Believe it or not, I had three quarters of this complete last Saturday....
A few years back my youngest son was playing the The Who's video Thirty Years of Maximum R & B Live (actually the 2009 re-release of it), and when this week's tune came on...I realized that over time I had completely forgotten about the song. I literally loved this song when it was first released, and somehow it had disappeared from my memory. Makes me wonder how many other musical gems have faded from my mind these many years....
I've written about The Who twice (can't believe it's only twice), Vol. XLII and Vol. CLXXX, and I wrote about a song each by Pete Townshend (here) and Roger Daltrey (here), so there's really not much else to add other than the fact that we saw them live in 2022, and for a couple of guys just about touching eighty years of age, Townshend and Daltrey put on a hell of a show. Also to note that, amazingly enough, they're still my favorite band....
"Don't Let Go the Coat" was the second single released from The Who's 1981 album, the rather profile rhythmically entitled, Face Dances. The single reached #47 in their native U.K., and a whopping #84 (but still with a bullet!) in the U.S. The album fared much better, hitting #2 in Great Britain, and #4 here in America.
Fun Fact: The cover for Face Dances is composed of sixteen different paintings of the band members (four of each) as painted by English painters. The concept for the cover came from one Peter Blake whose musical claim to fame is designing the renowned cover for an album you may have heard of: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
There's some disagreement as to what "Don't Let Go the Coat" refers to, with some believing it's an ode to Townshend's spiritual advisor Meher Baba, and others believing it's a nod to his parents who helped him numerous times during his struggles with alcohol and drugs. Personally, and this could just be that I'm not imaginative enough, I thought the coat was hope. Anyway, the song is something of a departure for The Who, as it's a more of a pop ditty than some of their power rock from their earlier days (Wikipedia called it country rock, but I flat don't see it), and very much shows their versatility. The critical reception to the tune was somewhat lukewarm, but what the fuck do they know? Daltrey delivers a resolute vocal performance, Townshend lets loose with some wicked jangly guitars (with a hint of Spanish guitar in his solo), John Entwistle and Kenney Jones keep the beat smartly, and its lyrically inspiring and musically (especially the chorus) as catchy as ca-ca-ca-catchy can be. The song was a joyous surprise when I first heard it, and an even more joyous surprise when I was reintroduced to it so many years later--and another in the wonder of all wonders that makes up great pop music.
Lyric Sheet: "You friends all pass all pass for life is just a market/But you have to finish everything you started/So I live my life tearing down the runway/Sure to get the hang of hanging in there someday..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
