The Who anthem Pete Townshend could never relate to: “I’ve never felt that”
Most rock and roll bands aren’t going to get anywhere without a little bit of passion behind their craft. There are definitely moments that don’t hit the same way as their masterpieces, but fans are normally cognizant of the moment when artists lose their passion or stop caring about making good music anymore. While every band needs passion behind their songs, that doesn’t mean they have to like them all, and Pete Townshend had already washed his hands of the message in ‘Behind Blue Eyes’.
At the same time, Townshend not caring about how a song came out on Who’s Next is completely warranted. The original idea that he had to turn the album into his next rock opera had fallen through, so he was always going to be a little bit hesitant to see some of his story-driven material not actually have a story behind it anymore.
If this is the equivalent of the table scraps, it’s a shame that Townshend didn’t complete his next rock opera because it probably would have been the greatest rock album of all time. ‘Baba O’Riley’ was already an amazing call to action, and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ remains one of the ultimate epic songs released by anyone ever. By the standards of the rest of the album, ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ is actually far more subdued.
Since half of the songs were meant to showcase the internal struggles of a man living in a dystopian future where he finds his calling through music, this is the moment he had his heart on his sleeve, begging for some kind of relief. Townshend definitely had a firm grasp on his ballads, but he wasn’t exactly enamoured with what he had come up with at first.
Despite writing the tearjerker, Townshend said that he didn’t necessarily agree with the message that he wrote, telling Classic Rock Stories, “‘Behind Blue Eyes’ is not a song about me. It was written to show how lonely it is for the powerful. Sometimes I write very effectively when I write about things other people feel. I mean, I’ve got blue eyes, and so has Roger Daltrey, but I’ve never felt that ‘love was vengeance’”.
Given all the work that Townshend put into the track, though, it felt like it was tailor-made for Daltrey to sing. Since the lead singer already had problems getting into fights with his bandmates, his singing about needing to repress his anger and try his best to allow himself to be open might be one of the most revealing numbers that he’s ever sung.
Then again, it is interesting to go back and listen to Townshend’s version of ‘Behind Blue Eyes’. There are hardly any lyrical changes, and the song has been moved up a few keys, but his rendition feels a lot more heartfelt as if he’s allowing himself to be open just for the span of one track before all of that vulnerability fades away.
Considering it was made for a rock opera, this raises more questions about its context in the story of Lifehouse. There are pieces of a great concept record on Who’s Next, but this feels like one of the greatest monologues in rock history that happens not to have any of the actual story built around it.
