I just can’t get enough of this band. Not counting the Beatles…this is the band I would take to a deserted island and listen to. Not only in the studio but especially live. In their concert prime, between 69-76, they were untouchable in pure rock.
This song is on their Tommy album. I just listened to the album again and I have only one complaint. The production is thin and they don’t sound like The WHO. I have the studio and live version at the bottom. When they took this album on the road it really blossomed and turned into a Who mini opera. Their next album Live At Leeds and Who’s Next made them, along with Led Zeppelin, two of the biggest bands of the 70s.
Tommy is about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. He is not really deaf, dumb, or blind but he dissociates himself from society and those around him. No one can break through his shell.
This song is about him seeing a doctor. The doctor confirms that there is nothing physically wrong with Tommy and his condition is caused by mental blocks from trauma as a kid. The doctor says Tommy will come out naturally. He is encouraged to go to the mirror where they know he is getting some kind of stimulation. In the mirror Tommy sings to his enlightened self “listening to you”, furthering his spiritual journey.
It’s a song that you will hear the familiar refrains running through this concept album. The “See Me, Feel Me” and “Listening to you, I get the music” parts.
Go To The Mirror
He seems to be completely unreceptive
The tests I gave him show no sense at all His eyes react to light the dials detect it He hears but cannot answer to your callSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal meThere is no chance no untried operation
All hope lies with him and none with me Imagine though the shock from isolation When he suddenly can hear and speak and seeSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal meHis eyes can see
His ears can hear his lips speak All the time the needles flick and rock No machine can give the kind of stimulation Needed to remove his inner blockGo to the mirror boy!
Go to the mirror boy!I often wonder what he is feeling
Has he ever heard a word I’ve said? Look at him in the mirror dreaming What is happening in his head?Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat Following you, I climb the mountain I get excitement at your feet!Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory From you, I get opinions From you, I get the storyWhat is happening in his head
Ooooh I wish I knew, I wish I knew
The Who are one of my all-time favourite bands too. Their ‘Who’s Next’ album is my fav, closely followed by ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia’. I wish I’d seen them ‘live’ with the original line up.
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As much of a Beatles fan as I am…the original lineup of the Who draws me just as strong. Yea I wish I could have seen them with Moon. I did see them with Entwistle.
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Who’s Next is an all time classic album, every song could be a hit (most of them were), but musically for me, Quadrophenia is the greatest musically. I would have loved to see them live too, especially with Keith Moon on drums.
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You captured exactly how I feel about “Tommy”, Max – many great songs on this album, but it doesn’t quite feel like it was completely finished. On the other hand, the “thin production” does give it a certain charm.
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I always thought their live rendition of it was the one I like best.
When I listen to this and the next studio album Who’s Next…there is no comparison in production.
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Agree 100%!
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You know I never knew that was the the name of this song!
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Realizing the opera’s narrative was difficult to understand, Townshend explained a synopsis of the story, before the Who played Tommy all the way through at full stage volume. I think I read that Tommy was looking in the mirror when he saw him mom kill his dad.
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At one time I really got it…and then it left. The confusing one with Pete is the Lifehouse Project…that one is really confusing…the one where Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again came from.
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I thought I read that the Lifehouse Project as abandoned.
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It was at the time but he brought it back last year for something…
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Confessing I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to The Who. I have one album. Know the radio hits. Shameful I know. I had picked up several Townshend solo albums which I really enjoyed.
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Something about them drew me in like The Beatles…more than the Stones or Zeppelin…I think it’s because they evolved more and tried risky things.
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Full marks for creativity that is for sure.
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Wore out Tommy. One of those things that get in your head was Nicholson doing this in the film. I was right in my Who obsession when I was listening to this.
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The album translated so well live….I love hearing them do this live…nothing against the album because I love it.
I need to watch the movie again…Reed, Nicholson, and yea…Ann Margret…she had to be a surprise actress in this movie.
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The live version is great but that was because they were in the wheelhouse at that time.
Reed/Moon = shit show. A little Jack for flavoring.
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I agree with your last line…putting them together was dangerous. I always like Jack…I also like when he goes over the top. Even small parts like Easy Rider he was great at.
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He should have cut an album
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I remember buying the album, and how the concept blew me away, and still does. Like CB, I darn near wore the vinyl out, but it’s still playable. Saw them live back in their destructive days and was aghast at Townsend destroying his Super Beatle amp and what looked to be a Rickenbacker guitar. The entire ending made no sense to anyone that was a musician. Now they use little tiny amps that weigh about ten pounds and could be kicked 50 feet with a swift boot.
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Oh how I would have loved to see them in those years with Moon Phil…Almost…very close to me wanting to see The Beatles.
From what I read….the roadies put most of the stuff back together because they ran in the Red because of it….and Moon’s drums.
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What a thankless task for a roadie – put the Rickenbacker back together yet again. Then try tuning it!?
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Especially a Rick…not the most sturdy guitars to begin with…a Fender you can use as a bat and it still works…I’ve seen Peavy amps fall off of trucks and still work…but Ricks and Marshalls…NO
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Looking back at some old film, they didn’t tear it up as bad as it looked. Some new speaker cloth and a cheap guitar that looked similar to a Rick. But it sure looked like mayhem from the audience.
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I really liked the Who in the 60s but by the time the 70s were ending I had lost them or they had lost me. But this song and the album were getting near the crest of the wave, at least for for me.
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When Keith died…they shouldn’t have went on probably…but yea they really changed in the mid seventies.
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Excellent, Max. The Who is one of those bands I need to take some time with to fully appreciate their musical genius and brilliant, incisive lyrics. Tommy is every one who has been traumatized, and they speak for him.
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It had something to do with Townshend getting molested as a kid…so it is dark.
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Max, I saw the movie, Tommy, and had my heart grieving for Tommy, and hatred spewing towards those who didn’t protect him and to the perpetrator. I did not know it was based on Townshend’s childhood trauma, which makes it twice as poignant 😦 He turned the dark to light with his music, which is what creative and performing arts are so good at doing.
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Oh yea….there is a nasty song called Fiddle About that Pete told Entwistle to write because he just couldn’t because of the trauma…it’s so nasty but Pete was happy with it because it was just what he wanted. I will have to check Lisa but I think it was Pete’s grandfather if I remember right…or an uncle.
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😦
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Great band! Keith Moon was a beast!
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Man, I have not heard this one in decades. lol… Live at Shea 82 is still on solid rotation in my world so I will have to dig back at some point. lol
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lol…it is worth looking
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Any song from that great rock opera be considered in the context of the entire album. Take that record and “Who’s Next” into heaven with me.
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