Ever have a song just pummel you upon first listen? Where the lyrics make you sit still in one place and block out everything going on around you? And when its over you get that feeling deep in the pit of your stomach that things aren't ever going to be the same?
If so, then don't listen to this Song of the Week, cause you're not going to feel any chipper.
I had never heard The Who By Numbers all the way through until this week (I'd heard "Squeeze Box" a zillion times in my classic crock days), and after getting through "How Many Friends" I felt like a total fool for letting this album be the gap in my Who education. I'd go into an in depth discussion about songwriter Pete Townshend's mindstate in 1975 when he wrote this track, but my boss (and in-house Who expert) Ira Robbins nailed it all when we had this email conversation the day I first listened to "How Many Friends:"
SR: I'm listening to Who by Numbers for the first time ever right now, and I gotta say that this album is pretty damn good (especially "How Many Friends"). What were/are your thoughts on it?
IR: The first time I heard it was over the store system at what was the Sam Goody's across the street. I could hear it clearly, and knowing Pete's mind as well as I did then (which is to say more than now, if not very well at all), I found it absolutely heartbreaking. I recall "How Many Friends" brought a tear to my eye. I absolutely love that album (except for "Squeeze Box"). My favorite of theirs after the early ones
SR: Yeah, I always thought "Squeeze Box" was the weakest Who song that was in regular rotation on the rock station in Albany. "Slip Kid" was the only other song I knew on it. Geez, that "How Many Friends" is just a stunner when you read the lyrics on the page.
IR: Absolutely. I think he was close to suicidal.
I can only imagine. Take a peek and judge for yourself:
"I'm feelin' so good right now
There's a handsome boy tells me how I changed his past
He buys me a brandy
But could it be he's really just after my ass?
He likes the clothes I wear
He says he likes a man who's dressed in season
But no-one else ever stares, he's being so kind
What's the reason?
How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?
Suddenly it's the silver screen
And a face so beautiful that I have to cry out
Everybody hears me
But I look like a fool now
With a cry and I shy out
She knows all of my friends
But it's nice to find a woman who's keen on living
Now I think I've reached the end
I wonder in the dead of night - how do I rate?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?
It's all like a dream you know when you're still up early in the morning
And you all sit together to watch the sun come through
But things don't look so good when you could use a bit of warning
Then you know that no one will ever speak the truth
About you
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?
When I first signed a contract
It was more than a handshake then
I know it still is
But there's a plain fact
We talk so much shit behind each other's backs I get the willies
People know nothing about their own soft gut
So how come they can sum us up
Without suffering all the hype we've known
How come they bum us up
How many friends have I really got?
Well you can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?"
Geez, I am SO happy I didn't hear this song last May. I'd be in a looney bin right now, or perhaps worse.
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