The Who classic Roger Daltrey hates to sing live: “The only song I’m bloody bored shitless”
While being a rock star seems like the perfect job to many people, once you’ve been doing it for 60 years, like The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, some aspects of the role begin to grow tiresome after such a long period.
Performing the same set of songs for over half a century and attempting to sing the material each night as though it’s the first time is a skill that Daltrey has perfected. While many tracks by The Who no longer relate to his current lifestyle, the singer allows himself to be temporarily lost in the moment and deliver an unforgettable performance for the audience.
Of course, The Who built their name on their prowess as a live band. In the early days, they amassed a reputation on the London scene for the chaos that ensued at their concerts, placing them on course to become one of Britain’s hottest bands. Now, The Who essentially exists only to perform live, and Daltrey wouldn’t still be doing so if he resented it. Although his band has only released two studio albums since 1982’s It’s Hard, the iconic group still plays huge stadiums on every tour as fans flock to hear the old hits.
Daltrey’s job is to ensure everybody who has paid to see The Who leaves with a brimming grin. Therefore, he needs to appease the masses by delivering the band’s biggest songs, including one particular number he’d happily never sing again.
The song in question is ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, one of The Who’s most beloved anthems and a prerequisite of every show they play. However, judging from his remarks, it seems the frontman would rather do anything but perform the track, which according to the man himself, leaves him “bored shitless”.
Unfortunately for Daltrey, his opinion on the song is far outweighed by the adoration held by their fans towards ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, meaning he has to put his feelings to the side. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Daltrey said of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again‘: “That’s the only song I’m bloody bored shitless with. I don’t know why, but I’m being honest.”
The singer elaborated: “All the others I can approach like I’m singing for the first time. I don’t know what’s happening there psychologically. Maybe it’s the song, but I never seem to be in the same pocket where I’m singing it for the first time.”
Despite his ill feelings toward ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, the iconic track is one of Daltrey’s finest performances, proving why he’s a rock hero. The vocalist’s famous scream, which features in the song, has solidified itself as his crowning moment, and he unwillingly gets to relive it every time The Who takes to the stage.
Understandably, it’s a stalwart of The Who’s blockbuster live sets. Although, in recent years, it has more commonly been performed acoustically by just Daltrey and Townshend, which may have had something to do with the singer’s remarks. Perhaps the group decided on a compromise to appease him and keep the fans pleased.
During the same 2018 interview, Daltrey expressed ill feelings towards the band’s 1982 album It’s Hard, stating: “At the time, I didn’t like It’s Hard. I think there are some great tracks on it. ‘Cry if You Want’ is a great track. I think it was a little over-produced and a bit cleaned up. But there were some things that were quite interesting.”
Daltrey’s brutal analysis of his back catalogue didn’t stop there. While many iconic rock bands regularly tour seminal albums in full, Daltrey has no interest in doing so with The Who Sells Out due to one track. “I don’t want to ever sing ‘Rael’ onstage. That was done in the studio,” he revealed. “I think it was New York, but I don’t remember. It was all tape-looped and double-tracked on two tape recorders. Bouncing across it was layers after layers of vocals. Just trying to bloody reinvent that would be a nightmare.”
Thankfully for Daltrey, nobody is attending a concert by The Who demanding to hear ‘Rael’, and he can get away with ignoring its existence during shows. However, the same can’t be said for ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, which The Who are obliged to perform whenever they grace the stage, whether in Rio or Rome. It’s an internationally adored anthem that helped The Who become one of rock’s most defining bands and a crucial part of their history.
