Credit: Far Out / Alamy

The Who song that made Bob Dylan call Pete Townshend a “boomer”

Mon 20 November 2023 16:00, UK

In 1965, a cultural uprising occurred on both sides of the Atlantic. Bob Dylan was firmly at the heart of the revolution, leading an entire generation of people to stick two fingers up at the establishment and inspire bands such as The Who to kick back at the state of things and try to change the world through their songs.

Although Dylan cut his teeth on the Greenwich Village folk scene and, at that stage in time, he didn’t share much musically in common with the swathe of rock ‘n’ roll bands in the charts. However, the powerful way in which he successfully conveyed meaning within his songs was inspiring for every songwriter, regardless of genre.

The Who’s Pete Townshend was awe-struck by Dylan’s skill, which seeped into his work despite their musical differences. On one occasion, Townshend referred to the maestro as the “master” and elaborated: “Not just because of the use of words in a creative sense but as a folk singer,” he said. “A folk singer is someone with a good memory, basically. He had a wealth of American folk songs and Irish, Scottish folk songs.”

Townshend also explained how Dylan played a role in influencing The Who’s classic track ‘My Generation’, released in 1965. The angry, jumped-up effort finds Townshend hitting back at the status quo, who are displeased with the antics of people like him, refusing to live by the previously accepted rules.

Explaining how Dylan inspired the song, Townshend added: “(He) definitely created a new style of writing. Dylan was the one who I think got the message across to The Beatles. (That) was that you can write songs about subjects other than falling in love.”

Incidentally, Dylan chose to dissect ‘My Generation’ for his 2022 book The Philosophy of Modern Song. In the passage, the singer-songwriter attempts to get himself into the head of Townshend and the possible thoughts running through his mind when he conjured up this pivotal piece of rock history.

Dylan began by writing: “Like a lot of boomers, Pete seems to have a chip on his shoulder in this song. But he’s not totally confident, he’s somewhat back on his heels. There’s a certain defensiveness. He knows people put him down just because he gets around. Perhaps he feels like he will never measure up or he knows they resent his generation’s newly abundant leisure time.”

The musician also felt it was symbolic that The Who frontman Roger Daltrey was on vocal duties rather than Townshend, which he suggested spoke volumes about the guitarist’s mindset. “Pete can’t even point the finger himself, he depends on his mouthpiece, Roger, to hurl the invective,” Dylan added. “That fear is perhaps the most honest thing about the song. We all rail at the previous generation but somehow know it’s only a matter of time until we will become them ourselves”.

Whether Dylan’s musings on ‘My Generation’ are wholly accurate is uncertain. Still, the more profound message he garnered from the song provides a fascinating insight into how he consumes music and digs beneath the surface level.

Listen to ‘My Generation’ below.