The best songs written by Pete Townshend for Pete Townshend

The guitarist of Who Pete Townshend revealed the titles of his five favorite songs written by him. It happened during his guest appearance on the Late Show Stephen Colbert to promote the staging of ‘Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet’ at the New York City Center this weekend. When Colbert asked him to name his best songs, the English musician chose four of them Who and one from his solo career.

This is the response of the 80 year old
Pete Townshend
date to
Stephen Colbert
: “I think the best one is “Love, Reign o’er Me”. I think “Behind Blue Eyes”. I love “Let My Love Open The Door” (song from his third solo album in 1980, “Empty Glass”, ed.). I love “Baba O’Riley”. I think it has reached a billion and a half streams on Spotify.”

He went on to say, “And of course, the one that fits the modern world best, which is that our leaders are never good. When we people try to tell each other who to vote for, we don’t always feel comfortable. So, I wrote this song called “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” And it was, as Bob Dylan would say, ‘Don’t follow the leaders, follow the parking meters.’ It’s kind of a commentary on the fact that the people we put in power always seem to end up breaking their promises. It’s not aimed at anyone. today, but to all those who have always been there.”

Pete Townshend
he closed his speech: “Politicians promise things that they kind of know – and behind their backs they cross their fingers – they know that they can’t deliver on some of the things they promise. In ’72 I was being targeted by a bunch of hippies who were saying, ‘Pete, the revolution is coming and you have to support it.’ So I wrote ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ for a project called ‘Life House,’ who said, ‘No, I’m not going to write to be part of your revolution. I think the revolution, if it comes, won’t need me to write about it.”