"5:15" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by the Who | ||||
from the album Quadrophenia | ||||
B-side | "Water" | |||
Released |
| |||
Recorded | 27 June 1973 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Track (UK) MCA (US) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
Producer(s) | The Who | |||
The Whosingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"5:15" on YouTube |
"5:15" (sometimes written "5.15" or "5'15") is a song written by Pete Townshend of British rock band The Who. Part of the band's second rock opera, Quadrophenia (1973), the song was also released as a single and reached No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart, [3] while the 1979 re-release (accompanying the film and soundtrack album) reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Although written as "5.15" on the single covers in some countries, on the back cover of Quadrophenia (the album from which the song is taken) it is written as "5:15", and some single covers render it that way.
The lyrics of "5:15" describe Quadrophenia's protagonist, Jimmy, travelling to Brighton on a train. The song's writer, Pete Townshend, said of the song's lyrics:
His train journey down to Brighton, sandwiched between two city gents is notable for the rather absurd number of purple hearts he consumes in order to while away the time. He goes through a not entirely pleasant series of ups and downs as he thinks about the gaudier side of life as a teenager that we see in newspapers like the News of the World . '5:15' was written in Oxford Street and Carnaby Street while I was killing time between appointments. I must try it again sometime, it seems to work! [4]
— Pete Townshend
No demo recording of the song exists, as the track was written in the studio on the day the song was recorded. [4] The whistle heard on the track was recorded after Townshend's driver bribed a British train driver with five pounds to sound the train's whistle as it pulled out, despite breaking the station rules. [5]
"5:15" was released as a single in Britain and Europe shortly before the release of Quadrophenia in October 1973. Backed with the Lifehouse outtake "Water", the single charted at #20 in Britain and #46 in Germany. [5] [4] The single was not released in America, where "Love, Reign o'er Me" and "The Real Me" were chosen as singles instead. Roger Daltrey later commented on the song's single release, "Really, it was the only single on Quadrophenia we could have released." [5] The 7-inch vinyl single mix differs from the wider soundscape of the album mix and appears as a narrower closed stereo; however, the overall dynamics are just as powerful. This particular mix is not available on CD. All compilations making claim to the single mix have used the album mix version and cut to a variety of different running time lengths plus or minus a few seconds. "Water", the B-side, is a track recorded during the April–May 1970 sessions at I.B.C. and Eel Pie Studios, and was originally intended for an EP, available on Odds & Sods.
In the song, the narrator, Jimmy, who has taken the 5:15 train to Brighton and consumed a lot of drugs, recollects in a stream of consciousness his life with the Mods, the cultural movement to which he belongs (even if he has dropped out for now), and their duels with the Rockers. Jimmy's memories are extremely disjointed, consisting mainly of anger, confusion, violence, sexual frustration, and rootlessness.
"5:15", like many of the songs from Quadrophenia, is self-referential - "M-m-m-my generation" is a line, repeated from the band's earlier single - and thus represents an angrily self-centred, teenage disconnection from society, family and the opposite sex. Jimmy was "born in the war" (that is, at the time of World War II and its aftermath) and does not understand why he should care about it (or anything) in the context of his extravagant Mod values.
"5:15" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Who | ||||
from the album Quadrophenia (soundtrack) | ||||
B-side | "I'm One" | |||
Released | September 1979 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
Producer(s) | The Who | |||
The Who singles chronology | ||||
|
In 1979, "5:15" and nine other tracks from Quadrophenia were remixed by John Entwistle for the soundtrack of the film adaptation of the original rock opera. [6] This version of "5:15" was released as a single in September 1979 to promote the album, reaching #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America. [5] Record World said of this version that "All the thunderous fury that so often dominates The Who's music is everpresent." [7]
Live performances of "5:15" sometimes included, in addition to the Who's four members, a full brass section and a piano. During the Who reunion tour from 1999 to 2002, bassist John Entwistle played a solo in mid-song, lasting several minutes, only accompanied by drummer Zak Starkey. During The Who's 2012 Quadrophenia tour, long after Entwistle's death in 2002, his bass solo was featured by showing footage from a 2000 performance at the Royal Albert Hall while Starkey played live. [8]
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" (1966) and the album Tommy (1969). Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia is the only Who album entirely written & composed by Pete Townshend.
The Who by Numbers is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 3 October 1975 in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records, and on 6 October 1975 in the United States by MCA Records. It was named the tenth-best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.
"The Real Me" is a song written by Pete Townshend on The Who's second full-scale rock opera, Quadrophenia in 1973. This is the second track on the album, although it is the first with lyrics. It concerns a boy named Jimmy, a young English Mod with four distinct personalities. The song describes how he angrily deals with several individuals to identify "the real me". The song was released as a single in the United States and Canada in 1974.
"Who Are You" is the title track on the Who's 1978 album, Who Are You, the last album released by the group before Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was written by Pete Townshend and released as a double-A-sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album. The song was one of the band's biggest hits in North America, peaking at number 7 in Canada and at number 14 in the United States, and has become one of the band's signature tunes at their live shows. The piano on the track is played by Rod Argent.
"Love, Reign o'er Me", subtitled "Pete's Theme", is a song by English rock band The Who. Written and composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, it was released on 27 October 1973 as the second single from the band's sixth studio album and second rock opera, Quadrophenia. It is the final song on the album, and has been a concert staple for years. The song peaked at number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 54 on Cash Box.
"Athena" is a song written by Pete Townshend and recorded by The Who. It appears as the first track on the group's tenth album It's Hard, released in 1982. Written for actress Theresa Russell, the song was the first single from It's Hard. The single was a moderate success, entering US Billboard on 4 September, reaching No. 28 and the UK Singles Charts on 2 October, reaching No. 40.
"You Better You Bet" is a song by British rock band The Who, appearing as the first track on their 1981 album Face Dances. It is sung by frontman Roger Daltrey with backing vocals from Pete Townshend and bassist John Entwistle.
"We're Not Gonna Take It" is the final track on the Who's rock opera Tommy. Written by Pete Townshend, the song also contains the "See Me, Feel Me" anthem that is central to the structure of Tommy.
"I'm Free" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the Who on the album Tommy. The song has since been released as a single, becoming one of the best known tracks from Tommy.
"I'm One" is a song by The Who. It was released on the group's 1973 rock opera album Quadrophenia. Written and sung by Pete Townshend, the song has since become a fan favorite.
"Squeeze Box" is a song by the Who from their album The Who by Numbers. Written by Pete Townshend, the lyrics are couched in sexual double entendres. Unlike many of the band's other hits, the song features country-like elements, as heard in Townshend's banjo picking.
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend, is a music event and a later live album by Roger Daltrey documenting a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall in February 1994.
"Drowned" is a song written by Pete Townshend, the guitarist for the Who, for their sixth album, Quadrophenia.
Quadrophenia is the soundtrack album of the 1979 film Quadrophenia, which refers to the 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. It was initially released on Polydor Records in 1979 as a cassette and LP and was re-released as a compact disc in 1993 and 2001. The album was dedicated to Peter Meaden, a prominent Mod and first manager of The Who, who had died a year prior to the album's release.
"Join Together" is a song by British rock band the Who, first released as a non-album single in June 1972. The song has since been performed live multiple times and has appeared on numerous compilation albums. It was the last Who single to be released in the United States which used the Decca Records color bar label.
"Bell Boy" is a song recorded by the Who for the 1973 album Quadrophenia and 1979 movie of the same name. It was never released as a single.
"Dreaming from the Waist" is a song by The Who, written by Pete Townshend and released on the group's 1975 album The Who by Numbers ; it also served as the B-side of the "Slip Kid" single, released in 1976 in the United States. The track's lyrics deal with sexual frustration and the restlessness associated with getting older, while the music features a bass solo from John Entwistle.
Quadrophenia is a stage musical based on the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who, released on 19 October 1973, and a film of the same name, released in 1979. The album was the group's second full-length rock opera, and the story reveals social, musical and psychological events from an English teenager's perspective. The music and songs were composed by Pete Townshend and the story is set in London and Brighton in 1964 and '65.
"It's Hard" is a song written by Pete Townshend that featured on British rock band The Who's tenth album, It's Hard, of which it was the title track. It was released as the third and final vinyl single from the album in 1983, backed with the John Entwistle written song "Dangerous", but failed to chart, although it reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. This would become the last Who single of new material until "Real Good Looking Boy" in 2004, and the last album single by them until "Black Widow's Eyes", two years later.
"However Much I Booze" is a song by The Who, written by Pete Townshend that is the second track on their 1975 album The Who by Numbers.