The Meaning Behind “Who Are You” by The Who and Why Roger Daltrey’s Vocals Are “Incredibly Aggressive”

Punk rock existed on the assumption that everything before it was useless. Just as rock ‘n’ roll obliterated the pop music that appeared before it, and the British Invasion made the music of Fabian and Bobby Vinton obsolete, punk rock spat on the vacuous, bloated arena rock of Yes and Pink Floyd. Bands like The Clash and Sex Pistols did not hold back when speaking out against their predecessors. Pete Townshend pushed back at the notion that rock was dead after a chance meeting with two Sex Pistols in a pub, which led to the inspiration for a song. Let’s take a look at the meaning behind “Who Are You” by The Who.

Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

One of the Inspirations

“Who Are You’ was written about meeting Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols after an awful 13-hour encounter with [record executive] Allen Klein,” Townshend wrote in the liner notes to the reissue of the 1978 album Who Are You.

Klein and Townshend had a dispute over funds, which led to a meeting that stretched out over an entire day. An agreement was reached, and Townshend ended up yelling at the young punks about money at a local speakeasy. As the older musician overindulged, he passed out on the street. A British bobby encouraged Townshend to go home if he was able.

I woke up in a Soho doorway
A policeman knew my name
He said, “You can go sleep at home tonight
If you can, get up and walk away.”
I staggered back to the underground
And the breeze blew back my hair
I remember throwin’ punches around
And preachin’ from my chair

“Figurehead Anarchists”

Townshend continued, “Steve and Paul became real ‘mates’ of mine in the English sense. We socialized a few times. Got drunk (well, I did), and I have to say to their credit, for a couple of figurehead anarchists, they seemed sincerely concerned about my decaying condition at the time.”

The Sex Pistols publicly dismissed the music before theirs despite including songs by The Who, The Stooges, The Small Faces, and The Monkees in their repertoire.

Well, who are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
‘Cause I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

Feeling Threatened

Roger Daltrey, The Who’s lead singer, told Uncut magazine in 2015: “We were getting incredible accolades from some of the new punk bands. They were saying how much they loved The Who, that we were the only band they’d leave alive after they’d taken out the rest of the establishment! But I felt very threatened by the punk thing at first. To me, it was like, ‘Well, they think they’re f–king tough, but we’re f–king tougher.’ It unsettled me in my vocals. When I listen back to ‘Who Are You?’ I can hear that it made me incredibly aggressive.”

I took the tube back out of town
Back to the rollin’ pin
I felt a little like a dying clown
With a streak of Rin Tin Tin
I stretched back, and I hiccuped
And looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the Tin Pan
God, there’s got to be another way

The Addition of a Word

Townshend credited Daltrey for a simple improvement, “Roger’s aggressive reading of my nihilistic lyric redirected its function by the simple act of singing ‘Who the f–k are you…‘ when I had written ‘Who, who, who are you …’”

Andy Fairweather Low provided background vocals, and Rod Argent of The Zombies played piano on the recording.

Well, who are you?
(who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Come on, tell me, who are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Alright, who the f–k are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Who are you?
Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh
Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

What About The Clash?

As threatened as they were, The Who also built relationships with other punk bands as well. “It was only a few years after that I realized what a great favor punk did the business,” Daltrey added. “We toured with The Clash in 1982, we took them to the U.S. with us, and I used to f–king love watching ’em. I’m still a huge Joe Strummer fan.”

I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Come on, tell me, who are you
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
‘Cause I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

A Spiritual Leader

Townshend was inspired to write the last verse from an entirely different experience. In 1971, while on tour, he visited the late spiritual leader Meher Baba’s American home in Horry County, South Carolina. That visit moved him to write this verse:

I know there’s a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees
I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this?

Television

The song has been used as the theme to the TV shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The Masked Singer.

Well, who are you?
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Come on, tell me, who are you
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, I really wanna know
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, tell me, who are you
(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know
Oh, I really wanna know
Come on, tell me, who are you, you, you, you?
Who are you?

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Photo by David Redfern/Redferns