There’s no denying the legend that is “Baba O’Riley” half a century after its release: it remains on Classic Rock radio playlists Time magazine included it on its “All-Time 100 Songs” list Rolling Stone placed it top 160 of all time and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame calls “Baba O’Riley” one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Baba of Riley, if you will, or “Baba O’Riley.” Riley’s undeniable impact on Townshend plays out in those first 41 seconds of “Baba O’Riley,” before the piano joins in.Īdd it all up, and with “Baba O’Riley” as part of his unrealized multimedia vision called Lifehouse, Townshend had the notion of inputting the spirit, the essence of Meher Baba as data into a computer and listening to it output as insistent, minimalistic music in the style of Riley. It’s about a pioneering minimalist composer from California named Terry Riley, whose avant-garde late-’60s music captivated Townshend. So now we know where the Baba in the song’s title comes from. A countryman and contemporary of Paramahansa Yogananda and Mahatma Gandhi, Meher Baba’s name means “compassionate father.” Meher Baba is known for many things, among them a life approach that became a common catchphrase: “Don’t worry-be happy,” which Bobby McFerrin turned into a 1988 Grammy winner. More specifically, Who songwriter/guitarist Pete Townshend is a student of Meher Baba, a spiritual teacher from India who died in 1969. It doesn’t appear anywhere in the song’s lyrics, so what’s it all about?įor starters, in parts of southern Asia Baba is a term of respect, loosely translated as father. Credit: Heinrich Klaffs a thousand years ago, the elite class in Ireland began taking surnames that began with O’ - O’Sullivan, O’Brien, O’Connor -with the O’ translating to “grandson of.”īefore we approach the complexities of “Baba O’Riley,” one of The Who’s - and, indeed, all of rock music’s - most lasting songs, it bears explaining the first of those complexities: the title. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend performing with The Who in Hamburg, 1972. Enter for your chance to win a GENERATION RADIO PRIZE PACK!.Enter for your chance to win a TENACIOUS D Prize Pack including a signed box of fiber bars!.Enter for your chance to win Billy Joel Live from Yankee Stadium on 2CD+Blu-ray AND 3-LP!.Point of No Regrets: Kansas Carry On With New Album ‘The Absence of Presence’.Keeping the Beat: Longtime Drummer Liberty DeVitto Pens Memoir, Preps Album Release.Ready: Blue Oyster Cult is Back with New LP ‘The Symbol Remains’ An Affair to Remember: Yes to Release Live Set The Royal Affair Tour, Live From Las Vegas.Classic Rock Landmarks: Do They Know It’s Christmas?.The Downside of Fame for Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, and More.Two Legends Pass Away: “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis and “The Obscene” Steven Clean.The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis: Unlikely Rock & Roll Performance of a Lifetime.Alan Parsons Releases New Single and Video Featuring Joe Bonamassa and David Pack.Watch: Generation Radio Releases Second Single “Lights Go Out In Paradise”.Watch Julian Lennon’s New Video for “Lucky Ones”.Whitesnake Drops Out of Tour with Scorpions Due to David Coverdale’s Health. Foreigner Announces North American Farewell Tour.U2 Announce ‘Songs of Surrender’ Album featuring 40 Songs Re-recorded and Re-imagined.Listen: Peter Gabriel Releases New Single “Panopticom”.U2 Releases New Version of ‘With or Without You’.
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