Sic Semper Tyrannis

New Directions in Music Appreciation

It was two or three years ago when I quit a band. When I think about those sad times, it’s often accompanied, strangely, by The Who.

In tears I had already told my compatriots that I was done. There was just one more show on the books. Just had to get through that one last hurdle- one last concert, and a life of freedom and promise awaited me.

And anytime I hear The Who’s album Who’s Next I am transported to that time of my life- the rush of things winding down, friendships entering into a new phase, the hope of time and ordinary concerns, the unknown. I was discovering the album for the first time the week of the show. Snatches of a lyric here and there would pierce me as I drove around that week, succinctly and sharply defining the moment.

“No one knows what it’s like \ To feel these feelings like I do…”


“No one bites back as hard on their anger\ None of my pain and woe can show through”

A wild drum fill here or a strange synthesizer sound there would somehow speak peace to my busy mind and heart.

It’s the strangest thing in the world to say. After all, this is rock n’ roll we’re talking about here.

But in Pete Townsend’s artistry, his collected oeuvre, you have the entire set of possible emotions—anger, rage, silliness, spiritual depth, love, skepticism, sadness, loneliness, lightness…Listening to this music reminded me: just as all of these things were possible for Pete Townsend to write about, they were possible for me to feel. If Pete was able to experience all these things and exist, so could I. Everything would be ok.

As the day of the show drew closer I had to routinely skip a song every time it came on just to be able to get through the night without breaking down: “The Song is Over,” which I guarantee is not about a guy leaving a band he was in for most of his adult life. It’s about a love relationship ending, but I knew it would have been too much to take at the time.

“After the show is finished,” I said to myself. “After I’ve packed up the guitars and amps for the last time. Then I can hear this song.”

If you’ve not heard this song I recommend you listen to it somehow, if only for that aching chorus.

The Song Is Over

The song is over
It's all behind me
I should have known it
She tried to find me

Our love is over
They're all ahead now
I've got to learn it
I've got to sing out

Chorus:
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free

When I walked in through the door
Thought it was me I was looking for
She was the first song I ever sang
But it stopped as soon as it began

Our love is over
It's all behind me
They're all ahead now
Can't hope to find me

(Chorus)

This song is over
I'm left with only tears
I must remember
Even if it takes a million years

The song is over
The song is over

Excepting one note, pure and easy
Playing so free like a breath rippling by.

posted by Mike @ 7:46 AM