Behind Blue Eyes
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| “Behind Blue Eyes” | |||||
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| Single by The Who from the album Who's Next |
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| B-side | "Going Mobile" | ||||
| Released | 1971 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | March–May 1971 at Olympic Studios in London, England | ||||
| Genre | Rock, Art rock | ||||
| Length | 3:42 | ||||
| Label | Decca, MCA (U.S.) Track, Polydor (UK) |
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| Writer(s) | Pete Townshend | ||||
| Producer | The Who Glyn Johns |
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| The Who singles chronology | |||||
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| Who's Next track listing | |||||
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"Behind Blue Eyes" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who for his Lifehouse project. It first appeared on The Who's 1971 Who's Next album, along with a number of other remnants from the project.
The song is one of the most well-known of The Who's recordings. It starts off with a solo voice singing over a finger-picked guitar, later adds in bass guitar and ethereal harmonies, eventually breaks out into full-scale rock anthem when a second theme is introduced near the end, and wraps up by a brief reprise of the quieter first theme. Songs written in alternating sections were something of a trademark of Townshend's writing of the period, going back at least to Tommy, where it was used in "Christmas" and "Go to the Mirror!" The guitar riff at the end of the rock anthem section is also used after the bridge during the song Won't Get Fooled Again, perhaps serving as a link between the two songs when Who's Next was intended to be a rock opera. (Some musical themes from Tommy and Quadrophenia appear in multiple places.)
The lyrics are a first-person lament from a man in the Lifehouse story, variously identified as 'Brick' or 'Jumbo', who is always angry and full of angst because of all the pressure and temptation that surrounds him, and the song was intended to be his "theme song" had the project been successful. (The lyrics of the rocking section near the end were actually written by Townshend as a prayer when he was a disciple of Meher Baba after being tempted by a groupie, and incorporated into the song when it was written.)
The version of "Behind Blue Eyes" on the original Who's Next album was actually the second version the band recorded; the earlier version appears as a bonus track on the remastered CD release, which features Al Kooper on Hammond Organ.
[edit] Cover versions
- "Behind Blue Eyes" has been covered by Thunderhead, Limp Bizkit, Bryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Testudo, Ian Stuart Donaldson, Jon English, Ken McLellan, Suzanne Vega, Silvertide, The Chieftains, Vanessa Petruo, Dunlavy's A Cappella Quintet and Paul Wheeler & Andy Waller @ Raffles Singapore.
- Country/Western musician Unknown Hinson covered the song "Behind Blue Eyes" under the name "Behind Black Eyes," changing certain lines of the song to fit his profile.
- The intro to the song was sung by Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode from Season 4, "Where the Wild Things Are".
- Rapper Noreaga also recorded a song entitled "Bad Mad" (featuring Beanie Sigel) that uses a sample of the chorus of the song.
- Most recently, Dilana performed her cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" on Rockstar: Supernova.
[edit] References
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