My Generation (song)
| My generation | |
|---|---|
| The Who | |
| publication | October 29, 1965 (GB); November 20, 1965 (USA) |
| length | 3 min 19 sec |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| Author (s) | Pete Townshend |
| Award (s) | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll; Rolling Stone: 500 Best Songs of All Time; Grammy Hall of Fame |
| album | My generation |
My Generation is the title of a hit by the British rock group The Who , which is one of their most famous songs. Text and music were by Pete Townshend . The track was released as a single in the UK on October 29, 1965 on Brunswick Records # 05944 and in the US on November 20, 1965 on Decca # 31877. The British single appeared with the piece Shout and Shimmy , a composition by James Brown , on the B-side . In the USA, the record label decided on the Townshend composition Out in the Street as the B-side. The group's debut album, released on December 3, 1965, was after the single Named my generation .
History of origin
My Generation was written by Who guitarist Pete Townshend in 1965 at the age of 20. Townshend gave Mose Allison's Young Man Blues as the main inspiration ; he even went so far as to say that the song would not have come about without Moses. In an interview for Rolling Stone Townshend described the song as an expression of the youth's search for their place in society and in 1989 he spoke on the American news program Good Morning America about the famous line “I hope I die before I get old”, For him, “old” would have meant very rich when it was created. The song was recorded by the band for the EP Ready Steady Who! In 1966 . re-recorded, but this version did not appear until 1995 in the new edition of the album A Quick One .
The lyrics of the song provide a condensed summary of the youth rebellion and in the overall impression a premonition of punk rock can be seen in this piece . Also remembered is Roger Daltrey's stuttering vocals , suggested by the group's manager Kit Lambert after two recordings to make him sound like a British youth on speed . This resulted in the BBC not playing the piece for a long time so as not to hurt the feelings of stutterers. The influence of rhythm and blues is particularly evident in the call and response . Roger Daltrey, the lead singer, sings the first sentence, and Pete Townshend and John Entwistle answer as the backing vocals:
- People try to put us d-down (Talkin '' bout my generation)
- Just because we gg-get around (Talkin '' bout my generation)
- Things they do look awful cc-cold (Talkin '' bout my generation)
- I hope I die before I get old (Talkin '' bout my generation)
The anthem of the then subculture of the Mods My Generation was created on October 13, 1965 with Shel Talmy as a music producer in the largest independent recording studios in London, the IBC Studios. The single, which was launched on October 29, 1965, embodied the stuttering of the insecurity of the young generation that is constantly being crushed by adults. The structure of the song contributes to this: a monotonously driving theme at a high tempo, a bass mixed far forward with a solo after the second verse, and finally several shifts from the beginning G5-G / F to A5-A / G immediately before the third verse, then to B and finally to C in the outro. The spectacular outro ends in electronic chaos, because for the first time in this excessive form use was made of a feedback that was per se as a disruptive effect . It was created by Townshend's Rickenbacker guitar whose amplifiers were placed too close to the microphones. The professional world was initially of the opinion that these disruptive effects would not have been recognized during the final mix; but the feedback was used deliberately. The Who were thus the model for legitimate feedback in rock music, which was now consciously used as sound design .
success
The piece reached second place in the UK singles chart , which was the best result of a Who recording ever, and number 74 in the USA. The music magazine Rolling Stone listed the piece on their list of the " 500 best songs of all time " at number 11, it is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" and was awarded a Grammy Hall in 1999 of Fame Award as an artistically and historically significant song. Despite the many airplay, especially with pirate channels , the hit did not generate any large sales figures.
Live versions of the song often got out of hand, so the performance on the album Live at Leeds lasts 14 minutes and 27 seconds. In live versions towards the end of the 1960s, parts from the rock opera Tommy were often incorporated.
occupation
- Roger Daltrey - lead vocals
- Pete Townshend - guitar and backing vocals
- John Entwistle - bass and backing vocals
- Keith Moon - drums
Cover versions
There are cover versions by Oasis , Iron Maiden , Alice Cooper , Count Five , Hilary Duff , Green Day , Böhse Onkelz , Phish , Floater , The Wahas, The Rooms , Gorky Park , Di-Rect, Generation X , Acrylic Steel and The Sweet . Patti Smith ended her concerts with the song between 1974 and 1978 and Hilary Duff used her version in Japan as a bonus track for her second album. A German version with the title It would have been so nice can be found on the band Zoff's first album .
Further use
My Generation was used as the opening credits of the 2016 anime film A Silent Voice .
swell
- ↑ a b The Who Discography ( Memento from March 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Andy Neill and Matt Kent: Anyway Anyhow Anywhere . London: Virgin Books, 2007. ISBN 978-07535-1217-3 . Page 419.
- ↑ BBC Four
- ↑ Interview on Good Morning America
- ↑ a b My Generation lyrics
- ↑ a b Songfacts My Generation
- ↑ Second Hand Songs My Generation
- ↑ Rating: A Silent Voice Review