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…

I've Had Enough

If you want a song that is full of emotion then listen to I’ve Had Enough. This song hops around to all the different emotions that Jimmy is feeling at the moment. The furthering of Jimmy’s breakdown is caused by something that probably won’t surprise many people…a girl. He sees the girl that he likes out with his best friend and something just snaps.

The first emotion that Jimmy feels is anger, he is just pissed off at his luck and that his life isn’t going the way that he wanted it too. I feel like during the angry sections of I’ve Had Enough he is yelling at himself about how crap everything is and how it’s all his fault. Jimmy sort of mentally beats himself up about the way his life is going.

Then Jimmy goes into a short I can do better section where he talks about being the perfect Mod. It is like he rallies a bit and thinks if he does everything right and becomes the model Mod then he might be able to win the girl back. This feeling doesn’t really last long.

Lastly, Jimmy slides right into full on depression. He basically says that he is tired of everything, he is giving up. I love realistic this segment is; I can image someone saying these lines over and over in their head or even out loud. The desperation comes through in the vocals and conveys that the feelings that Jimmy is having is not something to take lightly.

I think that it is really interesting how the emotions don’t go in a straight line; they circle around until they end with depression. It makes the whole breakdown seem more real. Thoughts don’t happen in a point A to point B sort of way, they weave around each other affecting/creating each other. I’ve Had Enough really demonstrates how Jimmy’s mind is working at this point in time.

In the end Jimmy is pushed over the edge and he crashes his scooter. You get to hear the sound of the crash happening at the end of the song along with Roger screaming the last line. This is such an interesting way to end the I’ve Had Enough, it shows that the feelings took over Jimmy and this is the consequence. Plus it sounds cool.

End of disc one.