Won't Get Fooled Again : Nathan

Won't get fooled again

« Won't get fooled again » is a song from The Who, written by Pete Townshend, in 1971, in the album Who's Next.

Subject of the song :

This song is about a revolution against an undemocratic government, but at the end, nothing has truly changed. There is a disillusioned and pessimistic vision of a revolution. The principal result of a revolution is that people are going to get hurt.

Because of this, the song was designated « most conservative song in the rock history », by the political journalist John Miller in May 2005 in National Revue, in a humorous ranking.

Music signification :

Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics of the song, and the guitar player. Roger Daltrey was the singer, and Keith Moon was the drummer and John Entwistle, the bass player.

At the start and the end of the song, we hear an organ, which represents the uprising of the people against the government. It was one of the first time a synthesizer was used in the rythm track.

Townshend had a project, named Lifehouse. It was a rock opera of sci-fi. It was about a world, where people are slaves, but they are saved by a rock concert. This story was developped later in the others albums of the Who Who Are You and Lifehouse Chronicles.

What message(s) ?:

People thought that it was a kind of anthem, even if it was a « cautionary piece », according to Pete Townshend, in an interview for Rolling Stones Magazine.

He said that it was « a prayer ». There is a message to the politicians, which is that they must not use the life of the peoples. It is destined to the « supposedly new breed of politicians who came around in the early 70's », according to an interview of Pete Townshend in a « My Generation » radio special in 1985.

But the song does not take part for a political party.