

In the movie, Elton John makes an appearance as The Pinball Wizard and performed this song with his hit version peaking at number seven in the UK charts.

Pinball wizard lyrics movie#
The track itself would go on to be a hit, which played a pivotal part in the 1975 movie based on the album, Tommy, starring Jack Nicholson, Ann Margaret, Tina Turner, and Roger Daltrey himself (who played Tommy). “I found that a stunning thing to call upon while I was in the process of writing ‘Pinball Wizard.’ I analysed every single chord,” Townshend concludes, “and found ways to play them on guitar.” A single bowed note runs throughout that whole piece. to an unimpressed Cousin Kevin, who is filing his nails.) FIRST LOCAL LAD: Ever. “It’s a very plaintive piece, almost like the Samuel Barber composition ‘Adagio for Strings’,” Townshend explained, adding: “Only the Purcell piece was written in 1600 or something. Hes a pin ball wizard There has got to be a twist A pin ball wizard, Sgot such a supple wrist How do you think he does it I dont know What makes him so. The track itself is built around an old Symphonic piece that Townshend discover around the time of recording, as he told Guitar World back in 2005: “The chordal structure for the intro was inspired by Henry Purcell, who did this very short piece called ‘Symphony Upon One Note.'” The track microwaved Cohn’s lukewarm first thoughts and resulted in a glowing hot review. Townshend decided that the deaf, dumb and blind protagonist should also excel in a certain area and with Cohn being a pinball fanatic, that area of expertise presented itself quite readily.Īlmost immediately after this conversation with Cohn, ‘Pinball Wizard’ was written and written. Afterwards, Townshend discussed the record with Cohn and took his remarks regarding the overbearing fidelity to subtext onboard. The story goes that in late 1968 – or early 1969 – when The Who played a preview of their new album in the presence of legendary critic Nik Cohn, and his reaction to the performance was middling.

‘Pinball Wizard’ is the perfect example of his dichotomous, head in the clouds yet finger to pulse approach. As a songwriter, Townshend may well have had both feet planted firmly in the realm of spiritualism, but he was still peaking over into the mainstream and never lost sight of what makes a hit. However, what singled Pete Townshend out as a unique creative force is that such a spiritual and deep synopsis could be transmuted into something so fun and palatable. They make him see and hear and speak so he becomes a saint who everybody flocks to.” The offshoot of this was that Tommy as, a character, experienced the world through the vibrations of a pinball machine, which would figuratively be reflected in the vibrations of music.Īs far as a creative impetus for rock music goes, that is about as nebulous as it gets. The coming together of these are what make him aware. As Pete Townshend told Rolling Stone back in 1969 upon its release, “Tommy’s real self represents the aim – God – and the illusory self is the teacher life, the way, the path and all this.
