| "My Generation" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Swedish release | ||||
| Single bythe Who | ||||
| from the albumMy Generation | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 13 October 1965[1][2] | |||
| Studio | IBC, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:18 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
| Producer(s) | Shel Talmy | |||
| The Who singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"My Generation" is a song by the English rock bandthe Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriterPete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 byRolling Stone on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004 and 2010, re-ranked number 232 in the 2021 edition. It became part ofThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and is inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. It is considered one of the band'ssignature songs.[7]
"My Generation" was released as a single on 29 October 1965, reaching No. 2 in the United Kingdom (The Who's highest-charting single in their home country along with 1966's "I'm a Boy") and No. 74 in the United States. The song also appeared on The Who's 1965 debut album,My Generation (The Who Sings My Generation in the United States), and in greatly extended form on their live albumLive at Leeds (1970).
Townshend reportedly wrote the song on a train and is said to have been inspired by theQueen Mother, who is alleged to have had Townshend's 1935Packardhearse towed off a street inBelgravia because she was offended by the sight of it during her daily drive through the neighbourhood.[8] Townshend has also creditedMose Allison's "Young Man Blues" as the inspiration for the song, saying "Without Mose I wouldn't have written 'My Generation'."[9] Townshend toldRolling Stone in 1985 that "'My Generation' was very much about trying to find a place in society."[10]
On a later interview forGood Morning America, in 1989, the band was discussing the upcoming 1989 tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary ofTommy, and Townshend talked about the famous line "I hope I die before I get old." He said that, for him, when he wrote the lyrics, "old" meant "very rich".
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The song's lyrics comprise a distilled statement of youthful rebellion. The's song's melody and composition is considered a forebear topunk rock. One of the most quoted—and patently rewritten—lines in rock history is "I hope I die before I get old," famously sneered by lead singerRoger Daltrey.
Like much of The Who's earlierMod output, the song showcases influences of Americanrhythm and blues, most explicitly in thecall and response form of the verses. Daltrey would sing a line, and the backing vocalists,Pete Townshend (low harmony) andJohn Entwistle (high harmony), would respond with the refrain "Talkin' 'bout my generation":
People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
The vocal melody of "My Generation" is an example of theshout-and-fallmodal frame. This call and response is mirrored in the instrumental break with solo emphasis passing from Townshend's guitar to Entwistle's bass and back again several times.
Another salient aspect of "My Generation" is Daltrey's delivery: an angry and frustratedstutter. Various stories exist as to the reason for this distinct delivery. One is that the song began as a slowtalking blues number without the stutter (in the 1970s it was sometimes performed as such, but with the stutter, as "My Generation Blues"), but after being inspired byJohn Lee Hooker's "Stuttering Blues", Townshend reworked the song into its present form. Another reason is that it was suggested to Daltrey that he stutter[11] to sound like a British mod onspeed (amphetamines). It is also proposed, albeit less frequently, that the stutter was introduced to give the group a framework for implying an expletive in the lyrics: "Why don't you all fff ... fade away!" However, producerShel Talmy insisted it was simply "one of those happy accidents" that he thought they should keep. Roger Daltrey has also commented that he had not rehearsed the song prior to the recording, was nervous, and he was unable to hear his own voice through the monitors. The stutter came about as he tried to fit the lyrics to the music, and Talmy decided it worked well enough to keep.[12] The BBC initially refused to play "My Generation" because it did not want to offend people who stutter, but it reversed its decision after the song became more popular.[13]
The instrumental elements of the song are fast and aggressive. Significantly, "My Generation" also featured one of the first bass solos in rock history.[14] This was played by Entwistle on hisFender Jazz Bass,[15] rather than theDanelectro bass he wanted to use; after buying three Danelectros with rare thin strings that kept breaking easily (and were not available separately), a frustrated Entwistle used his Fender strung with nylon tapewound strings and was forced to simplify the solo. The song'scoda features drumming fromKeith Moon, as well, whereupon the song breaks down in spurts of guitar feedback from Townshend'sRickenbacker, rather than fading out or ending cleanly on thetonic. There are two guitar parts. The basic instrumental track (as reflected on the instrumental version on the My Generation Deluxe edition) followed by Townshend's overdubs including the furious feedback on the coda. Similarly toThe Kinks's "You Really Got Me" (also produced by Shel Talmy), the songmodulates from its opening key of G up to C via the keys of A and B♭. Townshend's guitars were tuned down a whole step for the recording.
For the band the song was the basis for an extended medley or improvisation, going on as long as fifteen minutes, as evinced by the version appearing onLive at Leeds. Live recordings from 1969 to 1970 include snippets of music fromTommy as well as parts of what would become "Naked Eye".
Townshend's demo version of the song (together with a demo of "Pinball Wizard") appeared on aflexi disc included in the original edition of the bookThe Who: Maximum R&B by Richard Barnes.[16]
The Who re-recorded the song for theReady Steady Who EP in 1966; ultimately it was not included, and remained unissued until the 1995 remaster ofA Quick One. The main difference between this version and the original is that it is heavily abridged and instead of the hail offeedback which closes the original, the band play a chaotic rendition ofEdward Elgar's "Land of Hope and Glory". In the album's liner notes the song is thus credited to both Pete Townshend and Elgar.
Personnel per Pete Townshend.[17]
In 2012,Paste ranked the song number six on their list of the 20 greatest The Who songs,[18] and in 2022,Rolling Stone ranked the song number three on their list of the 50 greatest The Who songs.[19]Rolling Stone named the song the eleventh greatest song on its500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2004 and 2011,[20] re-ranked to number 232 in the 2021 edition. In 2009,VH1 named it the thirty-seventh Greatest Hard Rock Song.[4] It is also part ofThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll[21] and is inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value.[12]
The song has been said byNME to have "encapsulated the angst of being a teenager", and has been characterized as a "nod to theMod counterculture".[22]NME journalist Larry Bartleet in 2015 rated the Who's recording ten points out of ten.[23]Cash Box described it as a "rollicking,blues-drenched handclapper which sez that today's kids have more rights than their elders think."[24]Record World said that "The young generation will find that this generates good times."[25]
The song was released as a single on 29 October 1965, reaching No. 2 in the UK, The Who's highest-charting single in their home country[26] and No. 74 in America.[27]
| Chart (1965–1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] | 2 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[29] | 9 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[30] | 3 |
| Germany (GfK)[31] | 6 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[32] | 7 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[33] | 5 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[34] | 7 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[35] | 2 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[27] | 74 |
| USCash Box Top 100[36] | 99 |
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] | 88 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[37] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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