Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who’s Pete Townshend

We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that’s all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain’t changed
‘Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
No, no!

I’ll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

There’s nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Are now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

 

Not just a rock anthem, this is perhaps the bet political song to come out of the counter culture.  Sure Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind and Springsteen’s Born in the USA are great songs but they hit you over the head so hard with their message that they turn one dimensional.  While Pete Townshend leaves no doubt about his message it has a story line that invites to think about what is going on.  Who is fighting?  Who are they fighting and why?  When asked Townshend has been a little evasive about what he was thinking when he wrote this song, perhaps he is inviting us to invest our own meaning into the lyrics.  It has always reminded me of the French Revolution, but it could just as easily be about any number of conflicts, or no one in particular.  One thing is for sure, they don’t write them like this anymore!