Baba O'Riley

Baba O'Riley is a rock song by the British band The Who, written by guitarist Pete Townshend and published in 1971 on the album Who's Next. On the basis of the refrain " Do not cry / don 't raise your eye / it ' s only teenage wasteland " the song of the title Teenage Wasteland is often wrongly associated.

History

Baba O'Riley was originally written for the second rock opera by The Who, which should appear under the name of Lifehouse. The project failed, some of the pieces, including Baba O'Riley, were in the order for the album Who's Next used. The title did not appear in some European countries as a single, but in the U.S. and the UK.

The title of the 4:58 minute long piece is a combination of the names of Meher Baba and Terry Riley, the Townshend served each in their own way as inspiration: Baba as a spiritual mentor, Riley as a composer of minimalist music, of the work A Rainbow in Townshend Curved Air to inspired to use a synthesizer loop. The recording starts with a 41 seconds continuous loop, which was played on a Lowrey organ and modified by a synthesizer sound.

After the introduction, in addition to the synthesizer loop piano, vocals, drums and bass can be heard. The guitar only rises after the first verse one with a reef. As a special feature at the end of the piece a folkloric part in which an Irish fiddle, played by Dave Arbus, is from the band East of Eden in the center.

The synthesizer track is part of a longer synthesizer piece that Townshend 1972, privately published to the Meher Baba tribute album I Am. Other parts can be found on his solo album Psychoderelict of 1993.

The song is a regular part of concerts and included on various CD compilations and live DVDs. In a list of the music magazine Rolling Stone 's 500 best songs of all time, he was ranked 340th

Baba O'Riley is in modified form, the title song of the TV crime series CSI: New York. In addition, the song is the title song of the film Premium Rush.

On August 12, 2012 The Who played the song during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games in London. Then the song for the first time rose more than 40 years after the first publication in the British Top 75 in.

Cover versions

There exist among different cover versions of the following artists:

• Pearl Jam
• Nirvana ( with other text )
• Blue Man Group
• Dropkick Murphys
• Mr. Big
• Racer X
• They Might Be Giants
• Puhdys ( Teenage Wasteland ) ( anniversary album 1989)
• The Gaslight Anthem

Pete Townshend Roger Daltrey • • • John Entwistle Keith Moon

Pino Palladino • Zak Starkey • John Bundrick • Simon Townshend • Kenney Jones

My Generation • A Quick One • The Who Sell Out • Tommy • Who's Next • Quadrophenia • The Who by Numbers • Who Are You • Face Dances • It's Hard • Endless Wire

Discography

• The- Who- Song
• Rock song
• Song 1971