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Pete vs. The Who



>I'd say, in my opinion of course, that the problem with Roger or The Who 
>performing Pete's work from about 1975 on is that Roger and The Who don't 
>do irony; they don't do tongue-in-cheek, they don't do "is he serious"? And 
>from that point on Pete writes more and more in that style.

They do, but when Roger does irony or cynicism, it undermines the usual Who 
message, so fans don't like it.  Also, maybe Roger doesn't like it either.  
I'll agree that Pete is much more effective as far as cynicism goes.  No 
biggie--let Pete sing it.


>Here's a point. Pete says the infamous "hope I die before I get old" line 
>was meant ironically. Can anyone imagine The Who performing it or Roger 
>singing it ironically? It always sounds thoroughly earnest when I hear it.

If Roger had sung that line ironically, their audience would never have 
bought it back in 1965.  Same thing now.  The great thing about Pete's music 
is that it works on more than one level, and contacts listeners on all 
levels.  If irony is obvious in the delivery, then it cuts off the audience 
segment that believes in the surface pronouncement.

So which is the better interpretation?  Depends on whether you want better 
expression or more depth of meaning.


LB