I'm gonna be honest, I had to Wikipedia Tommy for some inspiration as to what the story was about and wow. It is insane. I was able to capture glimpses of the story such as how it follows Captain Tommy Walker as he returns home from war to a wife and child (but his wife is seeing someone else). He is introduced in "Overture" and Tommy Jr. is introduced in "It's a Boy." However, I did get a little lost with the other storylines, but now that I know what to listen for, I could definitely pick them out. I was very impressed with the narrative of the overall album, and I definitely see it as a rock opera. Each song has a story, and also contributes to the overall story of the album. "Sally Simpson" specifically stood out to me as an interesting story because of the intricacies. I was overall very impressed by Townshend's lyrics on this album as he traced Tommy Jr's life. The last song perfectly wraps up the album, leaving us in a trance as we reflect on the story of Tommy.
There were definitely some elements of the story that I understood, but there was quite a bit that I was really confused about. It seemed like the story of a deaf, mute, and blind child who becomes well known for being really good at pinball and then becomes some sort of prophet-like leader of a sort of cult once he miraculously gains all of his senses back. But there were some very dark narratives going on in the background. For one, there was Tommy's very strange relationship with his parents and the way that they were kind of abusive/neglectful to him. I'm also fairly sure they killed someone (possibly the father killing the mother's lover) and they were afraid Tommy was going to tell, but obviously he couldn't because he's deaf, mute, and blind. There's also an even darker story going on that's mentioned once in "Do you think it's alright?" and once again at the very end in "We're not gonna take it". It seems that Tommy was taken advantage of by his Uncle Ernie, and it is insinuated that Uncle Ernie raped Tommy, because he was incapable of telling anyone. That seemed pretty straight forward to me. However, I was very confused, and intrigued, by the reintroduction at the end, where Tommy is leading a sort of cult-like camp where everyone makes themselves blind and deaf and then "Uncle Ernie comes to guide you". It kind of made me think that the awakening of Tommy and his whole gaining of followers was really just a disgusting ploy by Uncle Ernie to assault more people. But, I really wasn't sure, and I'm very interested to see what interpretations come up in class.
Tommy was a really interesting story told in the form of a rock opera, though it was a lot darker than I had expected. Formatting the album as a rock opera was a pretty creative way to tell the story of a boy turned deaf, mute, and blind as we follow his journey through life as he goes from being an abused child to regaining his senses to becoming a failed cult leader. This rock opera does work as a narrative, as Tommy’s life starts with the beginning of the album, particularly in “It’s a Boy” and his story continues with each consecutive song until “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. I think Tommy’s line “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” was particularly significant, as it comes up quite often throughout the narrative, and sort of reveals his inner desire to be included, acknowledged, and understood, which could possibly explain why he tried to become a spiritual leader with a cult of followers after being neglected and mistreated throughout much of his early life. Additionally, this more spiritual aspect of Tommy could probably be accredited to Townshend's interest in Meher Baba, who was likely the main figure that Tommy’s character was based upon.
I’ve listened to Tommy many times before (Pinball Wizard has always been a favorite of mine), but I honestly never put THAT much thought into the story. I always know of knew it was about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who had a really weird family, got really good at pinball, and went through a mirror. But after actually reading the lyrics from start to finish, I finally grasped the full story with all the characters and smaller details. I think if I were just now listening to Tommy for the first time, I would be a little more confused. That is not to say that I wasn’t still confused at some parts. I definitely had to google some songs to fully understand them. I think Tommy definitely works as a narrative because it has a complete story arc starting with the birth of Tommy in It’s A Boy, leading all the way to his enlightenment in We’re Not Gonna Take It. However, one element that I didn’t catch onto until reading the lyrics this week was that Tommy’s stepfather killed his actual father. I think I was too innocent and naïve as a child to pick up on this, especially since the lyrics technically don’t explicitly mention this. I also didn’t catch onto Tommy becoming an almost prophet-like cult figure towards the end of the story. I guess I didn’t pay that much attention to the lyrics when I was younger. This final part of the story was where I began to see the influence of the Meher Baba on Townsend and his songwriting. Listening to the lyrics of Sally Simpson, I saw Sally as a symbol for someone like Townsend and Tommy as a symbol for the Meher Baba. The lyrics, “She knew from the start; Deep down in her heart; That she and Tommy were worlds apart” show the almost God-like emphasis put on Tommy and the Meher Baba. What is interesting to me is that the Meher Baba is not considered a cult leader, but songs like Welcome and Tommy’s Holiday Camp make it out to sound like Townsend is describing a cult.
Ok I originally wrote a thing that briefly analyzed every song, but that was too long so here’s some analysis on one song and the overall thing.
Pinball Wizard: Tommy’s whole life, he’s been seen as less than others. However, he’s a “pinball wizard.” The local lad says that Tommy “Becomes part of the machine…He plays by intuition” which I believe may be hinting at his mind’s wider abilities, even though he cannot see, hear, or speak. Also, the use of the word “disciples” at the end of the song hints at Tommy’s future cult leader status.
After some DEEP (and really confusing) research on Meher Baba’s teachings (which I’ve heard Tommy is based on), I think Tommy is a simplified representation of Meher Baba’s teaching that the soul takes a journey from a state of unconscious divinity and peaks at a state of conscious divinity. At the beginning, although Tommy cannot speak, hear, or see, he has a thinking ability beyond that of the average person: “Sickness will surely take the mind Where minds can't usually go.” He also can sense vibrations and such, and is also gifted at pinball. That is his state of unconscious divinity. After the breaking of the mirror and when his “inner block” is broken, he now is aware of his divinity, which he dictates in Sensation: “I overwhelm as I approach you… I’m a sensation.” At the end of the song, he says “I Am the Light” which calls back to what his father said in Christmas, “but how can men who've never seen Light be enlightened?” Tommy has become his own “Light,” representative of his newly discovered “divinity.” I’m not sure how the whole cult turning on him relates to this, but I think that makes sense? I may be overthinking it and just trying to make it make more sense.
I think this “rock opera” format is good for telling this story, as a large part of Tommy’s life is that he can feel vibrations (or something like that). The music throughout the album I believe kind of shows us how Tommy perceives the world, and how it changes throughout the time.
Prior to this assignment, I hadn’t listened to the lyrics of each song in Tommy closely. Like other’s have stated, the album Tommy follows a loose, linear narrative about a “deaf, dumb, and blind” boy named Tommy. Tommy’s story begins with “It’s a Boy” stating “It’s a boy Mrs. Walker, it’s a boy.” “1921” confused me because of the verse “What about the boy? He saw it all You didn't hear it, you didn't see it You won't say nothing to no one.” What didn’t be see? This introduces Tommy as blind and deaf, but didn’t go into what he didn’t see or hear. I had to Google the album to find out the Captain killed Mrs. Walker’s lover and caused Tommy to go blind and deaf from as a psychosomatic reaction. After this confusing, the songs tell a more understandable story of Tommy growing up and overcoming this blindness and deafness. Overall, I think that Pete Townshend succeeded in making this a rock opera, and the story is more or less easy to follow and own to interpretation at the same time.
It took some extra reading over to really get Tommy like others have stated, but I started getting an idea. I the recording technology has really improved since the last albums. One thing I noticed at the start was how much cleaner and melodic the vocals sounded. Usually, there's some grit to the vocals and part of that had to do with the style as well as the recording, but they seemed very different in this album. The actual feelings the album gave me were incredible. I might not have completely gotten the meaning of the album at first but I could definitely get something from the tone and instrumentals. The very odd story ended up being something that really engaged me as I learned more about it. The album really tells an entire journey.
The opener starts with the rock opera theme and it reminds me of a marching tune. It talks about the unborn child Tommy. We learn "It's a Boy." "1921" we learn the boy can't see or hear, the parents however remain hopeful that 1921 will be a good year. The album shows The Who's developments in the studio. It ties in with Meyer Baba because Tommy sees the light and is enlightened despite being blind which aligns with his teaching "God Speaks." He teaches that the journey of unconscious to conscious divinity is achieved through the imagination and does not rely on the senses. The album tells the story of an evolving soul. Their rock-opera is certainly different from previous tunes it incorporates unusual who-like sounds while sounding much smoother and cleaner in general. I wonder how this would transfer to a live performance just because it is such a story line.
In my eyes, the story of Tommy is one of flawed transformation. We see Tommy experience something that leaves him blind, deaf and mute (as well as unable to feel?) which I kind of take to be the father killing the mother's lover who is talked about in "A Quick One." Tommy then experiences more trauma at the hands of his uncle. So we see Tommy struggling due to things that were outside of his control in his youth. We then see Tommy's parents taking him to several different types of 'medical' 'professionals' to try to cure him of his ailment. Additionally, we see Tommy somewhat outcasted as the 'blind, deaf and dumb boy.' This all turns around when it is discovered that Tommy is extremely good at pinball (which seems to be a source of dark humor as it doesn't really make sense that someone who can't see or hear a pinball machine could be very good). Additionally, he has a poignant moment of intimacy with a woman towards the end of the album. The confidence he finds in his pinball skills meets up well with this intimacy that he experiences and cures him of his ailment and leads to him becoming a confident, social figure on 'Welcome'. Personally, I didn't think that the last two songs on the album really added anything and the last song in particular had some pretty bad looks including the *repeated* line, "We forsake you, Gonna r*pe you, Let's forget you better still," as well as many of its themes in general. This left me a little upset with the band as this felt to me like Tommy was trying to pass his trauma on to other people and utilized a very loose use of themes that are extremely traumatic and both emotionally and literally end people's lives. Altogether, the album to me kind of minimized trauma and made it seem kinda like people can hurt you however much they want but if you develop a skill and experience intimacy, everything will be all better. Additionally, I think that the use of blindness/deafness/etc. as a proxy for trauma is insensitive as well because it alienates both survivors of trauma as well as people who are disabled as it creates the need for survivors to have a 'visible scar' and it creates a 'reason' for disabled people to be disabled. All in all, I think paying attention to the lyrics themselves have made me like Tommy less than before I really listened to them.
I 100% agree. When I was listening to the lyrics, the whole time I was questioning why no one has called The Who out for such disrespectful words. It totally minimizes trauma and belittles disabled people. I, too, liked Tommy less than before after listening to the lyrics more.
I really enjoyed listening to Tommy. "It's a boy" and "1921", seem to desperately hopeful. Tommy Jr. is thrust into the world without being able to see or hear, among other drama. I have heard (and love) the song, "Pinball Wizard", but I never knew their was a whole album of context behind it. The "deaf, dumb, and blind" kid line makes so much more sense and just makes me appreciate that song more. I need to listen again and do more research because I don't think I full understood all the characters, but I love the journey The Who created with Tommy and all the various spiritual themes really reflect their own enlightenment as a band. -Ben
This week’s listening material was very interesting to me! Other than through this class, I had only heard the song “Pinball Wizard” from Tommy, so it was interesting to hear the different songs together to begin to piece together how they all engage with one another. Although I knew little of the story of Tommy other than that one song and what my dad had mentioned about the film before, I was able to notice similar lyrical details that were continued across multiple songs. For example, how one song mentioned a cousin and another song an uncle. Although they may not have been very related, these ideas still seem connected to me. When I initially began listening to the album I listened to it on shuffle, although once I realized thatr I was accidentally doing this I restarted it and listened to it in order, but one of the first songs I heard mentioned the “deaf dumb and blind boy” from “Amazing Journey” and that idea is carried into “Pinball Wizard” as a prominent piece of the song, so that stuck out to me. Although I am sure that I did not get much of the meaning of the album, to me it seems to be about outsiders, people who are not “normal.” It was definitely less upbeat lyrically than earlier songs by The Who, but it was still enjoyable and I hope to listen to the album again soon!
When I was listening to Tommy, it almost felt like I was listening to The Who perform the album live. Each song was so unique – with varied instruments, pace, and tone – but they all came together to create a story. I think that with this album, Townshend is trying to convey his respect for Meher Baba, a popular spiritual figure. The songs are whimsical, spiritual, and reflective. One song that really stood out to me was The Acid Queen. In it, Townshend sings that drugs can “tear your soul apart.” Coming from someone who is known for his drug use, I was pretty shocked to hear Townshend sing these lyrics. After researching it more, I learned that Baba’s teachings about drugs actually inspired Townshend to stop using drugs. It was really interesting to see the impact that Meher Baba had on Townshend, as well as the way that the album functions as a means for Townshend to show his appreciation for Meher Baba.
I found "Tommy" to be an interesting album and story, although rather dark; I went through each song's lyrics, reading the story like a book as I listened to the songs, and I think that strategy helped me better follow the story. As it takes us through the story of a deaf, mute and blind boy's traumas and spiritual development as he grows up around some of his family members' twisted violence. It's a fascinating, quite striking story for the Who; it's certainly memorable in its dark humor of Tommy's being a "Pinball Wizard", seemingly both a joke and perhaps a further marker of Tommy's spiritual power and ability, and its violent imageries such as when Sally Simpson is thrown to the ground and bleeding after trying to declare her love. Townshend's influences by the Meher Baba are clear; Tommy seems to serve as a version of the spiritual leader; like the Meher Baba, Tommy doesn't speak, and, despite his added blindness and deafness, he seems to be said to understand something beyond those physical senses that makes him powerful. I found the last song, "We're Not Gonna Take It" strange, because Tommy seems to speak suddenly, despite telling his followers they can't speak "either," and also he tells his followers he'll "forsake" them and even violently assault them, which seems to be an sudden turn into Tommy's own experiences with assault being unnecessarily projected onto his followers. My favorite song was "I'm Free;" I enjoyed it's sound and small, upbeat respite, although I did also like "Sally Simpson" because I found it's imagery most interesting; it was a very creative way to show Tommy's followers' striking devotion and feeling for him. -Constanza Montemayor
After going through the album and reading through some of the different lyrics in Tommy, I realized how dark but also kind of how revolutionary Tommy was. So most of the research mentioned that Tommy was a narrative dedicated to a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" but I also read that even The Who wasn't exactly sure as to what Tommy was about. They only aimed for making a story/rock opera. Either way, so it starts off with Tommy's birth in "It's A Boy." Later on in his life in "1921," Tommy's biological father The Captain returns after being MIA for so long and kills Tommy's mother's lover, and this is explained through the whole, "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it You never heard it not a word of it. You won't say nothing to no one. Never tell a soul, what you know is the truth." I think quite lyrics like this directly kind of tell the narrative of Tommy, it's all pretty literal storytelling. At this point in the narrative, it's back to what I said about being dark. The song just hits a point of terror almost, where Tommy becomes traumatized and has his psychosomatic reaction towards the murder. The song becomes more depressing as we follow through Tommy's life, where we listen about his experiences with suffering from abuse and drug use, later following with Tommy's spiritual awakening and revival of his senses when his mom smashes a mirror ("Smash the Mirror.")
I think as far as technicalities go, the lyrics of Tommy do a pretty effective job at explaining the Tommy narrative. If you read it like a story, it's gruesome, but listening to Tommy within the album added an extra level of depth within the Tommy story that somehow makes Tommy's narrative more bearable to take in.
The song that stuck with me in my memory from last weeks listening and conversation was The Acid Queen. My first thoughts while reading the lyrics to the song and listening along was "oh good this woman is going to save him!". I loved the idea of this strong female gypsy character that would help guide Tommy to the light through sex, drugs, and magic... but alas! I found it so interesting that she was just another trap along the way that wrongfully proclaimed to "put him right" when all she was trying to do was make money. The lyric "Pay me before I start, I'm the gypsy and I'm guaranteed" repeats throughout the song and reminded me of those Physics all along Haight Street in San Francisco and Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Maybe some of them are real clairvoyants, but I'm almost certain most of them are tourists traps.
The other aspect of The Acid Queen that I found shocking and interesting was its spiritual and political message about LSD. Im sure the majority of The Who fans back in the 60s were using psychedelics and I wonder how this seemingly negative portrayal of acid effected them. So many at this time (and today) believe that there is a spiritual benefit of tripping or hallucinating however Pete Townshend and the other followers of the Meher Baba believed the opposite. I wonder if the Meher Baba approved of their use of uppers though...
I'm gonna be honest, I had to Wikipedia Tommy for some inspiration as to what the story was about and wow. It is insane. I was able to capture glimpses of the story such as how it follows Captain Tommy Walker as he returns home from war to a wife and child (but his wife is seeing someone else). He is introduced in "Overture" and Tommy Jr. is introduced in "It's a Boy." However, I did get a little lost with the other storylines, but now that I know what to listen for, I could definitely pick them out. I was very impressed with the narrative of the overall album, and I definitely see it as a rock opera. Each song has a story, and also contributes to the overall story of the album. "Sally Simpson" specifically stood out to me as an interesting story because of the intricacies. I was overall very impressed by Townshend's lyrics on this album as he traced Tommy Jr's life. The last song perfectly wraps up the album, leaving us in a trance as we reflect on the story of Tommy.
ReplyDeleteThere were definitely some elements of the story that I understood, but there was quite a bit that I was really confused about. It seemed like the story of a deaf, mute, and blind child who becomes well known for being really good at pinball and then becomes some sort of prophet-like leader of a sort of cult once he miraculously gains all of his senses back. But there were some very dark narratives going on in the background. For one, there was Tommy's very strange relationship with his parents and the way that they were kind of abusive/neglectful to him. I'm also fairly sure they killed someone (possibly the father killing the mother's lover) and they were afraid Tommy was going to tell, but obviously he couldn't because he's deaf, mute, and blind. There's also an even darker story going on that's mentioned once in "Do you think it's alright?" and once again at the very end in "We're not gonna take it". It seems that Tommy was taken advantage of by his Uncle Ernie, and it is insinuated that Uncle Ernie raped Tommy, because he was incapable of telling anyone. That seemed pretty straight forward to me. However, I was very confused, and intrigued, by the reintroduction at the end, where Tommy is leading a sort of cult-like camp where everyone makes themselves blind and deaf and then "Uncle Ernie comes to guide you". It kind of made me think that the awakening of Tommy and his whole gaining of followers was really just a disgusting ploy by Uncle Ernie to assault more people. But, I really wasn't sure, and I'm very interested to see what interpretations come up in class.
ReplyDelete^ Preston Patam
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTommy was a really interesting story told in the form of a rock opera, though it was a lot darker than I had expected. Formatting the album as a rock opera was a pretty creative way to tell the story of a boy turned deaf, mute, and blind as we follow his journey through life as he goes from being an abused child to regaining his senses to becoming a failed cult leader. This rock opera does work as a narrative, as Tommy’s life starts with the beginning of the album, particularly in “It’s a Boy” and his story continues with each consecutive song until “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. I think Tommy’s line “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” was particularly significant, as it comes up quite often throughout the narrative, and sort of reveals his inner desire to be included, acknowledged, and understood, which could possibly explain why he tried to become a spiritual leader with a cult of followers after being neglected and mistreated throughout much of his early life. Additionally, this more spiritual aspect of Tommy could probably be accredited to Townshend's interest in Meher Baba, who was likely the main figure that Tommy’s character was based upon.
ReplyDeleteI’ve listened to Tommy many times before (Pinball Wizard has always been a favorite of mine), but I honestly never put THAT much thought into the story. I always know of knew it was about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who had a really weird family, got really good at pinball, and went through a mirror. But after actually reading the lyrics from start to finish, I finally grasped the full story with all the characters and smaller details. I think if I were just now listening to Tommy for the first time, I would be a little more confused. That is not to say that I wasn’t still confused at some parts. I definitely had to google some songs to fully understand them. I think Tommy definitely works as a narrative because it has a complete story arc starting with the birth of Tommy in It’s A Boy, leading all the way to his enlightenment in We’re Not Gonna Take It. However, one element that I didn’t catch onto until reading the lyrics this week was that Tommy’s stepfather killed his actual father. I think I was too innocent and naïve as a child to pick up on this, especially since the lyrics technically don’t explicitly mention this. I also didn’t catch onto Tommy becoming an almost prophet-like cult figure towards the end of the story. I guess I didn’t pay that much attention to the lyrics when I was younger. This final part of the story was where I began to see the influence of the Meher Baba on Townsend and his songwriting. Listening to the lyrics of Sally Simpson, I saw Sally as a symbol for someone like Townsend and Tommy as a symbol for the Meher Baba. The lyrics, “She knew from the start; Deep down in her heart; That she and Tommy were worlds apart” show the almost God-like emphasis put on Tommy and the Meher Baba. What is interesting to me is that the Meher Baba is not considered a cult leader, but songs like Welcome and Tommy’s Holiday Camp make it out to sound like Townsend is describing a cult.
ReplyDeleteOk I originally wrote a thing that briefly analyzed every song, but that was too long so here’s some analysis on one song and the overall thing.
ReplyDeletePinball Wizard: Tommy’s whole life, he’s been seen as less than others. However, he’s a “pinball wizard.” The local lad says that Tommy “Becomes part of the machine…He plays by intuition” which I believe may be hinting at his mind’s wider abilities, even though he cannot see, hear, or speak. Also, the use of the word “disciples” at the end of the song hints at Tommy’s future cult leader status.
After some DEEP (and really confusing) research on Meher Baba’s teachings (which I’ve heard Tommy is based on), I think Tommy is a simplified representation of Meher Baba’s teaching that the soul takes a journey from a state of unconscious divinity and peaks at a state of conscious divinity. At the beginning, although Tommy cannot speak, hear, or see, he has a thinking ability beyond that of the average person: “Sickness will surely take the mind Where minds can't usually go.” He also can sense vibrations and such, and is also gifted at pinball. That is his state of unconscious divinity. After the breaking of the mirror and when his “inner block” is broken, he now is aware of his divinity, which he dictates in Sensation: “I overwhelm as I approach you… I’m a sensation.” At the end of the song, he says “I Am the Light” which calls back to what his father said in Christmas, “but how can men who've never seen Light be enlightened?” Tommy has become his own “Light,” representative of his newly discovered “divinity.” I’m not sure how the whole cult turning on him relates to this, but I think that makes sense? I may be overthinking it and just trying to make it make more sense.
I think this “rock opera” format is good for telling this story, as a large part of Tommy’s life is that he can feel vibrations (or something like that). The music throughout the album I believe kind of shows us how Tommy perceives the world, and how it changes throughout the time.
-Sara Lim
Prior to this assignment, I hadn’t listened to the lyrics of each song in Tommy closely. Like other’s have stated, the album Tommy follows a loose, linear narrative about a “deaf, dumb, and blind” boy named Tommy. Tommy’s story begins with “It’s a Boy” stating “It’s a boy Mrs. Walker, it’s a boy.” “1921” confused me because of the verse “What about the boy?
ReplyDeleteHe saw it all
You didn't hear it, you didn't see it
You won't say nothing to no one.” What didn’t be see? This introduces Tommy as blind and deaf, but didn’t go into what he didn’t see or hear. I had to Google the album to find out the Captain killed Mrs. Walker’s lover and caused Tommy to go blind and deaf from as a psychosomatic reaction. After this confusing, the songs tell a more understandable story of Tommy growing up and overcoming this blindness and deafness. Overall, I think that Pete Townshend succeeded in making this a rock opera, and the story is more or less easy to follow and own to interpretation at the same time.
It took some extra reading over to really get Tommy like others have stated, but I started getting an idea. I the recording technology has really improved since the last albums. One thing I noticed at the start was how much cleaner and melodic the vocals sounded. Usually, there's some grit to the vocals and part of that had to do with the style as well as the recording, but they seemed very different in this album. The actual feelings the album gave me were incredible. I might not have completely gotten the meaning of the album at first but I could definitely get something from the tone and instrumentals. The very odd story ended up being something that really engaged me as I learned more about it. The album really tells an entire journey.
ReplyDeleteThe opener starts with the rock opera theme and it reminds me of a marching tune. It talks about the unborn child Tommy. We learn "It's a Boy." "1921" we learn the boy can't see or hear, the parents however remain hopeful that 1921 will be a good year. The album shows The Who's developments in the studio. It ties in with Meyer Baba because Tommy sees the light and is enlightened despite being blind which aligns with his teaching "God Speaks." He teaches that the journey of unconscious to conscious divinity is achieved through the imagination and does not rely on the senses. The album tells the story of an evolving soul. Their rock-opera is certainly different from previous tunes it incorporates unusual who-like sounds while sounding much smoother and cleaner in general. I wonder how this would transfer to a live performance just because it is such a story line.
ReplyDeleteJulia Alanis
DeleteIn my eyes, the story of Tommy is one of flawed transformation. We see Tommy experience something that leaves him blind, deaf and mute (as well as unable to feel?) which I kind of take to be the father killing the mother's lover who is talked about in "A Quick One." Tommy then experiences more trauma at the hands of his uncle. So we see Tommy struggling due to things that were outside of his control in his youth. We then see Tommy's parents taking him to several different types of 'medical' 'professionals' to try to cure him of his ailment. Additionally, we see Tommy somewhat outcasted as the 'blind, deaf and dumb boy.' This all turns around when it is discovered that Tommy is extremely good at pinball (which seems to be a source of dark humor as it doesn't really make sense that someone who can't see or hear a pinball machine could be very good). Additionally, he has a poignant moment of intimacy with a woman towards the end of the album. The confidence he finds in his pinball skills meets up well with this intimacy that he experiences and cures him of his ailment and leads to him becoming a confident, social figure on 'Welcome'. Personally, I didn't think that the last two songs on the album really added anything and the last song in particular had some pretty bad looks including the *repeated* line, "We forsake you, Gonna r*pe you, Let's forget you better still," as well as many of its themes in general. This left me a little upset with the band as this felt to me like Tommy was trying to pass his trauma on to other people and utilized a very loose use of themes that are extremely traumatic and both emotionally and literally end people's lives. Altogether, the album to me kind of minimized trauma and made it seem kinda like people can hurt you however much they want but if you develop a skill and experience intimacy, everything will be all better. Additionally, I think that the use of blindness/deafness/etc. as a proxy for trauma is insensitive as well because it alienates both survivors of trauma as well as people who are disabled as it creates the need for survivors to have a 'visible scar' and it creates a 'reason' for disabled people to be disabled.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I think paying attention to the lyrics themselves have made me like Tommy less than before I really listened to them.
- charlie
DeleteI 100% agree. When I was listening to the lyrics, the whole time I was questioning why no one has called The Who out for such disrespectful words. It totally minimizes trauma and belittles disabled people. I, too, liked Tommy less than before after listening to the lyrics more.
DeleteI really enjoyed listening to Tommy. "It's a boy" and "1921", seem to desperately hopeful. Tommy Jr. is thrust into the world without being able to see or hear, among other drama. I have heard (and love) the song, "Pinball Wizard", but I never knew their was a whole album of context behind it. The "deaf, dumb, and blind" kid line makes so much more sense and just makes me appreciate that song more. I need to listen again and do more research because I don't think I full understood all the characters, but I love the journey The Who created with Tommy and all the various spiritual themes really reflect their own enlightenment as a band.
ReplyDelete-Ben
This week’s listening material was very interesting to me! Other than through this class, I had only heard the song “Pinball Wizard” from Tommy, so it was interesting to hear the different songs together to begin to piece together how they all engage with one another. Although I knew little of the story of Tommy other than that one song and what my dad had mentioned about the film before, I was able to notice similar lyrical details that were continued across multiple songs. For example, how one song mentioned a cousin and another song an uncle. Although they may not have been very related, these ideas still seem connected to me. When I initially began listening to the album I listened to it on shuffle, although once I realized thatr I was accidentally doing this I restarted it and listened to it in order, but one of the first songs I heard mentioned the “deaf dumb and blind boy” from “Amazing Journey” and that idea is carried into “Pinball Wizard” as a prominent piece of the song, so that stuck out to me. Although I am sure that I did not get much of the meaning of the album, to me it seems to be about outsiders, people who are not “normal.” It was definitely less upbeat lyrically than earlier songs by The Who, but it was still enjoyable and I hope to listen to the album again soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
When I was listening to Tommy, it almost felt like I was listening to The Who perform the album live. Each song was so unique – with varied instruments, pace, and tone – but they all came together to create a story. I think that with this album, Townshend is trying to convey his respect for Meher Baba, a popular spiritual figure. The songs are whimsical, spiritual, and reflective. One song that really stood out to me was The Acid Queen. In it, Townshend sings that drugs can “tear your soul apart.” Coming from someone who is known for his drug use, I was pretty shocked to hear Townshend sing these lyrics. After researching it more, I learned that Baba’s teachings about drugs actually inspired Townshend to stop using drugs. It was really interesting to see the impact that Meher Baba had on Townshend, as well as the way that the album functions as a means for Townshend to show his appreciation for Meher Baba.
ReplyDelete- Kate Latham
I found "Tommy" to be an interesting album and story, although rather dark; I went through each song's lyrics, reading the story like a book as I listened to the songs, and I think that strategy helped me better follow the story. As it takes us through the story of a deaf, mute and blind boy's traumas and spiritual development as he grows up around some of his family members' twisted violence. It's a fascinating, quite striking story for the Who; it's certainly memorable in its dark humor of Tommy's being a "Pinball Wizard", seemingly both a joke and perhaps a further marker of Tommy's spiritual power and ability, and its violent imageries such as when Sally Simpson is thrown to the ground and bleeding after trying to declare her love. Townshend's influences by the Meher Baba are clear; Tommy seems to serve as a version of the spiritual leader; like the Meher Baba, Tommy doesn't speak, and, despite his added blindness and deafness, he seems to be said to understand something beyond those physical senses that makes him powerful. I found the last song, "We're Not Gonna Take It" strange, because Tommy seems to speak suddenly, despite telling his followers they can't speak "either," and also he tells his followers he'll "forsake" them and even violently assault them, which seems to be an sudden turn into Tommy's own experiences with assault being unnecessarily projected onto his followers. My favorite song was "I'm Free;" I enjoyed it's sound and small, upbeat respite, although I did also like "Sally Simpson" because I found it's imagery most interesting; it was a very creative way to show Tommy's followers' striking devotion and feeling for him.
ReplyDelete-Constanza Montemayor
After going through the album and reading through some of the different lyrics in Tommy, I realized how dark but also kind of how revolutionary Tommy was. So most of the research mentioned that Tommy was a narrative dedicated to a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" but I also read that even The Who wasn't exactly sure as to what Tommy was about. They only aimed for making a story/rock opera.
ReplyDeleteEither way, so it starts off with Tommy's birth in "It's A Boy." Later on in his life in "1921," Tommy's biological father The Captain returns after being MIA for so long and kills Tommy's mother's lover, and this is explained through the whole, "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it
You never heard it not a word of it. You won't say nothing to no one. Never tell a soul, what you know is the truth." I think quite lyrics like this directly kind of tell the narrative of Tommy, it's all pretty literal storytelling. At this point in the narrative, it's back to what I said about being dark. The song just hits a point of terror almost, where Tommy becomes traumatized and has his psychosomatic reaction towards the murder.
The song becomes more depressing as we follow through Tommy's life, where we listen about his experiences with suffering from abuse and drug use, later following with Tommy's spiritual awakening and revival of his senses when his mom smashes a mirror ("Smash the Mirror.")
I think as far as technicalities go, the lyrics of Tommy do a pretty effective job at explaining the Tommy narrative. If you read it like a story, it's gruesome, but listening to Tommy within the album added an extra level of depth within the Tommy story that somehow makes Tommy's narrative more bearable to take in.
Sorry this is so incredibly late!
ReplyDeleteThe song that stuck with me in my memory from last weeks listening and conversation was The Acid Queen. My first thoughts while reading the lyrics to the song and listening along was "oh good this woman is going to save him!". I loved the idea of this strong female gypsy character that would help guide Tommy to the light through sex, drugs, and magic... but alas! I found it so interesting that she was just another trap along the way that wrongfully proclaimed to "put him right" when all she was trying to do was make money. The lyric "Pay me before I start, I'm the gypsy and I'm guaranteed" repeats throughout the song and reminded me of those Physics all along Haight Street in San Francisco and Venice Beach in Los Angeles. Maybe some of them are real clairvoyants, but I'm almost certain most of them are tourists traps.
The other aspect of The Acid Queen that I found shocking and interesting was its spiritual and political message about LSD. Im sure the majority of The Who fans back in the 60s were using psychedelics and I wonder how this seemingly negative portrayal of acid effected them. So many at this time (and today) believe that there is a spiritual benefit of tripping or hallucinating however Pete Townshend and the other followers of the Meher Baba believed the opposite. I wonder if the Meher Baba approved of their use of uppers though...
there is a lot of ambiguity to the song but over all I liked it.
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