Sore Eyes

["Herndon, Charles A" <cherndon@xxxxxxxx>]

Hey, everyone!
	You know, after all the recent unpleasantness between several good folks on this list, and amid all the current unpleasantness in the world right now, it's somewhat refreshing to get so involved in something so "trivial" as what Roger Daltrey meant when he sang some modified lyrics to TKAA. I'd quibble with you, though, Schrade -- there's nothing trivial about the lyrics these guys sing -- they've meant a hell of a lot to me and all of us over the years, and likely will for years and decades to come. 
	That said, I think Jon in Mi. was on to something when he said that perhaps Roger DID mean "sight for sore eyes." We all know that Rog and Pete have a long history of writing some pretty incisive lyrics, and words that often have double or triple meanings. I wouldn't put anything past these two. As someone who has spent a lot of my professional life as a writer and reporter, I appreciate how The Who values the words it uses onstage and off. 
	I was at Hershey and heard Roger sing the same lyrics during TKAA: 

	"I can remember when I was sixteen
	Sight for sore eyes, I must have been
	Used to hang with a pretty wild bunch
	All our problems were solved with a slap and a punch."

	As Jon noted, maybe Roger was reflecting on his thuggish station in life as seen through the eyes of those he slapped and punched, leaving THEM with sore eyes through which to view HIM, fists raised and attitude fierce. It's not an elegant lyric, if indeed that's what he intended, but surely he knows as an artist the impact a cliche can have, even when used in a contextually suspect way. THe use of a cliche engenders familiar feelings, a closer bond with the listener/reader, as if by its use the singer can artificially create the sense of familiarity with the listener. It can be an effective use of the language, and I think Daltrey may have used it in precisely this manner -- particularly when you consider that these "new" lyrics to TKAA had to have been thought out fairly thoroughly in order to capture the feelings they were after. 
	Isn't this what we love about The Who, this kind of passion and discussion and consideration and intellectual back-and-forth they inspire? Thanks for bringing this up, Scott. This is the kind of silly stuff that makes me a happy lurker, most of the time. 
				    -- Charlie in Baltimore, praying (in vain, it appears) for peace