Baba O'Riley

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Baba O'Riley is a rock song by the British band The Who , written by guitarist Pete Townshend and released on the 1971 album Who's Next . Due to the refrain " Don't cry / don't raise your eye / it's only teenage wasteland ", the song is often incorrectly assigned the title Teenage Wasteland .

history

Baba O'Riley was originally written for The Who’s second rock opera , to be released under the name Lifehouse . The project failed; some of the pieces, including Baba O'Riley, were subsequently used for the album Who's Next . The title was released as a single in some European countries, but not in the USA and Great Britain.

The title of the 4:58 minute piece is a combination of the names Meher Baba and Terry Riley , who each served as inspiration for Townshend in their own way: Baba as a spiritual mentor, Riley as the composer of minimal music , Townshend with the work A Rainbow in Curved Air inspired to use a synthesizer loop . The recording begins with a 41 second loop that was played on a Lowrey organ and the sound was modified by a synthesizer.

After the introduction you can hear the synthesizer loop, piano , vocals, drums and bass . The guitar only comes in after the first verse with a riff . A special feature at the end of the piece is a folkloric part in which an Irish violin, played by Dave Arbus from the band East of Eden , takes center stage. This part was produced by Who drummer Keith Moon , who was friends with Dave Arbus at the time.

The synthesizer track is part of a longer synthesizer track that Townshend privately released in 1972 on the Meher Baba tribute album I Am . Further parts can be found on his solo album Psychoderelict from 1993.

The song is a regular feature of concerts and is included on various CD compilations and live DVDs.

reception

In a list by the music magazine Rolling Stone of the 500 best songs of all time , Baba O'Riley ranked 340th.

The song is the theme song for Premium Rush and the CSI: NY series .

On August 12, 2012, The Who played the song at the closing ceremony of the London Summer Olympics . The song then entered the UK's top 75 for the first time more than 40 years after its initial release.

Cover versions

There are other cover versions of the following artists:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Info on the cover of the LP Who's Next, Track Record 2408 102, 1971; see The Who - Who's Next on discogs.com