Tag: Bargain

The most aggressive love song I’ve ever heard. The song did not chart but it was on the classic album Who’s Next. There is not a weak song on the album. Bargain has some of Moon’s best drumming and a strong performance from Daltrey. Townshend has said that the song was influenced by  Meher Baba and the subject of the song is God.

Townshend’s use of the ARP synthesizer on Who’s Next was groundbreaking. He didn’t just add texture with it but the ARP became part of the structure of the songs. This was not like today’s synthesizer where you just took it out of the box. It had to be programmed and connected together…and not many people knew how to do it. He took a risk using it because of technology in general always moving ahead, Who’s Next could have sounded dated in a few years afterward but it still sounds fresh and interesting today…unlike some 1980s synth music.

Pete Townshend’s lead guitar was played on a vintage Gretsch, a gift from Joe Walsh, who had just formed Barnstorm that same year and would later join the Eagles.

From Songfacts

Pete Townshend wrote this as an ode to Meher Baba, who was his spiritual guru. Meher Baba was from India, where he worked with the poor and served as spiritual adviser to Mahatma Gandhi. He developed a worldwide following by the ’60s, and died in 1969 at age 75. Townshend believed in his message of enlightenment, which was a big influence on Who songs like “Baba O’Riley” and “See Me, Feel Me.”

The song is about losing all your material goods for spiritual enlightenment, thus being a “bargain.”

Roger Daltrey sings most of this, but Townshend sings the part that starts, “I sit looking ’round, I look at my face in the mirror…”

The first line of the song, “I’d gladly lose me to find you” is from one of the teachings of Meher Baba.

Bargain

I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I had
To find you I’d suffer anything and be glad

I’d pay any price just to get you
I’d work all my life and I will
To win you I’d stand naked, stoned and stabbed

I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop

I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man

I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

I sit looking ’round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I’m worth nothing without you
And like one and one don’t make two
One and one make one
And I’m looking for that free ride to me
I’m looking for you

I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop

I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man

I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had