The “most famous pop song about masturbation”, according to Roger Daltrey
The ancient practice of onanism has provided furtive inspiration for many a pop song. Sex sells, even sordid ‘self pollution’.
Ever since Dave Bartholomew’s novelty ode to burping the worm ‘My Ding-a-Ling’ in 1955, masturbation has proved to be a recurring theme in rock, whether by the noble pursuit of dismantling society’s taboos, providing a cheeky wink within the realm of rock, or simply to trigger a good yuck or two.
The classier among its reporters may deploy artful euphemisms, such as Billy Idol’s ‘Dancing With Myself’, or in Gary Numan’s case on ‘Every Day I Die’, craft a chilly slice of futurist dystopia on the topic of jerking the chicken. Others adopt a more frank thematic grapple with wrist exercise, Buzzcocks’ ‘Orgasm Addict’ or Nirvana’s ‘Spank Thru’ speaking plainly and with little ambiguity about the material they’re ‘handling’.
One song that’s long been rumoured to be about doing the deed is The Who’s ’67 single ‘Pictures of Lily’, included on the subsequent compilation Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (they write themselves). Inspired by the vintage vaudeville star Lillie Langtry’s picture pinned on Pete Townshend’s girlfriend’s wall at the time, Townshend remarked in his book Lyrics: “It was an old 1920s postcard and someone had written on it ‘Here’s another picture of Lily – hope you haven’t got this one.”
A gentler entry in The Who’s power-pop canon, there’s a touch of Ray Davies on ‘Pictures of Lily’, a garage strut of rhythmic swagger that supports singer Roger Daltrey’s wistful croon that could be mistaken for a Kinks cut were it not for John Entwistle’s horn blasts and Keith Moon’s characteristic drumming vigour. It bristles with a raw production reflecting the band’s potent energy in their heyday but is ultimately a curiosity in their repertoire, notable mainly for its subject matter.
Depicting the scene of a boy’s sleepless nights, his father hands him a photo of the titular Lily, who thereby ‘cures’ his nightly frustrations. After falling in love with the old snapshot, he asks his father to meet the new object of his desire, only to be told she’s been dead since 1929. After some heartbreak, the boy lapses back into private longing.
During a 2015 interview with Uncut discussing the song’s genesis and innuendo, Daltrey remarked, “When Kit [Lambert, The Who’s produce] and Pete came in and said this is the next single, yeah, straight away I saw the words and knew what it was about”. The dirty boy.
He cleverly added, in the manner of the man who enjoys the ‘narrative’ of a blue movie, “So I deliberately thought I’d sing it the opposite way, with complete innocence. So, instead of it being something suggestive, it tweaks it the other way and gives it a little bit more intrigue. But ‘Pictures Of Lily’ never sat well on stage for some reason.”
The Who didn’t exactly hide the song’s subversive meaning, incorporating saucy Victorian nudes for the single’s press campaign and Moon emblazing said pictures over his drumkit. While the mantle for greatest single about making the bald man cry goes to The Vapours’ smash ‘Turning Japanese’, it’s perhaps The Who’s ‘Pictures of Lily’ that’s only ever managed to broach the theme of the five knuckle shuffle with any narrative finesse. Excuse the pun, but this was a key broad stroke for the band.
How eroticism was a key part of The Who
What else can explain the amorous charge that powers Townshend’s piledriving guitar attack or Daltrey’s potent, arresting aura? The Who’s primary creative captain has touched on his bisexuality over the years, an energy which offered a counterweight to the band’s otherwise macho songbook, which the contemporaries like The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin often wavered on the ugly end of.
Although never too far away from less enlightened fare, think the goofy ‘Squeeze Box’ or ‘Trick of the Light’ nudge wink, The Who deftly wielded erotic spark with a smarter edge than one should have expected from classic rock’s hedonistic peak.
