1921 (song)
| "1921" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by The Who | |
| from the album Tommy | |
| Released | 23 May 1969 |
| Recorded | 19 September 1968 – 7 March 1969 |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 2:49 |
| Label | Polydor |
| Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend |
| Producer(s) | Kit Lambert |
"1921" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary writer, Pete Townshend. It is featured as the third track in the band's 1969 rock opera album, Tommy.
Plot
[edit]After assuming her missing husband had died in World War I, Ms. Walker takes on a new lover. As the couple optimistically celebrates the upcoming new year of 1921, Captain Walker unexpectedly returns home. In a fit of blind rage, Captain Walker accidentally murders the lover in front of his and Ms. Walker's young son, Tommy. The two parents coerce Tommy into believing that he had seen nothing and to tell no one of what he had seen.[1]
Composition
[edit]The song is in the keys of C major and A major and begins with an arpeggio, first played on piano and then continued by the electric and acoustic guitar for the remainder of the song.[2] The opening section of "Overture" is also derived from "1921". Townshend sings the two opening verses, the first one from the perspective of the lover, who optimistically looks towards his future with Ms. Walker: ("Got a feeling '21 is gonna be a good year / Especially if you and me see it in together"), while the second verse is from the perspective of Captain Walker, who dismisses this idea: ("So you think '21 is gonna be a good year? Could be good for me and her, but you and her? No never!"). The opening ends as Captain Walker expresses his love for his wife before he ultimately murders the lover. While this information derives from the included libretto that came with the album, the song never properly details the lover's death.[3]
The bridge soon follows, with Townshend yelling from Ms. Walker's perspective: ("What about the boy? What about the boy? He saw it all!"). Immediately after, John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey join in for the chorus with Entwistle and Townshend singing as the parents while Daltrey sings as Tommy, with his vocals being both synchronized with and overlapped by the lead vocals, to represent Tommy being silenced by his parents:
You didn't hear it, you didn't see it
(I heard it, I saw it)
You never heard it, not a word of it,
(I heard it, every word of it)
You won't say nothing to no one –
(I won't say nothing to no one)
Never tell a soul what you know is the truth
(Never tell a soul what I know is the truth)[4]
The opening verse reprises as the song gets slower before eventually culminating with the lyric of "What about the boy?" before fading out.
Themes
[edit]As one of the opening tracks of the rock opera, "1921" is used as the leading cause to the events of the album, along with it creating motifs for the overall story. The traumatic event of Tommy witnessing the murder of a man, from the hands of his own father, puts his psyche into a state of complete psychosomatic isolation from the world. Tommy is left to grasp with the realities of this painful experience, which develops into Tommy's desire to build an identity for himself and to be seen,[5] especially when he becomes blind, deaf and dumb because of this murder which his parents never bring up again in order to save themselves from persecution. It can also be inferred that the "You didn't hear it" chorus is meant to parallel Tommy's "See Me, Feel Me" theme as Tommy is berated by his parents to keep the murder a secret that creates an inner imaginary world and "plunges him into an autistic state of sensory deprivation",[6] which segues into the following song, "Amazing Journey".
Film version
[edit]In the 1975 film adaptation and following musical adaptations, "1921" is renamed to "1951", in order to take place closer to the 1960s with the plethora of psychedelic elements being present in the rock opera, which also meant that the story took place in a post-World War II setting instead of one in a post-World War I setting. In the film, however, instead of Captain Walker murdering the lover, the lover, played by Oliver Reed, murders the father. While the reasoning for this is unclear, it can be assumed that this was changed to allow Reed's more psychopathic and greedy characteristics to be placed in the character of the lover instead of putting it into the more heroic and tragic character of Captain Walker.
Personnel
[edit]- Pete Townshend – lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano
- John Entwistle – backing vocals, bass guitar
- Roger Daltrey – backing vocals
- Keith Moon – drums
Bibliography
[edit]- Atkins, John (2000). The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963–1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0609-8.
- Marsh, Dave (1983). Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. Plexus. ISBN 978-0-85965-083-0.
References
[edit]- ^ Atkins 2000, pp. 121–122.
- ^ "Sheet Music for 1921 by the Who". musescore.com. June 6, 2021.
- ^ Marsh 1983, p. 332.
- ^ "1921 Lyrics". lyrics.com.
- ^ Gorshin, Mawr (2021-11-25). "Analysis of Tommy". mawrgorshin.com.
- ^ Atkins 2000, pp. 117–118.