Who Are You

Who Are You was written about meeting Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols after an awful 13-hour encounter with Allan Klein who, in my personal opinion, is the awesome rock leech-godfather. In one sense the song is more about the demands of new friendship than blood-letting challenge. Roger’s aggressive reading of my nihilistic lyric redirected its function by the simple act of singing “Who the fuck are you…” when I had written “Who, who, who are you…” Steve and Paul became real ‘mates’ of mine in the English sense. We socialized a few times. Got drunk (well, I did) and I have to say to their credit, for a couple of figurehead anarchists, they seemed sincerely concerned about my decaying condition at the time. — Pete Townshend This song is based on a day in the life of Pete Townshend. It began with a very long meeting dealing with royalties for his songs: “Eleven hours in the Tin Pan, God, there’s got to be another way.” The “Tin Pan” he is referring to is “Tin Pan Alley” which is the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States. After this excruciating meeting he received a large check for royalties, left and went to a bar and got completely drunk. In that bar he encountered Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, who thought very highly of Pete for paving the way for Punk rock music. Townshend was conflicted because he feared The Who had sold out, and seeing The Sex Pistols, who were icons of rebellion, exasperated him even more. Pete left that bar and passed out in a random doorway in Soho (a part of New York). A policeman recognized him (“A policeman knew my name”) and being kind, woke him and and told him, “You can go sleep at home tonight (instead of a jail cell), if you can get up and walk away.” Pete’s response: “Who the f–k are you?” The unedited version of The Who's hit song Who Are You. Released in 1978, this song is considered to be one of the greatest songs in rock history. Who Are You", composed by Pete Townshend, is the title track on The Who's 1978 release, Who Are You, the last album released before drummer Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was released as a double-A sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album. The song became one of the band's biggest US hits, peaking at #14. The album version includes an extra verse compared to the much shorter single. Additionally, a "lost verse" mix of the song was released on the 1996 reissue of Who Are You, with a completely different second verse: "I used to check my reflection / Jumping with my cheap guitar / I must have lost my direction, cause I ended up a superstar/ One night I was in the boardroom/ Affected by the human race/ You can learn from my mistakes, but you're posing in the glass again". The song is unusual in that it contains two instances of the word "fuck" -- at 2:16 and 5:43 (at 2:14 and 4:27 in the single edit version) -- yet has been played frequently in its entirety on rock radio stations. The expletives, while not clearly enunciated and slightly obscured by Moon's drum fills, are nevertheless quite audible. This led to some controversy when ABC's unedited broadcast of The Who's Live 8 performance retained them. A promotional video was filmed on May 9, 1978 for The Kids Are Alright documentary; originally, the intent was to have The Who simply mime to the single version's backing track with Roger Daltrey adding live vocals, but the decision was made to also re-record the guitars, backing vocals, drums, and piano. Only John Entwistle's bass and the synthesizer backing remained intact from the original version. This song was first performed live at the Gaumont State Theater, Kilburn on December 15, 1977, albeit without synthesizers and only a portion of the lyrics. This can be seen in the DVD At Kilburn 1977 + Live at the Coliseum. Despite that being the first performance, this song had its roots in jams in the band's 1976 concerts, most notably at the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto on October 21, 1976, drummer Keith Moon's last North American appearance with The Who, where the band played a very early version of this. (with Pete on vocals singing "Who Are You?") The first live performance of this with synthesizers was at the Rainbow Theatre, London on May 2, 1979, Kenney Jones's first live show with The Who. Since then it has remained a staple for the band's live shows. In Pop Culture: * It is the theme to the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. * The video game Rock Band features the song as part of a 12 pack of downloadable tracks from The Who. (In this version, the expletive, "fuck" has been replaced with the less controversial "hell.") * The Blanks/Worthless Peons in the TV show Scrubs perform part of the song in the episode My Identity Crisis * Used to introduce the opponents' starting players at Toronto Raptors home games Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, one of “The Big 3” of British Invasion rock in the 1960s. Using the raw power of James Brown’s soul as a jumping point, they became inventors of the rock opera concept with the albums Tommy and Quadrophenia, and major innovators of punk aggression onstage! Maximum R&B! The band consisted of versatile singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and prolific composer Pete Townshend, reliable bassist John Entwistle, and wild drummer Keith Moon, whose fast and loud sounds influenced as many percussionists as Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham. The latter two have died, but Roger and Pete continue to play with The Who’s name.

Who Are You Lyrics The Who [Chorus 1: Pete Townshend & John Entwistle] Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? [Verse 1: Roger Daltrey] I woke up in a Soho doorway A policeman knew my name He said "You can go sleep at home tonight If you can get up and walk away" I staggered back to the underground And the breeze blew back my hair I remember throwing punches around And preaching from my chair [Chorus 2: The Who] Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Because I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) [Verse 2: Roger Daltrey] I took the tube back out of town Back to the Rolling Pin I felt a little like a dying clown With a streak of Rin Tin Tin I stretched back and I hiccupped And looked back on my busy day Eleven hours in the Tin Pan God, there's got to be another way [Chorus 3: The Who] Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Come on tell me who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, who the fuck are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) [Chorus 4: Townshend & Entwistle] Who are you? Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh [Chorus 1: The Who] Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? [Chorus 2: The Who] I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Come on tell me who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Because I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) [Verse 3: Roger Daltrey] I know there's a place you walked Where love falls from the trees My heart is like a broken cup I only feel right on my knees I spit out like a sewer hole Yet still receive your kiss How can I measure up to anyone now After such a love as this? [Outro: The Who] Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me whoa are you(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me, tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Come on, come on, who? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, who the fuck are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Oh, tell me who are you (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really wanna know Oh, I really wanna know Come on tell me, who are you, you, you, you? Who are you? Produced By Jon Astley & Glyn Johns Written By Pete Townshend Record Label Polydor Records Vocals Roger Daltrey Drums Keith Moon Bass John Entwistle Guitar Pete Townshend Keyboard Rod Argent Release Date July 14, 1978