SONG OF THE DAY

“You Are Forgiven” from the medley “A Quick One, While He’s Away” by The Who (A Quick One, Decca Records, 1966). Written by Pete Townshend.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– “A Quick One, While He’s Away” is a 1966 medley written by Pete Townshend and recorded by The Who for their album A Quick One. The song also appears on the albums BBC Sessions, Live at Leeds, Live at The Monterey Pop Festival, and Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live.

– Another version of this song is available on the DVD, At Kilburn 1977 + Live at the Coliseum, with Townshend’s long explanation of the song and constant humourous comments by Keith Moon. However, because of problems with the cameras, part of the performance is lost, and was replaced by stylised footage.

– In the performance on their Live at Leeds album Townshend calls the 9 minute “epic” track a “mini-opera” and introduces it as “Tommy’s parent”.

– This song tells the story of an unnamed girl who is left stranded by her lover “for nigh on a year.” Her friends inform her that they “have a remedy”; the remedy comes in the form of Ivor the Engine Driver. When the lover returns, the girl confesses her infidelity, and she is ultimately forgiven.

– The song has six distinct sections. 1) The brief harmonized a cappella intro is titled “Her Man’s Gone”. 2) The “Crying Town” section is sung by Roger Daltrey in an atypical low register. 3) Daltrey also sings “We Have a Remedy” in his more usual voice. 4) John Entwistle plays “Ivor the Engine Driver” in that section. 5) Then comes “Soon Be Home”, another harmonized section. 6) Finally, “You Are Forgiven” is sung by Pete Townshend — his only lead vocal on the album (except, on most versions of the album, a small part of “Heat Wave”).

– Curiously, when the song was performed live, instead of “girl”, Townshend and Daltrey would make a point to sing “Girl Guide”.

– A video performance was made for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, and can be seen on that video and on the documentary film The Kids Are Alright. It also appears on both films’ soundtrack albums.

– The section where the band repeats the word “cello” was done as a joke. The band wanted a string section to play in the song but Kit Lambert said that they couldn’t afford it, so they just repeated the word where the cello was supposed to play.

– The song was used in the soundtrack of the movie Rushmore.

– My Morning Jacket performed a cover of the song at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music Festival and on several European dates during their stint as an opening act for Pearl Jam in the same year, when the latter’s frontman Eddie Vedder would join them on stage. One such occasion (9/19/06, PalaIsozaki, Torino) is documented as a bonus track on the DVD version of the PJ concert filmImmagine in Cornice.

– Green Day recently recorded a cover that was included as a bonus track on deluxe editions of their recent album 21st Century Breakdown. They have also performed all six sections of the song at sound checks. The band performed the song in its entirety at their July 28, 2009 concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

MY TAKE

I learned of this song from the soundtrack to Rushmore, which I watched today. I received a copy of this soundtrack-and-score from my cousin Matt in the summer of 2003 before I’d ever seen the movie. The soundtrack became one of my all-time, favorite, top 10, desert-island albums, and made me forever a fan of Mark Mothersbaugh, The Kinks, The Faces, John Lennon and The Who. Yes, I’m serious: this one little soundtrack did THAT MUCH. If I only had room to take 10 songs to take on a desert island [small island, no room for even an iPod], I’d pick selections from this soundtrack. Seriously. You’ll find the track list below, and you’ll find my desert island Top 10 List of Songs below that.

The “You Are Forgiven” section of this medley really rouses me up. I want it played at my funeral, and, to be honest, I don’t really care what else happens just so long as this song is a major part of the festivities of my demise. I want everyone to visualize me sailing up to heaven, faults and mistakes and flaws and errors and moments and all. I want that to be the truth for everyone. What I’m tyring to say is that this song is my religion. I believe in what it says and abide by its logic. It’s that serious to me. Here are the lyrics, so that maybe you’ll get what I’m laying down a little better:

LYRICS

TRACK LIST FOR RUSHMORE

1. “Hardest Geometry Problem in the World” – Mark Mothersbaugh
2. “Making Time” – The Creation
3. “Concrete and Clay” – Unit 4 + 2
4. “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” – The Kinks
5. “Sharp Little Guy” – Mark Mothersbaugh
6. “The Lad With the Silver Button” – Mark Mothersbaugh
7. “A Summer Song” – Chad & Jeremy
8. “Edward Appleby (In Memoriam)” – Mark Mothersbaugh
9. “Here Comes My Baby” – Cat Stevens
10. “A Quick One While He’s Away” – The Who
11. “Snowflake Music” (from Bottle Rocket) – Mark Mothersbaugh
12. “Piranhas Are a Very Tricky Species” – Mark Mothersbaugh
13. “Blinuet” – Zoot Sims
14. “Friends Like You, Who Needs Friends” – Mark Mothersbaugh
15. “Rue St. Vincent” – Yves Montand
16. “Kite Flying Society” – Mark Mothersbaugh
17. “The Wind” – Cat Stevens
18. “Oh Yoko!” – John Lennon
19. ““Ooh La La”” – Faces
20. “Margaret Yang’s Theme” – Mark Mothersbaugh

The following songs appeared in the film but were not included on the soundtrack:

1. “Take Ten” – Paul Desmond
2. “Jersey Thursday” – Donovan
3. “I Am Waiting” – The Rolling Stones
4. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” – The Vince Guaraldi Trio
5. “Manoir de Mes Rêves” – Django Reinhardt

MY TOP 10 DESERT ISLAND SONGS

1. “Oh Yoko” by John Lennon [because it would keep me upbeat and in love and wanting to wake up each morning]
2. “I Am Waiting” by The Rolling Stones [because, let’s be honest, that is probably my reality on a desert island…”Waiting for someone to come out of somewhere”…perfect, right?]
3. “You Are Forgiven” by The Who [because it would keep me sane to know that something else was next, and that I wasn’t being punished by being put on this desert island. I mean, really, you have to imagine that after a few days of any person’s LOST lifestyle, the question of “why?” grows louder and louder. I ould need some music to calm that down and ease my philosophical/logical little mind from freaking out on unanswerables.]
4. “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” by The Kinks [because I’d probably be worrying about my lovey back on the mainland, if he wasn’t with me on the island, that is.]
5. “Ooh La La” by The Faces [Spirit-lifting songs are much needed on the island, especially an island too small for an iPod or books. I’d also dance to this song, to get some healthy exercise.]
6. “Concrete + Clay” by Unit 4+2 [Another song to keep me dancing and healthy, but this one would also make me laugh out of the sheer irony of the thought of concrete….I mean, come on! I’m on a desert-island!! That’s funny!]
7. “A Summer Song” by Chad & Jeremy [because it is the music of my island….”trees, swaying in the summer breeze”…and it’s the perfect song for me to lie on my back in the sand and drift away.]
8. “Blinuet” by Zoot Sims [Since this song will be played at my wedding, I will have a nice happy memory to go back to whenever I hear this song. I can smile and remember the good times on the mainland. Wow, I’m really getting into this desert-island thing, aren’t I?]
9. “The Wind” by Cat Stevens [“I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul”…hello? What else would you do on a desert island?]
10. “Kite Flying Society” by Mark Mothersbaugh [because it’s light and playful and fairylandish and I would need that creative make-believe world to pull me out of the reality of my desert-island existence].