
and, you know...
458
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,240
They would just smack you
round the head, you know?
459
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,680
It was just this kind of, you know,
teachers would batter you
460
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,440
with lumps of wood, you know,
and that's what life was like.
461
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,040
# I'm the school bully
462
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,080
# The classroom cheat
463
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:36,200
# The nastiest play friend
you ever could meet... #
464
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:41,920
He asked John
to write those difficult songs,
465
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,880
those dark songs,
because when Pete was younger
466
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,720
he had some bad...
467
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,320
sexual experiences
and bullying experiences.
468
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,480
I didn't want to have to write
those songs,
469
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,640
but I knew that they had to be
in the story.
470
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,080
I knew that we had to deal
with the reality
471
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:01,280
of what a boy like Tommy
would go through.
472
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,760
As I tried to deal with it,
473
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:12,400
I would either go into kind of
white-flash anxiety or rage...
474
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,240
And I tried a few times...
475
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,600
..but in the end
I just kind of gave John a brief.
476
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,240
I just said, "Do you think you could
crack this?" And he said, "Yep."
477
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,200
# I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie
478
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,840
# I'm glad you won't see or hear me
as I fiddle about
479
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,240
# Fiddle about
Fiddle about
480
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,480
# Your mother left me here
to mind you
481
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,480
# Now I'm doing what I want to
482
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:52,320
# Fiddling about
Fiddling about
483
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,280
Fiddle about
484
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,800
# Down with the bedclothes
Up with your nightshirt
485
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,680
# Fiddle about... #
486
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,640
What's so extraordinary about
those two songs
487
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,160
is that they're so powerful and
they're so deeply felt
488
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,760
and they're so accurate
that I wonder whether, like me,
489
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,720
John had lots of friends
who had stories to tell.
490
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,120
Child molestation is not discussed,
491
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,520
it's not generally a pop music theme,
you know,
492
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:26,720
but it's one of the big, you know,
successful themes of Tommy.
493
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,440
Pete was selling us
and sharing with us his pain.
494
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,520
I mean, he had this part of
when he was young,
495
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,080
of his mother and father
not getting on,
496
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,560
and his mother was a singer
and stuff,
497
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,600
and they left him for a time
with his grandmother, this Denny,
498
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,880
who was a little bit strange.
499
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,000
My experience of abuse as a child
is something which
500
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,760
I don't fully recall.
501
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,400
I get the sense that there's
something that has happened
502
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,840
to me as a child,
something that is erotic or sexual,
503
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,960
or disturbing or dark,
or something in nature
504
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,600
because of dreams that I've had
and memories that I have.
505
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,080
But I was very, very young,
you know,
506
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,360
I was between
the ages of 4 and 5½ when I was
507
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,480
with my grandmother, and I just know
that some weird shit went down.
508
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,680
# Fiddle... #
509
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,000
# Your child ain't all he should be
now
510
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,760
# This girl could put him right
511
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:41,160
# I'll show him what he could be now
512
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,760
# Just give me one night
513
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:51,160
# I'm the gypsy
The Acid Queen
514
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,240
# Pay before we start... #
515
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,680
I go to a very strange place
when I sing it.
516
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,600
It's like, "Can you give me
permission to sing this song?
517
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,240
"I'm going to sing it like a woman
who's going to rape a child in order
518
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:06,680
"to make it better."
519
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,080
I'm 68 years old,
there's not much analysis for me.
520
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,960
I've got a pretty picture
of what kind of person my mum was.
521
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,960
I love her, I love the memory
of her, but I also know
522
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,600
that she was a complete halfwit
in many respects, you know.
523
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,360
And she abnegated a lot of her duty
to me as a young mum,
524
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,000
and when I sing the Acid Queen
525
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,800
there's a bit of my mother's voice
comes in there.
526
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,480
I'm kind of... I'm kind of angry
with my mother.
527
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:33,840
I'm angry with all women
who are mothers.
528
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,640
It's a misogynist song in a way,
you know,
529
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,160
and I can sing it as a woman and...
530
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,400
"If your boy ain't all he should be
now, this girl can put him right."
531
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,640
There's a sense of
"oh, how arrogant you are."
532
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,160
# Give us a room
Close the door
533
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,240
# Leave us for a while
534
00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,080
# Your boy won't be a boy no more
535
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,440
# Young but not a child... #
536
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,880
What The Acid Queen represents to me
is that female force.
537
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,800
It's a fairytale figure, you know?
538
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,840
It's the wicked queen,
it's the wicked witch,
539
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,400
and yet, in Grimm's Fairy Tale
language, it's a very erotic figure.
540
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:25,320
It's erotic, powerful, manipulative,
fixing figure.
541
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,800
"I can fix you. Come in, young man,
I'll show you the future."
542
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,080
And what a great power for a woman
to have over a young man...
543
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,520
..the power to give him
his first real orgasm.
544
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,360
# My work is done now
Look at him
545
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,760
# He's never been more alive
546
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,920
# His hand, it shakes
His fingers clutch
547
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,080
# Watch his body writhe
548
00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,720
# I'm the gypsy
The Acid Queen
549
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,120
# Pay before we start
550
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,080
# The gypsy
551
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,920
# I'm guaranteed
to break your little heart... #
552
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,160
Kit Lambert had got me tape-machines
553
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,840
very, very early in my writing
career in 1964, so I'd been
554
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,960
working on tape, and by the time
I started to work on Tommy
555
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,320
I had a fully-fledged recording
studio in my house at home.
556
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,120
I loved it.
557
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,200
And he would come in with a new demo
and we'd write,
558
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,200
and then we'd build up
from a very simple demo...
559
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,920
And slowly, but surely,
the story pieced itself together
560
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,400
in some kind of sense.
561
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,040
# Ever since I was a young boy
I played the silver ball
562
00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,600
# From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
563
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:00,440
# But I ain't seen nothing like him
in any amusement hall
564
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,720
# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
sure plays a mean pinball... #
565
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:13,360
Before Pinball Wizard,
Tommy was a kind of rock star.
566
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,840
I saw him as, I suppose,
a guitar-playing rock star,
567
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,600
cos Tommy was about music.
568
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,440
It was about a young man
who is deaf, dumb and blind,
569
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,480
but can hear music
through vibrations,
570
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,000
so he can feel stuff,
so he can feel music.
571
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,640
They wanted some feedback
on how it was going
572
00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:39,880
and the album they were making,
and Kit Lambert knew Nik Cohn,
573
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,360
who was the writer on the Guardian,
and he was a rock critic, and
574
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:49,120
they brought him in and he listened
to their...what they'd got so far.
575
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,120
I said, "What do you think?"
576
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,320
"And he said, "It's... It's
wonderful. It's really wonderful.
577
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,400
"Wonderful music. I love it.
578
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:02,400
"But...it's a pity
it's about a guru."
579
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,040
And I said,
"Well, it's not really about a guru.
580
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,120
"No, it's not a guru.
He's not a guru.
581
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:13,920
"He's somebody who can feel
vibrations and music and through,
582
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:19,120
"you know... And it turns
into a kind of a spiritual language
583
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,200
"that he understands and that other
people around him can see."
584
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,800
And he kind of goes, "I think
that's even worse than a guru."
585
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,720
He used a wonderful expression,
he said, "It's a bit po-faced."
586
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,600
"And it's a bit heavy, religious
and... But I'll give it four stars.
587
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,640
"It's GOOD, you know, but it's
not..." And that wasn't good enough.
588
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,720
I knew him and we used to play
pinball together quite a bit,
589
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:44,400
and he'd written a book called
Arfur - with an F - Pinball Queen,
590
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,360
and I'd met this kid who he'd based
the story on,
591
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:48,960
played pinball with her,
592
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,400
and we used to go out
and play pinball in Soho together.
593
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,080
And Pete said she beat him
every single time.
594
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:03,400
And so I said, "What about if,
instead of him being, like,
595
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,240
"a, you know, a phenomena,
musically-speaking,
596
00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:09,480
"he's a pinball champion?"
597
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,520
thinking I was kind of like,
lowering the, you know, the...
598
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,440
And you know, "He plays pinball.
He can play pinball.
599
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,080
"He's deaf, dumb and blind,
600
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:20,720
"but through vibrations he can play
pinball."
601
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:24,800
I said, "Would you give it a good
review if he was a pinball star?"
602
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,960
And Nik Cohn said something like,
603
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:32,480
"Ah, yes, I think I would give that
a five-star review...
604
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,160
"with an extra ball."
605
00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:40,080
So I rushed home that night
and wrote Pinball Wizard.
606
00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,280
# Ever since I was a young boy
I played the silver ball
607
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,040
# From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
608
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:08,680
# But I've never seen anything
like him in any amusement hall
609
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:15,120
# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
sure plays a mean pinball... #
610
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,040
Pinball Wizard is a crucial song.
611
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:20,360
It's actually the whole thing
in a nutshell,
612
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,560
and it's incredibly powerful.
613
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,360
The first time I heard it,
I was literally blown backwards,
614
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,120
it was so powerful.
615
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,480
And I felt it was too sweet
and, you know,
616
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,480
so if this is someone singing
about Tommy,
617
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:35,960
it should have a bit more
meat and potatoes...
618
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,000
..which is what I gave it.
619
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,480
# He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine
620
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:46,400
# Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean
621
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,120
# He plays by intuition
The digit counters fall
622
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:54,600
# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
sure plays a mean pinball
623
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,840
# He's a pinball wizard
624
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,520
# Had to be a twist
625
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:10,360
# A pinball wizard's
Got such a supple wrist... #
626
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,040
I think that it was such a clever
device, a perfect vehicle.
627
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,160
Nothing to do with words,
just to do with feeling the flippers
628
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:20,680
and feeling the...
629
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:25,640
And feeling the ball
and scoring a great score.
630
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:27,360
You don't need words for that.
631
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,600
What it did was inject
this incredible silly, colourful,
632
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,360
daft notion into the whole thing
which, in actual fact,
633
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:40,080
totally redeemed but also created
a much better focus for my notion
634
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,320
that somebody who was deaf, dumb and
blind could do something miraculous.
635
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,280
# He ain't got no distraction
Can't hear no buzzing bells
636
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,560
# Don't see no lights a-flashin'
637
00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:51,400
# Plays by sense of smell
638
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,280
# Always gets a replay
Never tilts at all
639
00:38:55,280 --> 00:39:00,200
# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
sure plays a mean pinball... #
640
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,600
Listening to the production
on Pinball Wizard,
641
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,600
and it's absolutely genius,
but it's a masterpiece.
642
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:11,160
# I thought
I was the Bally table king
643
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:15,720
# But I just handed
my pinball crown to him... #
644
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,520
Next day he brought it in,
played it to everyone.
645
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,040
He thought, "Oh, God,
I'm embarrassed by this."
646
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:29,400
I came in and I played it,
647
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,040
and the great thing about it
was that it was obviously the hit.
648
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,120
And Damon Lyon-Shaw, the engineer,
said,
649
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,000
"That'll be a number-one hit,
you know."
650
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,840
And they all went, "This is great."
And he went, "Oh, really?"
651
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,640
I think it got to number four.
652
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:45,640
HE LAUGHS
653
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:49,360
# That deaf, dumb and blind kid... #
654
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:52,240
Nik, true to his word,
gave the album a fantastic review.
655
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,920
With Tommy, it was the first time
we used eight-track
656
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:10,400
and we didn't know
what to do with them.
657
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:12,680
I've seen the multi-tracks
from Tommy
658
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:14,720
and there's three tracks empty.
659
00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:17,920
Cos they'd insisted all the way
that they wanted to be able
660
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,720
to play it on stage, cos there was
all sorts of great ideas came up.
661
00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:24,360
Kit Lambert had asked me to dance
around the room
662
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,480
like a ballet dancer holding
a microphone for an effect.
663
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,400
He was wonderful because
he would just try everything.
664
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:32,760
He'd try the kitchen sink,
he'd throw it all in.
665
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:34,400
He'd make terrible mistakes.
666
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,400
The next thing we knew,
we'd be marching around the studio
667
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,040
playing trombones, you know?
668
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:43,760
Would I have changed him
for someone more polished?
669
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,320
No, we wouldn't have been
what we are today
670
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,360
without his early production.
671
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:52,040
It was quirky, it was cranky,
and it wasn't like anybody else.
672
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:53,440
In Damon Lyon-Shaw,
673
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:58,040
he did pick an absolutely excellent
engineer who got fantastic sound
674
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:02,080
so, you know, he just left
that kind of stuff to the engineer.
675
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:03,640
He interfered a bit, you know?
676
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,640
Damon Lyon-Shaw talks about the fact
that Kit always wanted
677
00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:08,040
the needles in the red,
678
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:11,000
and all they did was they turned
down the bit behind the needles,
679
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:12,920
so that the needles
were always in the red,
680
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,200
but they were
actually recording clean.
681
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:17,320
So, everybody got what they wanted.
682
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:19,040
The making of the record
683
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:22,840
and that period of our career was
the most joyous time -
684
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:27,560
it was wonderful. And going to work
a lot, working in the studio all day,
685
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,960
going out to do gigs at night -
what more could anybody have wanted?
686
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:37,840
Kit made recording fun, there's no
question about it, it was great fun.
687
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,000
# There's a man I found
who can bring us all joy
688
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,800
# There's a doctor I've found
could cure the boy
689
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,040
# A doctor I've found... #
690
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,480
What's probably more important
in the context...
691
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:53,400
and that these songs
I DID manage to tackle, you know,
692
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:58,440
in the shape of the doctor's song
"Go To The Mirror!"
693
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:03,320
was the complicity of parents and
social workers,
694
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,240
and doctors and do-gooders,
695
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:12,440
in a sense, to try to get round the
problems that this child might have.
696
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,440
# He seems to be
completely unreceptive
697
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,680
# The tests I gave him
show no sense at all
698
00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:24,640
# His eyes react to light
The dials detected
699
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:33,040
# He hears but cannot answer
to your call... #
700
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,480
The reason
why none of the other cures,
701
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:39,440
the quacky cures or even the,
you know, the credible medical cure,
702
00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:43,120
the reason why none of them work
is that because...
703
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:45,200
What's actually happened, of course,
704
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:47,440
is that Tommy is not
deaf, dumb and blind,
705
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,680
he's not even really autistic,
you know?
706
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:54,640
What's actually happened
is that he's been traumatised
707
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,320
and is in a kind of shutdown state.
708
00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,600
# Tommy, can you hear me?
709
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,760
# Can you feel me near you?
710
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,320
# Tommy, can you see me?
711
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:11,280
# Can I help to cheer you? #
712
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,040
What cures him is that the mother
smashes the mirror
713
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:19,000
that he's looking at himself in
and breaks the spell.
714
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:23,040
# Do you hear or fear or
Do I smash the mirror? #
715
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,040
GLASS SMASHES
716
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:34,200
And when she smashes the mirror,
he not only sees himself
717
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:37,200
for the first time
in the trauma of that moment,
718
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:38,840
but he realises the power
719
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,760
of his mother's loving rage
and frustration.
720
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:45,560
And that's kind of, in a sense,
what brings him to his senses.
721
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:47,960
And so then, "Da-dah! I'm free."
722
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,440
# I'm free
723
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,600
# I am free
724
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:10,960
# And freedom tastes of reality... #
725
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:17,680
The whole thing is metaphorical,
of course.
726
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:20,400
It's about a coming of age,
you know?
727
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,840
About the fact that each of us,
as young men,
728
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,560
that that happens to us
at some point.
729
00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:28,640
We break away from stuff that
we've clung onto in our childhood
730
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:30,280
and we...
731
00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:37,360
..assume our power as men,
and that's what happens to Tommy.
732
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,360
It's a pivotal song.
It's the pivotal song.
733
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:46,200
It's from hereon in that all
the problems need to be solved...
734
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,520
because you're back
in the real world.
735
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:50,360
# I'm free
736
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,560
# I'm free... #
737
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,200
I think we probably discovered
something about our sound in Tommy
738
00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,600
when we played
at the Ronnie Scott's Club.
739
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,440
And they decided to have a proper
full-blown press launch.
740
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:05,000
They booked Ronnie Scott's Club
741
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,040
which, in itself,
was a unique experiment,
742
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,880
to have a rock band playing
at the famous London jazz venue.
743
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:15,200
And it was very hostile. They said,
"Well, I know people there
744
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,200
"and they said the press were drunk,
and sort of shouting at them
745
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:19,360
"and leering at them."
746
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:23,480
And as we started to play,
somebody shouted out
747
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:25,600
"Smash your guitar, you sick BLEEP!"
748
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,880
So, I think that's kind of
where we were, you know,
749
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:34,200
and whoever said that
was drunk on our free booze,
750
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,080
so we didn't really have
many friends.
751
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,440
And so Pete said,
"Right, let them have it."
752
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,400
I turned it up.
I turned everything up.
753
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:45,160
We played with tremendous vigour
and passion and vengeance,
754
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:47,120
and fear that it wouldn't work.
755
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:50,080
And we played to absolute silence...
756
00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:52,000
incredibly loudly,
757
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:57,520
but the ovation at the end kind of
took us by surprise, I must admit.
758
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:00,040
That was... That was stunning.
759
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:05,280
The real change in The Who happened
when they played it live,
760
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:06,600
not from the album.
761
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:09,800
That's when The Who sound
really started to bed in.
762
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:11,960
# I'm free
763
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:15,920
# I'm free
764
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:23,160
# And I'm waiting for you
to follow me... #
765
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,160
Several things happened to me
at that time.
766
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,560
I was a Mod with curly hair,
which was worse than having the pox.
767
00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:32,960
And my wife said to me,
768
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,560
"Why are you straightening
your hair? It's beautiful."
769
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:38,000
She said, "Just let it hang out."
770
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,240
And she, again,
gave me the confidence to do it.
771
00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:45,160
So, I kind of gained
a different physical persona.
772
00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:46,880
# I'm free
773
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,400
# I'm free
774
00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:59,120
# And I'm waiting for you
to follow me... #
775
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,360
He was your archetypical rock star
of the '70s,
776
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,760
with his fringed jacket
and his long hair and his bare chest.
777
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:12,360
Roger was definitive in the role
and no-one will ever sing Tommy
778
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:17,320
the way Roger, you know, Daltrey did
and does.
779
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:23,080
The fact of suddenly realising,
"Oh, my God, we've got
780
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:27,600
"a rock god as a singer
and not just an annoying fucker
781
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:31,920
"who disagrees
with everything we say," you know?
782
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,240
It all added up to turning me
into the kind of rock star
783
00:47:35,240 --> 00:47:39,240
that I became. Previous to that,
I was just another pop singer.
784
00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:44,320
Daltrey sort of became the kind
of visual expression of Tommy.
785
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,600
The audience was watching Roger
singing Tommy as Tommy -
786
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:50,360
it was totally different.
787
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:55,880
# And I'm waiting for you
to follow me... #
788
00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:03,080
Roger just became this figure
who was at the centre of things...
789
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,080
and it changed everything.
790
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:12,440
# How can we follow?
How can we follow? #
791
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:15,920
What we have to accept is that
what he's got a following for
792
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:17,560
is pretty bloody stupid.
793
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,200
You know, he's got a following,
again, it's metaphorical.
794
00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:24,720
If he's a pinball champion,
it's just about as credible
795
00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:29,880
and valid as somebody, you know,
having a huge following
796
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:34,640
for writing songs about boys
that wank over pictures
797
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:36,800
and smashing guitars.
798
00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,360
So, you know,
it was quite close to home.
799
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,560
This is about pop culture,
800
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:46,560
and the people around him,
his pinball fans, see this
801
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,960
and they kind of go, "Wow, you know,
you were deaf, dumb and blind and
802
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:55,120
"now you're OK and you can see, and
you have this incredible freedom."
803
00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:57,360
That's what his fans respond to
804
00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,520
and they kind of go,
"We want what you've got."
805
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,760
He has all these followers and
they're basically in a holiday camp.
806
00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,520
# Good morning, campers
807
00:49:10,520 --> 00:49:15,040
# I'm your uncle Ernie and I welcome
you to Tommy's holiday camp
808
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,360
# The camp with a difference
Never mind the weather
809
00:49:21,360 --> 00:49:24,520
# When you come to Tommy's
The holiday's forever... #
810
00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:30,720
The wonderful thing about The Who,
of course,
811
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:33,640
was that what was
a fairly po-faced idea to begin with
812
00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:35,000
and probably far too...
813
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:40,640
..far too serious, really,
to have worked for a rock band
814
00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:42,360
was that, as we worked through it,
815
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:44,400
it got lighter and lighter
and lighter.
816
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:47,120
Keith Moon came up with the idea
that, instead of Tommy opening up
817
00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:50,920
his home for hundreds
and hundreds of people,
818
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:52,560
that it would be a holiday camp.
819
00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:55,480
# The camp with a difference
Never mind the weather
820
00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:59,320
# When you come to Tommy's
The holiday's forever... #
821
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:04,960
So it was lighter and funnier
and more delightful.
822
00:50:09,360 --> 00:50:11,920
Tommy finally turns to the people
around him
823
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:14,600
and says,
"Listen, this is really simple."
824
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:16,200
# Welcome... #
825
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:18,280
You know,
"If you really want what I've got,
826
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:22,120
"if you want what you THINK I've
got, then maybe you should just live
827
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:25,280
"the kind of experience
that I lived.
828
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:27,760
"Pretend to be deaf, dumb
and blind, you know,
829
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:32,920
"witness a few murders,
you know, do what I did.
830
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:35,840
"Do as I do
and you will end up where I am."
831
00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:41,560
# Welcome to the camp
I guess you all know why we're here
832
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:49,240
# My name is Tommy
and I became aware this year
833
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:56,480
# If you want to follow me
You've got to play pinball
834
00:50:57,720 --> 00:50:59,160
# And put in your earplugs
835
00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:01,480
# Put on your eye shades
836
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,640
# You know where to put the cork... #
837
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:08,480
Woodstock was the thing
that changed The Who.
838
00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:12,360
There was something
about the gathering of Woodstock
839
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:13,880
and the message of Tommy.
840
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:18,080
They all put it into this marvellous
kind of birth, really,
841
00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,400
of The Who and Tommy in America,
842
00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:24,280
and it made them legends, really,
that performance.
843
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,560
It broke The Who
definitely in America.
844
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,880
I mean, that's when
they really became an iconic band.
845
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,920
If you look at our gig book,
we're at 2,000- or 3,000-seaters,
846
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:40,680
but it went from that to 120,00O
overnight. It was ridiculous.
847
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:42,120
It was crazy.
848
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,440
# We're not gonna take it
849
00:51:45,720 --> 00:51:47,440
# We're not gonna take it... #
850
00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:52,640
Suddenly there was money
and everything, you know, fame,
851
00:51:52,640 --> 00:51:55,200
and it elevated them completely.
852
00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:56,920
And then that period of my life,
853
00:51:56,920 --> 00:51:59,240
that was a bit difficult
to deal with.
854
00:51:59,240 --> 00:52:01,360
One of the things
that I probably knew was that
855
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,520
if it was as successful
as I felt it might be,
856
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:09,840
it would challenge the life
that my wife and I hoped for.
857
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:14,560
It would challenge the life that
we were trying to create around us,
858
00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:18,760
which was a very loving,
normal English life.
859
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:26,040
And it was very difficult to do that
in a band like The Who.
860
00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:27,640
Nothing became real.
861
00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:30,520
No-one was...
People started treating you...
862
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:31,960
It's not you that changes,
863
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:34,280
it's the people around you -
everybody, you know,
864
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:37,520
everyone treats you differently.
So you go, "What's going on?
865
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:40,480
"Cos I haven't changed,
I'm still me."
866
00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:45,800
# We're not gonna take it
867
00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:47,840
# We're not gonna take it
868
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:51,880
# We're not gonna take it
869
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:55,440
# We're not gonna take it
870
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,160
# We're not gonna take it
871
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:03,360
# Never did and never will... #
872
00:53:03,360 --> 00:53:05,160
I think it's a human thing.
873
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:06,960
It's something that people do,
874
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:10,440
building our celebrities up
and then knocking them down.
875
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:13,480
What society does is it takes
what the charismatic
876
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:18,040
figure in society can give us, and
then runs with it and takes it away.
877
00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:21,640
And this takes the form
of a kind of a rebellion,
878
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:23,360
and this is what happens to Tommy.
879
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:25,640
# See me
880
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:30,000
# Feel me... #
881
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:39,320
I started my journey as a fan,
my journey as somebody who was
882
00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:43,680
looking to music and celebrity
and glamour...
883
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:47,880
..for something.
884
00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:50,760
Where DO you find the answers
and how DO you grapple with them?
885
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:56,880
And what do you want from artists
or gurus or spiritual leaders?
886
00:53:56,880 --> 00:53:59,680
You know, how much do you need to do
yourself?
887
00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:04,880
Pretty much every great spiritual
leader in the history of humankind
888
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,760
has said, "You know, at the end of
the day look within your own heart."
889
00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:11,960
"The master gravely shook his head
890
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:15,760
"and I knew that despite his
infinite wisdom, infinite power,
891
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:19,840
"infinite awareness, that he
WOULD not, COULD not tell me where
892
00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:25,800
"to look or even what to look for.
I had to find the answer myself."
893
00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:27,600
# Listening to you
894
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:29,800
# I get the music
895
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:31,600
# Gazing at you
896
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:33,840
# I get the heat-heat
897
00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:36,120
# Following you
898
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:38,120
# I climb the mountain
899
00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:42,000
# I get excitement at your feet... #
900
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:43,520
Everybody!
901
00:54:44,720 --> 00:54:47,400
The prayer at the end is two-fold -
902
00:54:47,400 --> 00:54:50,680
one, we hear Tommy remembering,
903
00:54:50,680 --> 00:54:53,200
"See me, feel me,
touch me, heal me,"
904
00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:55,240
and then going back on his flight,
905
00:54:55,240 --> 00:54:57,600
"Listening to you,
I get the music,"
906
00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:00,600
turning towards the universe
and praising her.
907
00:55:00,600 --> 00:55:03,760
But, also, I get the sense, too...
908
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,520
..that this is the audience,
as well.
909
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,240
They're also singing "See me,
feel me, touch me, heal me."
910
00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:13,600
They're also connecting
with what it is
911
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:16,080
that is the real fact of the matter.
912
00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:18,240
They are a collection
of individuals,
913
00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:20,720
and each individual
has to live his own life.
914
00:55:21,880 --> 00:55:26,080
And each individual has
a relationship with the universe.
915
00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:29,640
And so the end of Tommy
is about that, you know?
916
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:32,800
And I think, without having
read what Meher Baba said -
917
00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:36,000
you know, you have to lose yourself
in order to find God,
918
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:38,680
and you have to lose yourself
in order to find your true self -
919
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:41,240
I don't think
I could have hit on it.
920
00:55:41,240 --> 00:55:44,200
You could never wish
for a better ending to an album.
921
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:45,960
And it's about you -
922
00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:49,320
and you, as a listener,
923
00:55:49,320 --> 00:55:52,680
feel engaged and touched and moved.
924
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:56,800
And I think that's what Tommy did
for The Who more than anything.
925
00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:59,480
It picked our audience up
from being...
926
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:05,120
...a pop band-loving audience,
927
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:07,400
and moved them into being,
928
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:12,320
"wow, this is more than that, there's
something else going on here."
929
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:15,240
# Listening to you
930
00:56:15,240 --> 00:56:16,920
# I get the music
931
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:19,000
# Gazing at you
932
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,120
# I get the heat-heat
933
00:56:21,120 --> 00:56:22,680
# Following you... #
934
00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:27,120
We always had an idea that Tommy
was going to mean something.
935
00:56:27,120 --> 00:56:29,040
You know, we liked the album
936
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:33,360
and we knew it was going
to be...kind of important.
937
00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:35,800
People can find
more and more meanings in it,
938
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:37,320
and more and more levels of stuff
939
00:56:37,320 --> 00:56:39,240
as they hear it again and again
and again.
940
00:56:39,240 --> 00:56:41,440
You listen to Tommy now
and it moves you,
941
00:56:41,440 --> 00:56:44,600
and it moves you because
the things he's writing about
942
00:56:44,600 --> 00:56:47,240
are absolutely eternal.
943
00:56:47,240 --> 00:56:50,840
He was, without question, a pioneer,
944
00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:56,000
and I would say this is a
quintessentially important creation.
945
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:59,360
There was a feeling that it was
actually something that would last.
946
00:56:59,360 --> 00:57:01,520
It's true, I think we had shifted.
947
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,800
At that point, the centre of gravity
had moved from popular culture,
948
00:57:04,800 --> 00:57:07,440
from something
that was just throw-away
949
00:57:07,440 --> 00:57:11,840
to something that really started
to mean something and had purpose.
950
00:57:11,840 --> 00:57:15,400
The pre-Tommy Who, the '60s Who,
951
00:57:15,400 --> 00:57:20,000
were a great gimmicky, clever,
intelligent pop band.
952
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:25,840
Post-Tommy,
The Who were heavy, serious rock,
953
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:28,160
up there amongst the top three.
954
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:31,480
Afterwards, for a period, probably
the top rock band in the world.
955
00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:35,240
Pete's music will be performed
as the new classical music,
956
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:38,720
cos it's, in some ways,
classically structured,
957
00:57:38,720 --> 00:57:41,160
and, lyric-wise and emotional-wise,
958
00:57:41,160 --> 00:57:43,760
they're timeless,
and they always will be.
959
00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:55,600
It does appear to be
the only topic of conversation
960
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:59,400
that we've had
for the past three years, erm...
961
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:01,960
so I'm fed up
with talking about it,
962
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,160
I'm certainly not fed up
with playing it.
963
00:58:04,160 --> 00:58:07,480
As Bob Dylan so eloquently said
when he came to see Tommy
964
00:58:07,480 --> 00:58:09,840
for the first time at the Filmore,
965
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:11,960
"I've got another appointment."
966
00:58:16,840 --> 00:58:19,480
But Leonard Bernstein
got me by the shoulders
967
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:22,280
and said,
"Do you realise what you've done?!"
968
00:58:25,160 --> 00:58:27,960
So, somewhere along the line,
I don't know.
969
00:58:29,040 --> 00:58:30,760
# You feel me coming
970
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:34,560
# A new vibration
971
00:58:36,040 --> 00:58:38,200
# From afar you'll see me
972
00:58:39,480 --> 00:58:46,080
# I'm a sensation, I'm a sensation
973
00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:50,800
# They worship me and all I touch
974
00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:54,960
# Hazy-eyed,
they catch my glance... #
975
00:58:54,960 --> 00:58:57,640
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