Re: Tommy, death, and so forth

[THRH79B@prodigy.com (MS KELLY D GILES I)]

Been on a holiday since Sunday, hence no posts until today!

I think the confusion that some people have been expressing about who 
died in "Tommy" is perfectly understandable and nothing for everyone 
to get all riled up about!  Let's be honest here, the beginning of 
the "Tommy" album, on its own, makes almost no sense at all!  Believe 
me, I know!  "Tommy" was my second Who album, I bought it in the late 
summer or early fall of 1994.  At that time, the only things I knew 
about the Who were what I read in the W-X-Y-Z volume of the 
encyclopedia. :)  My copy of "Tommy" was the pre-remastered version, 
on cassette.  It had the lyrics printed out, but no linear notes or 
libretto or anything.  I remember once trying to explain the story 
line to a friend, and realizing that I had no idea exactly what it 
was that happened to Tommy that was so traumatic!  There is 
absolutely no indication at all that anyone was murdered.  I 
understood that Mrs. Walker had been having an affair, and that this 
had led to some sort of unpleasant confrontation between her (and her 
lover?  I wasn't sure) and Captain Walker.  But I had no clue as to 
the nature of this confrontation, and there's no way I could have 
guessed that the lover, or Captain Walker, or ANYONE had been rubbed 
out.  I'm not at all surprised that many people would be confused by 
all this.  In fact, I think it's more surprising that any of us 
managed to figure out the story line at all!

And I don't take too well to the idea of there being one definitive 
interpretation of "Tommy" anyway.  That goes against everything I 
believe about art.  Pete may have one way he sees it in his head, but 
there's no reason why anyone else should feel exactly the same way 
about it.  If there was only one way to look at "Tommy", then I don't 
think it would be a very good musical/artistic/dramatic work.  Just 
my opinion.

- -Yellow "Tuna fish" Ledbetter