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.

Pinball wizard lyric