Love Reign O'er Me

Well, we made it! This is the last song on Quadrophenia, and goodness it is a great one! Love Reign O’er Me is one of those songs that I get goose bumps every time that I listen to it. There is not one thing that is bad about it, and it is by far the best song on Quadrophenia.

As far as the story goes what we know is that Jimmy was heading toward a rock in a boat. He actually jumps onto the rock and this is where Love Reign O’er Me takes place. During one of my first blogs I mentioned that Quadrophenia is happening in flashback, Jimmy is remembering what has led him to a certain point and this is it. I don’t think that Jimmy isn’t actually dying, but I think that he has gone all the way out to this rock and gets stuck. He starts to think about everything has happened and has an epiphany.

Love Reign O’er Me starts out with the sound of rain and a solitary piano, the song has a somber sound to it and the piano really sets the mood. The piano that you hear on this recording is actually what Pete Townshend had recorded for the demo version, when it came time to re-record everyone involved thought that the piano sounded great and wanted to use that same take. Pete on the other hand never thought that his piano playing was good enough and wanted someone else to record it for the album.

As for vocals Love Reign O’er Me has some of the best vocals ever recorded. This is a difficult song to sing and Roger Daltrey pulls it off magnificently. There is quite a range of notes and emotion that is held in the vocals and it not easy to pull off. I have heard Roger sing this song live and he does not disappoint. People often say that when singers get older they can never sing as well as they use to but I have to say that Roger still sounds pretty good. Yes, Roger’s voice is not quite what it used to be 40 years ago, but he still sounds really good and I can’t wait to hear how he sounds on this tour!

I think that by listening to the song that you can probably figure out on your own what the epiphany Jimmy had on the rock. Love Reign O’er Me is such a great way to end this story, the sentiment that is held within the song is universal. Things for Jimmy are not completely resolved, but you can tell that they will get better from here.

I hope that you enjoyed my musings on Quadrophenia because I have really enjoyed writing them! This project has gotten me very excited for the concert tomorrow! I can’t believe that the concert is tomorrow! When I wrote the first blog it felt like it was so far away! It is going to be such a great show!

 

The Rock

So, what do you do when you are having the breakdown to end all breakdowns? Well, you steal a boat of course, it is what Rory Gilmore did after all. Jimmy gets it into his head that he needs to be out on the sea in a boat, so he steals the first one he sees and drives it out to The Rock. Jimmy is high and drunk and on the way to rock he is singing. Basically he is out of his mind, but is having the time of his life.

When I listen to The Rock the sound of the music really helps me imagine the events that are taking place.  It is another emotionally driven song and I love how the music speaks so loudly that there is no need for lyrics at this point in the story. I also love how Pete Townshend used the two lyric less songs to book end the story; it closes in the breaking points in Jimmy’s life nicely.

Alright, now take a listen to The Rock. I would write more, but time slipped away from me tonight and I really just want to go to bed now. I do think that The Rock is one of the songs that you just need to listen too. Once you know the story it is easy to see what is happening through the music.

Doctor Jimmy

Good evening everyone. First things first, I would like to say Happy Birthday to my brother John. As you all know John lent me Quadrophenia and therefore introduced to me to best album of all time. John actually introduced me to a lot of music through the years and I fully believe that if it weren’t for him I would have a terrible taste in music. So, thank you John! I hope that you have a great birthday! See you on Friday for some Quadrophenia!

Now, on to the story. Jimmy is having a bad day, he feels like everything in life has let him down and he just doesn’t know where to go from here. He takes some more leapers and then starts to drink. Mods weren’t drinkers, the rockers drank and the Mods took pills, and the combination of the pills and booze make Jimmy really mean. If you listen to the lyrics you will hear that they thoughts that are going through his head are somewhat disturbing. I believe that at this point he has cracked in a whole new way. This is sort of the beginning of the end, something snaps, Jimmy gets mean, and his thoughts turn dark.

Doctor Jimmy is supposed to hold another personality, this one belonging to John Entwhistle, but it is only a small tag within the song. But I never really felt that it was fair that John’s trait got whittled down to four lines when the other members of the band got fully fleshed out songs. Then I received a copy of the Quarophenia demos and low and behold there was actually a song called Is it me? After listening to the demo I can honestly say that the best part was transposed into Doctor Jimmy. Not that it isn’t a good song, but I’m not really sure where Pete was going with it. In the end I’m glad that it was dropped because I think that it would have slowed down the story.

“Is it me for a moment? The stars are falling, the heat is rising, the past is calling”. These few lines have always been some of my favourite in Quarophenia, because, to me, it seems like even though Jimmy is having this mental breakdown he sort of realizes it. It is quite moment during the moment that he seems to be losing his mind and it is almost like he could come out of it but he doesn’t. It’s also a sad moment, Jimmy is going through something huge and difficult and he is all alone and I think that the loneliness comes through in those lines. Up until now Jimmy has been very tough and doesn’t feel like he needs anyone, but that ends up not being true, which will come up back a little later.

 

 

Bell Boy

I had a bad day today and I find it sort of fitting that Bell Boy is today’s Quadrophenia song of the day. Alright, I am going to kept this short. Jimmy is feeling  pretty good, and takes a walk past the hotel that the Mods had smashed the last time he was in Brighton and he someone that he thinks that he knows.

Once Jimmy gets closer he realizes that the person that he recognizes is the ace face. If you remember from our Mod lingo lesson from yesterday that ace face what the person who set the trends even for the trend setters. Well, he was working as a bell boy at that same hotel that the Mod had wrecked. The fact that the ace face in fact a bell boy seems to ruin Jimmy’s day. For Jimmy the ace face needed to be something more than a bell boy that is how high of regard that Jimmy held the ace face. Seeing the ace face in a menial job makes Jimmy lose his faith in being a Mod. This is point where Jimmy loses faith in everything, and that is how his bad day begins.

If you remember Jimmy has four personalities, really how could you forget, and Bell Boy is another. This song brings forth the lunatic, and the Who member that embodies that craziness is, of course, Keith Moon. To make the lunatic really come to life Keith Moon even voiced the Bell Boy, which is just perfect.

Alright Who lovers I really want to write more, but am not really feeling like it due to the bad day thing. Really you are lucky that I wrote anything at all. For now enjoy Bell Boy.

Drowned

Drowned is one of my favourite songs, I know that keep saying that but I can’t help it, and when I fell in love it with was not from the studio album but from the Live at Royal Albert Hall. When I was, I believe, 17 I went on a trip with my cousins to Barrie for shopping, dinner and a movie, and during that trip I bought The Who Live at Royal Albert Hall. I remember watching it for the first time and thinking that it was the best thing ever. Most of all I remember being floored the first time I watched the live version of Drowned which was Pete alone unaccompanied by himself with his guitar and it was amazing! I still don’t think that I have ever seen anyone play the guitar like that, it is mind blowing. Since that day I love Drowned so much.

As for the story Drowned actually doesn’t move it along at all. In the liner notes where there is the short story that explains what is happening the only thing that is written is “The sea is so gorgeous you want to jump into it and sink”. That is it. It doesn’t give much to go on. In my mind I am thinking that Jimmy is probably having another drug trip, and he is looking out at sea just loving it.

Musically while Drowned fits in perfectly with the rest of the songs on Quadrophenia I also think that it is the only one on the album that can stand alone. It is just a great song one that needs to listened too.

 

 

Sea and Sand

If you remember back to first blog I wrote about Quadrophenia you will remember that I mentioned a how much my brother wanted to hear the song Sea and Sand at the first Who show that we went too. Well, here it is Sea and Sand. At first you might think that this is song about the beach, but it is about so much more than that.

When Jimmy arrived in Brighton he was so happy to be out in the sea air and away from all his troubles. However, then he started to think about his life and the last time that he was in Brighton, when there was the riot between the Mods and Rockers. Jimmy feels like it couldn’t get any better than that weekend because everything was so great, the dancing, the girl, and the riot. Then, he starts to think about being a Mod and how he never seems to be able to compare to other Mods. In the end Jimmy still love being by the sea.

One of the really cool things about Sea and Sand is the use of the Mod lingo. To give you a bit of an overview tickets are Mods who know what’s going on and follow all the trends, faces are the tread setters, and the ace face is the person that even the faces follow. This song really kind of talks about what it was like to be a Mod, what the fashion was like, what a dance was like, how Brighton was the place to be, and how you had to follow the trends. I think that it would be tough to be a Mod because you had to follow the trends and they changed weekly, something that was in style one week wasn’t the next, and the way that you danced changed weekly as well. It would have been hard to keep up. Despite all that I still think that it would have been fun, the Mods were this short moment in time, and it would have been cool to be a part of that.

Another really cool thing is that Sea and Sand samples a song by the band The High Numbers called I'm the Face. For those of you don’t know The High Number and The Who are the actually the same band. Before The Who was call just that they were call The High Numbers and they really catered to the Mod crowd. I am the Face would have been the sort of song that Jimmy would have listened too and dance too and I love that there is a little nod back to this song in Sea and Sand.

I'm the face if you want it…

5:15

Who is ready for a train ride? Everyone? Alright let’s hop on the 5:15! This is one of my all time favourite songs. Whenever I put it on I can’t help but want to dance! There is just so much that is great about 5:15; what the perfect Friday night song.

First off let’s talk about what is happening in the story. Last time we left Jimmy he was having a breakdown and crashed his scooter, after the incident he decided to leave and go somewhere that he has good memories…Brighton. To get to Brighton Jimmy needs to take the train which is what he is doing during 5:15. He takes about 20 leapers and has a major trip on the train, feeling like he is floating above his body watching what is happening around him. They lyrics to the song are the hazy memories of the train ride.

There is so much about 5:15 that I love. Roger vocals are so amazing, I think that I love the way that he sounds in this song more than any other Who song. There is also the back and forth between Roger and the background/Pete’s vocals that work so well, they show that Jimmy is on an actual train and is interacting with other people. The horns are so cool and add something very unique to the song, and the piano is somewhat reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis and Great Balls of Fire. The drums are cool because they sound sort of like a train, or at least that is what they remind me of. There is a real forward motion contained in 5:15 that really makes me feel like I am moving forward by the way that the song slowly begins and then starts to slow again at the end. I have been on a train before and this song just screams train ride through the whole thing.

5:15 is such a great way to start the second disc, it pumps the listener up and gets you excited for what is to come. This is probably the song that made me fall in love with Quadrophenia. It is well written and the performance is amazing.

Here is the studio version of 5:15 and the John Entwhistle bass solo from the Live at Albert Hall version which is the great bass solo of all time.