Won't Get Fooled Again
Or "meet the new boss, same as the old boss"? Your choice.
A fellow Substack writer,
, included a more recent performance of The Who, “Baba O’Riley” in her playlist. It got me thinking to share a performance by them of one of their most iconic songs, “Won't Get Fooled Again”, from back in the day when musicians actually played their instruments and there was no electronic voice enhancement.The Who
One of the most powerful and influential rock bands of the 1960s and ’70s and still performing. Originated the idea of the rock opera. “Tommy” was written by Pete Townsend. The original members were Pete Townshend (born May 19, 1945, London, England), Roger Daltry(born March 1, 1944, London), John Entwistle (born October 9, 1944, London—died June 27, 2002, Las Vegas, Nevada), and Keith Moon (born August 23, 1946, London—died September 7, 1978, London). Moon was replaced by Kenney Jones (born September 16, 1948, London).
Fun fact:
May 31, 1976, The Who entered the Guinness Book of World Records for performing the loudest concert in history at the time during their concert at England's Charlton Athletic Grounds with 76,000 watts at 120 decibels. This record would stand for nearly a decade.
I welcome comments, but in my opinion, the only contemporaries in energy and style at the time would be Led Zepplin, who would sadly also lose their drummer, John Bonham, to alcohol and drugs. I got to see The Who live once. When they performed this song and got to the part where Roger Daltry screamed, it felt like you actually got pushed back in your seat!
Pete Townsend wrote quite a few of The Who's songs with a few in the theme of this one. Read the lyrics afterward and think about my question. That said, enjoy watching the video!
Won't Get Fooled Again
By Pete Townsend
We'll be fighting in the streets.
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no
I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?
Yeah
There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
And I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no
Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
Major American cities and America itself have become horrific caracitures of former greatness because for generations now we “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.
Thieves, rapists and murderers are immediately back on the street to prey on their victims over and over because of Soros-elected District Attorneys like Bragg in New York, Willis in Atlanta and Gascon in Los Angeles.
Americans exercising their rights of free speech, peaceful protest and religious practice are now enemies of the state.
Pedophilia is openly being committed in schools with exposing children to pornograghic material and teaching children how to commit sex acts!
Young people have to be 18 to vote and 21 to buy cigarettes or alcohol, yet at 14 or less are permitted and encouraged to get abortions or insanely change their sex without their parents knowledge. If the parent interferes, the child is taken away and the parent arrested!
Will the time ever come when we “won't get fooled again” before it is too late?
Drugs and alcohol getting the better of you
Unfortunately, two members of The Who succumbed to alcohol and drug addiction. Strange that achieving your dream of dreams sometimes gets the better of you.
Keith Moon:
Arguably one of the greatest rock and roll drummers of all time.
He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen.
In 2011 he was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll.
Moon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a member of the Who.
Unfortunately famous for his outrageous and destructive behavior. Paraphrasing an interview I saw with Alice Cooper on Keith Moon:
Everything crazy thing you hear about me is maybe 10% true. Marilyn Manson, maybe 10%. Keith Moon, 100% true and more!
He sadly overdosed on a drug meant to wean him off alchohol, Heminevrin, at 32.
Like more than a few people I have known, he was kind, generous and a nice person who also happened to be screwed up on drugs and alcohol! He was godfather to Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, and gave him his first drum set at age eight. He was a babysitter and good uncle to Zak, who would eventually replace Uncle Keith as drummer for The Who. Moon also would bizarrely give Ringo Christmas presents then send him the bill. One Christmas, Zak was sick and missed the big Christmas parade. Keith Moon later arranged for the whole parade to come past Zak's house! Then had the bill sent to Ringo who dutifully paid it because his name was on it! Ringo eventually demanded he stop it with the “presents”.
John Entwistle:
Entwistle’s unique bass style used pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound ("full treble, full volume"). Because he just stood and played nobody really noticed him.
From musicradar.com
A display of extraordinary but inconspicuous fluency, a player whose technique involved not just plucking his strings with his thumb and every finger of his right hand, but also tapping them and switching periodically to a plectrum, bending, hammering on and pulling off notes. He employed vibrating trills and unexpected bell-like harmonics, glissandos that travelled the length of his entire fretboard, parts that echoed or reinforced lead riffs and vocal lines, and even chords strummed across two or more strings that created an all-enveloping wash of low- frequency resonance. What’s more, he made it look easy.
He was voted as the greatest bassist ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers' poll.
in 2020, Rolling Stone ranked him number three in its own list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time.
Died in Las Vegas of a heart attack caused by a cocaine overdose at 57 right before The Who was beginning an American concert tour.
Then and now
The more recent performance of “Baba Oreily” linked to by
A great performance and still rockin'!
Thanks so much for sharing this song, relevant history, and personalities. Don’t give up on music and musicians just yet my friends. There are still an awful lot who don’t use voice enhancement and who play their instruments. I work with them daily. Eventually hope to share their work.
pills have killed so many....