Cut My Hair

At the heart of Quadrophenia is Mod culture. Mods were, mostly teens, who dressed in that latest fashions, had the best haircuts, and drove scooters. Jimmy was a Mod, or at least he wanted to be a Mod. He found it very difficult to afford all the things that came along with being a part of this culture and therefore he found it hard to fit in. That is what Cut My Hair is all about. No matter how hard Jimmy tried, he never felt like he really fit in with the Mods, and that no one even seemed to notice that he was there. I think that the sentiment that is expressed in this song is a universal one, no one fits in one hundred percent of the time.

Cut My Hair, to me, is a very melancholy song. I use to relate very closely to this song because I use to care very deeply about what other people thought of me. When it comes down to it most people just want other people to like them. I use to want people to like me a lot…now I don’t care so much. I think that it is more important to do the things that you like, and wear the things that you like. I actually have a recent example, since it has been a bit colder out I have been wearing a toque outside and I like to listen to music. So, what do I do? I put my headphone over the toque. Yes, it looks weird, but I don’t care. People give me strange looks and I just give them a look back that says what, my head is cold. At some point I stopped caring and starting doing whatever I wanted, because I’d rather be happy then have a cold head.

 

Musically, or story-wise, Cut My Hair sets up some information that comes in handy later on in the story. Jimmy holds Mods in high regard, he thinks of them as better than him, and he thinks that being a Mod is what it is all about. As the song ends a news report plays talking about a riot that happened between the Mods and the Rockers in Brighton over the past weekend were they stormed and damaged the Grand Hotel. At first this information seems like just an interesting way to end a song, but if you read the liner notes you learn that Jimmy was there. The incident is revisited later on in the story.