Behind Blue Eyes

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (January 2009)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

"Behind Blue Eyes"
Single by The Who
from the album Who's Next
B-side	"Going Mobile"
Released	1971
Format	7"
Recorded	March–May 1971 at Olympic Studios in London, England
Genre	Rock
Length	3:42
Label	Decca, MCA (U.S.) Track, Polydor (UK)
Writer(s)	Pete Townshend
Producer	The Who Glyn Johns
The Who singles chronology
"Let's See Action" (1971) "Behind Blue Eyes" (1971) "Join Together" (1972)
Who's Next track listing "Going Mobile" (7) "Behind Blue Eyes" (8) "Won't Get Fooled Again" (9)

"Behind Blue Eyes" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who for his Lifehouse project. It first appeared on The Who's 1971 Who's Next album, along with a number of other remnants from the project.^[1][2] The song is one of The Who's most well known recordings and has been covered by many artists, including Limp Bizkit in their 2003 album Results May Vary.

Overview

The song is one of the most well-known of The Who's recordings. It starts off with a solo voice singing over an arpeggiated guitar, later adds in bass guitar and ethereal harmonies, eventually breaks out into full-scale rock anthem when a second theme is introduced near the end, and wraps up by a brief reprise of the quieter first theme. Songs written in alternating sections were something of a trademark of Townshend's writing of the period, going back at least to Tommy, where it was used in "Christmas" and "Go to the Mirror!". The guitar riff at the end of the rock anthem section is also used after the bridge during the song "Won't Get Fooled Again," perhaps serving as a link between the two songs when Who's Next was intended to be a rock opera. (Some musical themes from Tommy and Quadrophenia appear in multiple places.)

The version of "Behind Blue Eyes" on the original Who's Next album was actually the second version the band recorded; the earlier version appears as a bonus track on the remastered CD release, which features Al Kooper on Hammond Organ. Pete Townshend has also recorded two solo versions, one (the original demo of the song) was featured on the Scoop album. The demo along with a newer recording of the song featuring an orchestral backing was featured in The Lifehouse Chronicles.

Lifehouse Story

Behind Blue Eyes is song from the point of view of the main villain of Lifehouse, Jumbo. The lyrics are a first-person lament from Jumbo, who is always angry and full of angst because of all the pressure and temptation that surrounds him, and the song was intended to be his “theme song” had the project been successful. (The lyrics of the rocking section near the end were actually written by Townsend as a prayer when he was a disciple of Meher Baba after being tempted by a groupie, and incorporated into the song when it was written.)

Covers

• "Behind Blue Eyes" was covered by Limp Bizkit for their album Results May Vary in 2003, but the song was released to coincide with the release of the film Gothika starring Halle Berry. Lyrics of the original song are subjected to major changes in the Limp Bizkit cover.

• "Behind Blue Eyes" was also covered by Bryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Testudo, Ian Stuart Donaldson, Jon English, Suzanne Vega, Silvertide and The Chieftains.

• Country/Western musician Unknown Hinson covered the song "Behind Blue Eyes" under the name "Behind Black Eyes," changing certain lines of the song to fit his profile.

• Rapper Noreaga also recorded a song entitled "Bad Man" (featuring Beanie Sigel) that uses a sample of the chorus of the song.

• Most recently, Dilana performed her cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" on Rockstar: Supernova.

• Neo-Nazi Oi!-Punk group Skrewdriver recorded an altered cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" in 1988.

• "Behind Blue Eyes" was covered by Sheryl Crow for the second season of the Showtime-series Californication and that version appears on the soundtrack.

• Anthony Stewart Head covered the song in character as Rupert Giles in the fourth season Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode "Where The Wild Things Are".

References