Behind Blue Eyes
"Behind Blue Eyes" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who for his never-completed Lifehouse project. It first appeared on The Who's 1971 Who's Next album, along with a number of other outtakes from the aborted project.
The song is one of the most well-known of The Who's recordings. It starts off with a solo voice singing over a finger-picked 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. (This is the same basic structure used for Led Zeppelin's immensely popular "Stairway to Heaven", released in the same year. However, 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.
The lyrics are a first-person lament from a man in the Lifehouse story, variously identifed as 'Brick' or '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 Townshend 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.)
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.
Cover versions
"Behind Blue Eyes" has also been sung by Ian Stuart Donaldson.
The band Limp Bizkit covered this song for their album Results May Vary and for the movie Gothika. The music video was directed by frontman Fred Durst and Gothika star Halle Berry appeared in it. The music website DigitalDreamDoor.com named Limp Bizkit's version the worst cover song of all time. [1]
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