This is my contribution to Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Chin/Ears/Eyes/Face/Mouth/Nose.
From their 1971 album, Who’s Next. The song reached #34 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1971.
From Songfacts
Pete Townshend originally wrote this about a character in his “Lifehouse” project, which was going to be a film similar to The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia. Townshend never finished “Lifehouse,” but the songs ended up on the album Who’s Next.
Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey both have blue eyes, but the song is not autobiographical. Townshend has said that he wrote it to show “How lonely it is to be powerful.”
Townshend was going to use this as the main song in the Lifehouse film for the villain, Jumbo.
Pete Townshend has explained that he never behaved like a typical rock star when he was on tour, especially when it came to groupies, which he tried to avoid. He says it was a run-in with a groupie that was the impetus for this song. Townshend, who got married in 1968, was tempted by a groupie after The Who’s June 9, 1970 concert in Denver. He says that he went back to his room alone and wrote a prayer beginning, “If my fist clenches, crack it open…” The prayer was more or less asking for help in resisting this temptation. The other words could be describing Townshend’s self-pity and how hard it is to resist.
Roger Daltrey’s dog got run over on the day he recorded his vocals for this song – it was the first dog he ever had. The Who singer recalled to AARP The Magazine that he “was desperately trying to hold it together.”
Behind Blue Eyes
No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it’s like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies
But my dreams
They aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free
No one knows what it’s like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you
No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through
But my dreams
They aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free
When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool
And if I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
And if I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat
No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
I love tihs Who song and Daltrey’s voice sounds pure. I did not know the story about his dog … how sad. I love SLS as we get to know all these back stories. Thanks for sharing tis one 🙂
Great song from my teenage years. I also love the facts you have used too. So sad about Roger’s dog I also had no idea. It shows what a professional he was 💜💜
ahhh this is a really good song – I haven’t heard it in a long time. Lots of emotion in this one, and maybe the tragic loss of his dog influenced the tone of their song.
I hate it when the dog gets run over.
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I almost did not include that because it was such a downer but it probably affected how Roger sung the song.
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I agree with that. Roger sings with so much soul in this song. Well, in many songs, but this one was so tender at the beginning.
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I love tihs Who song and Daltrey’s voice sounds pure. I did not know the story about his dog … how sad. I love SLS as we get to know all these back stories. Thanks for sharing tis one 🙂
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Ricky I love this song, but the lyrics to my favorite part aren’t in the lyrics here…. the part with his fist and crackin it open.
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I will fix it. I did not notice that part of the lyric was missing.
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OK. I just never read the lyrics before and was checking to make sure I was singing it right. You picked a great song, probably my favorite Who tune.
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It was one of the first songs that crossed my mind. The other one was Billy Idol’s Eyes Without a Face but I don’t like that song.
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and the guitar frenzy 🙂
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Great song from my teenage years. I also love the facts you have used too. So sad about Roger’s dog I also had no idea. It shows what a professional he was 💜💜
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I didn’t know this song. Wonderful!
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I love this song. Surprised it only hit 34. Enjoyed the backstory as well except for losing his dog. How sad.
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ahhh this is a really good song – I haven’t heard it in a long time. Lots of emotion in this one, and maybe the tragic loss of his dog influenced the tone of their song.
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I didn’t know about the dog…Never heard that before.
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I hadn’t either.
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