In the Ether: Difference between revisions

"In the Ether"
Song

"In The Ether" is a song by The Who, written by Pete Townshend, and is featured on their most recent album Endless Wire based on Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music.

History

To explain the song, Pete Townshend said "In my Novella The Boy Who Heard Music the narrator is Ray High , a rock star whose drug-abuse has led him to a sanatorium. While there he learns to meditate and begins to sense that someone is interfering with his quietude up in the place where he allows his mind to go. It seems almost as though they are using a Ham Radio, and old fashioned long-wave radio that was the specialist precursor to the modern internet Chat-Room. He may sense another presence, but this song reinforces how lonely it is to be ‘spiritual’. If the intention of the spiritual aspirant is to ‘become one with the infinite’, and yet life is almost the universally finite antidote to the infinite, isn’t he likely to get very lonely?"

The song was first performed live by Townshend at a solo gig for the Poetry Olympics at the Royal Albert Hall on September 25th, 2005. A demo version was later released on Townshend's website, but some fans were put off by his strange vocals, reminiscent of Tom Waits, and Roger Daltrey reportedly passed over singing the song for the album.

It has since gained mixed reaction from fans, with some even going so far as to call it the worst song The Who has ever recorded. However, some other fans also believe people are merely put off by the strange vocal, and aren't paying close enough attention to the song itself. It has recently been receiving some more positive reactions from members of The Who's fanbase.

Personnel

• Pete Townshend - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano