The Who - I'm A Boy

My name is Bill, and I'm a head case
They practice making up on my face
Yeah, I feel lucky if I get trousers to wear
Spend evenings taking hairpins from my hair

Thanks to Jill Davidson for suggesting this one.

The Who was just a fantastic, talented classic rock group in their day that never garnered my interest. I played a lot of their stuff on the radio because the requests were always coming through for Who stuff, but there were few Who songs that I would crank up and boogie to in the radio studio. Magic Bus, I Can't Explain, and The Kids Are Alright, are really the only Who songs that qualified for my "crank-it-up-and-rock-out-in-the-control-room act. After all, there was a window looking into the control room at every station I worked at, so if I was going to look like an idiot in a fish bowl, I'd better be doing it to music that I liked. Don't get me wrong, I didn't NOT LIKE the group, I just was not into them.

I must admit that I never listened to the lyrics of I'm A Boy until Jill brought it up. Can't tell you how many times that single was playing on my shifts, but it was one I would turn down so I could save my ears for Pink Floyd and others. Now, that Jill has turned me on to this song, I must admit that the lyrics are a hoot.

Now, with that said, who hasn't heard of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon....the original members of this English group which was formed in the early '60's.



I'm going to let Wikipedia tell you about the song.

"I'm a Boy" is a 1966 rock song written by Pete Townshend for his band The Who. The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called 'Quads' which was to be set in the future where parents can choose the gender of their children. The idea was later scrapped, but this song survived and was later released as a single.

The family in the story asked for four girls, but instead got three girls and one boy. This song is the boy's lament at the mistake. The song is often regarded as an early precursor to Townshend's epic rock operas later on in The Who's career, especially Tommy. The track was produced by Kit Lambert at IBC Studios around July 31-August 1, 1966, and released just over three weeks later on August 26, 1966 with "In the City" as the B-side. The single was successful, reaching number two on the UK singles chart. It failed to repeat that success in the USA.

The original recording (as released as a single), which featured John Entwistle's French horn arrangement prominently in the mix, is available on the album Who's Missing album. The version that has been included on most compilations since is exactly the same recording but with the French horns removed.

A different, slower version was recorded in London in the week of October 3, 1966 and was intended for an early version of A Quick One titled Jigsaw Puzzle but was later released on Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy in 1971. Another similar version was released on a bonus disc of The Ultimate Collection in 2002 and is unique to that album.

The song was performed at The Who's legendary concert at Leeds, released in album format as. On the Live at Leeds album, Pete Townshend comments on the song by saying:

“We'd like to play three selected hit singles--three easiest...and "I'm a Boy" which according to the, (crowd cheers) thank you, according to the Melody Maker was our first number one in England I think for about a half an hour (crowd laughs).”






The Lyrics:

One girl was called Jean Marie
Another little girl was Felicity
Another little girl was Sally Joy
The other was me, and I'm a boy

My name is Bill, and I'm a head case
They practice making up on my face
Yeah, I feel lucky if I get trousers to wear
Spend evenings taking hairpins from my hair

chorus:
I'm a boy, I'm a boy
But my mom won't admit it
I'm a boy, I'm a boy
But if I say I am, I get it

Put your frock on, Jean Marie
Plait your hair, Felicity
Paint your nails, little Sally Joy
Put this wig on, little boy

chorus

Wanna play cricket on the green
Ride my bike across the street
Cut myself and see my blood
Wanna come home all covered in mud

chorus

[Lyrics from Songmeanings.Net]