My Generation – Rebellious British Rock ‘n’ Roll

First, let’s hear it!

The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964, considered to be one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century and have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

The original group consists four members: lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon.

The song My Generation by The Who released as a single on 29 October 1965 buy also appeared on The Who’s 1965 debut album, “My Generation” and on their 1970 live album “Live at Leeds”.

The song was writen by guitarist and singer Pete Townshend.

The lyrics considered to be one of the most precis statements of youthful rebellion in rock history. The tone of the track alone helped make it known as the begining of the punk rock movement.

Townshend wrote this for rebellious British youths known as “mods”. It expressed their feeling that older people just don’t get it.

One of the most unusual features of the song is an angry and frustrated stutter. After recording two takes of the song normally, The Who’s manager, Kit Lambert, suggested to Daltrey that he stutter to sound like ‘a British kid on speed’.

Daltrey recalled to “Uncut” magazine October 2001:

“When we were in the studio doing ‘My Generation’, Kit Lambert came up to me and said ‘STUTTER!’ I said ‘What?’ He said ‘Stutter the words – it makes it sound like you’re pilled’ And I said, ‘Oh… like I am!’ And that’s how it happened. It was always in there, it was always suggested with the ‘f-f-fade’ but the rest of it was improvised.”

One of the most quoted lines in rock history is “I hope I die before I get old”. The truth behind this line is that acordding to Townshend, “old” meant “very rich”.

“The line actually came from a time when I was living in a really wealthy district of London, just by accident… And I was treated very strangely on the street, in an imperious way by a lot of people, and it was that that I didn’t like. I didn’t like being confronted with money and the class system and power. I didn’t like being in a corner shop in Belgravia and some woman in a fur coat pushing me out of the way because she was richer. And I didn’t know how to deal with that… so I wrote the song”.

The instrumental elements of the song are fast and aggressive.

The song featured one of the first bass solos in rock history. The solo was played by bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle on his Fender Jazz Bass.

Originaly, Entwistle used Danelectro bass, but after buying three Danelectros with rare thin strings that kept breaking easily (and were not available separately), a frustrated Entwistle compromise on Fender strung with nylon tapewound strings and was forced to simplify the solo.

My Generation became a hit and one of The Who’s most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by the Rolling Stone Magazine out of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It became part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame for “historical, artistic and significant” value.

In my opinion, My Generation is a great song because it is still relevant even today.

The song talk about the differents between “social generations” – people within a delineated population who experience the same significant events within a given period of time, a permanent social change and the idea of youthful rebellion against the established social order.

It is believed that experiences shape a generation in regard to values, result the new generation will challenge the older generation’s values, resulting in tension. This challenge between generations and the tension that occur is a defining point for understanding generations and what separates them.

Bonus!

Watch The Who destroy the stage (literally…) at a live show at the Monterey Pop Festival 1967:

Thank You!