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There are certain songs that define the term “rock and roll anthem,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who is certainly one of them. Released as a single in the summer of 1971, the song went on to become a worldwide hit, and a long-running staple of the band’s live performances. The monumental keyboard intro, thunderous guitar, throbbing bass, titanic drums and the fiery vocals combine to create a powerful sound that is unmistakably the hallmark of The Who.
Written by Pete Townshend, the song was originally intended to be part of Lifehouse, a multimedia-based, science-fiction-themed rock opera. Lifehouse was ultimately shelved, but several songs, including “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” were featured on the band’s classic album Who’s Next.
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” was first recorded in New York at the Record Plant, and this initial version of the song featured Leslie West on guitar. The band wasn’t fully satisfied with the result, and they made another attempt to record the tune in England at the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, this time with Glyn Johns behind the boards. This version of the song ended up utilizing the keyboard synthesizer track from Townshend’s original demo, which was carefully synchronized to Keith Moon’s drums. Johns went on to produce all of Who’s Next and worked on several subsequent releases by the band, including Quadrophenia and The Who By Numbers.
Who’s Next is widely regarded as one of the band’s greatest achievements, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is the perfect climax to this amazing record, bringing the album to a titanic conclusion with eight and a half minutes of high-powered rock and soul-baring fury.
The song is often interpreted as a call to revolution, but it’s a cautionary one. It was inspired, in part, by an incident during The Who’s performance at Woodstock, when activist Abbie Hoffman commandeered the microphone to pontificate, before being removed from the stage by Townshend. At the time, Townshend had become disillusioned with the concept of a revolution that could change the world for the better. He felt that any new regime would end up just as corrupt as the one they’d replaced, hence lyrics such as “And the world looks just the same…And history ain’t changed” and the climactic “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
“Won’t Get Fooled Again” is one of the greatest songs in The Who’s impressive catalog of rock and roll masterpieces, and for many years, it was performed as the climax to the band’s live sets. It’s been featured in a number of TV shows, movies, and commercials, most notably as the theme for CSI: Miami.
The song has been covered by Labelle, Van Halen, Hayseed Dixie, and Richie Havens. In 2019, Townshend and Daltrey made a memorable appearance on The Tonight Show, performing the song on classroom instruments, along with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is one of those tracks where everything about it (insert Daltrey-esque wail here) screams epic.
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This post was previously published on CultureSonar.
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Photo credit: Leo Reynolds
