{"id":1887,"date":"2018-12-13T15:52:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=1887"},"modified":"2021-03-12T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T22:04:50","slug":"arachnophonia-the-who-tommy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2018\/12\/arachnophonia-the-who-tommy\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: The Who “Tommy”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student worker Gabriela (class of 2020) and features the rock opera Tommy<\/strong>, originally released by the Who in 1969. Thanks, Gabi!<\/em><\/p>\n

The Who<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tommy<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

I grew up listening to classic rock. My father played anything from The Beatles, to Led Zeppelin, to The Eagles for me from the moment I was born, and this is something I cherish greatly. Not only did it bring us closer together, but it sparked my interest in music and shaped music taste from a young age. The Who was particularly special to my father and me, and nothing was more special than Tommy<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

I remember listening to the Tommy<\/a><\/em> CD in my dad\u2019s old Saturn Vue on the way to school. It was magical, and the first time that the classic rock sound I knew so well sounded like something completely different. Tommy<\/a><\/em> is a rock opera written by The Who\u2019s guitar player, Pete Townshend<\/a>, and performed by the entirety of the band. It tells the story of a deaf, mute and blind boy who relies on his imagination to get him through his difficult life, and even develops a sense of touch that is strong enough to make him a champion at pinball. Like a musical, Tommy\u2019s fascinating odyssey is told through music, as each song describes a different episode in his life. <\/p>\n

In some cases, the detailed nature of Townshend\u2019s songwriting makes the narrative easy enough to follow along with no visual component necessary. For example, the lyrics in the songs \u201cCousin Kevin<\/a>,” where the listener learns of Tommy\u2019s abusive relative, and \u201cGo to the Mirror!<\/a>,” where Tommy\u2019s doctor finally determines the source of his disabilities, are straightforward and descriptive. However, some of the most powerful moments on the album exist within the instrumentals, where the music creates such a strong sense of imagery and emotion that it puts the listener in Tommy\u2019s shoes without even using a lyric. The instrumental \u201cSparks<\/a>\u201d represents the \u201cAmazing Journey<\/a>\u201d described to the listener immediately before it, and takes us along for the ride that is Tommy\u2019s fascinating mind.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Who in July 1969: L-R: Guitarist Pete Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey, drummer Keith Moon (1947-1978), and bassist John Entwistle (1944 – 2002) pose around a table for a feature in Vogue magazine. (Photo by Jack Robinson\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know if I could pick a favorite song today, but I remember my first favorite was \u201cSally Simpson<\/a>,\u201d a moment in which the main plot of Tommy is interrupted to tell the story of a young girl. Even the upbeat musical tone of the song itself seems to deviate from what the listener has heard on the album thus far. Here, Townshend<\/a> further demonstrates his genius through the use of metafiction<\/a>, or a story within a story. Sally, a young girl, is one of Tommy\u2019s superfans who sneaks out of the house to watch Tommy speak, and is ultimately injured badly when she tries to get on stage to touch him. Although Sally\u2019s life directly connects with Tommy\u2019s, through her separate story, the listener gets an outsider’s perspective on how Tommy\u2019s fame is impacting everyday people. <\/p>\n

Listening to Tommy<\/a><\/em> is a musical experience unlike any other. Not only is the story itself unique and full of lessons, but Townshend\u2019s brilliant songwriting pairs so perfectly with the storytelling and singing of Roger Daltrey<\/a>. Listening to Tommy<\/a><\/em> is reading a novel you just can\u2019t seem to put down; it is watching a movie where you want to catch everything so you try not to blink. The album even inspired a movie of the same name<\/a> featuring a star-studded cast, and a subsequent Broadway musical<\/a>. How many albums do you know that fit this description?<\/p>\n

\"Tommy

Poster for the 1975 movie version of Tommy (l) and for the 1993 Broadway production (r)<\/p><\/div>\n

Most kids probably can\u2019t sing along to \u201cThe Acid Queen<\/a>,\u201d (maybe for a good reason) but I\u2019m thankful that I knew the words, even if I didn\u2019t understand what it meant. I didn\u2019t have to understand it to know it was something special. Thanks dad, for putting Tommy on in the car and eventually taking me to watch Roger Daltrey<\/a> himself perform the album live in its entirety. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61217,15223,15236],"tags":[61217,162528,92893,92894,92891,15334,37972,61343,92896,92892,37978,35898,92890,92895],"class_list":["post-1887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arachnophonia","category-collection","category-guest-post","tag-arachnophonia","tag-gabriela","tag-john-entwistle","tag-keith-moon","tag-pete-townshend","tag-popular-music","tag-rock","tag-rock-music","tag-rock-opera","tag-roger-daltrey","tag-student-workers","tag-students","tag-the-who","tag-tommy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgMV3E-ur","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2994,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions\/2994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}