So the bottom line is this….. no one, I repeat no one, really knows me. People know what I let them know and there is a lot that I don’t let anyone know. Sometimes I discover things about myself that even I didn’t know. (Maybe everyone is like that but it is not something that I have ever discussed with anyone else.) Based on this, the last thing that I want people doing at my funeral is telling stories and acting like they know the real me.
I am pretty sure that Pete Townshend shares my feelings on this topic based on today’s candidate song for “My Final Playlist”. I Don’t Even Know Myself was originally written by Pete for the the abandoned Lifehouse project. Unlike many of the other Lifehouse songs, I Don’t Even Know Myself did not make it onto the Who’s Next album. It was; however, released as the B-Side of the Won’t Get Fooled Again single and has been included on many of the deluxe reissues of Who’s Next.
My favorite version of the song, and the one that is a candidate for “My Final Playlist”, is Pete’s demo version that he recorded in advance of the Who Lifehouse sessions. Let’s listen…..
The key message of the song, for my purposes, is captured by Pete in this line:
Please don’t pretend that you know me, cause I don’t even know myself
Pete posed a question on the Quadrophenia album…..”Can you see the real me, can you, can you?” I think this was merely rhetorical, Pete already had the answer based I Don’t Even Know Myself .
As always, let me know what you think.
To close this post I want to share an incredible live performance of I Don’t Even Know Myself by the original Who in all of their splendor. Looney Mooney, in particular, was in fine form for this performance.
The best rock group of all time? After watching this performance I dare you to say NO……….
