Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I Can't Explain

Got a feeling inside (Can't explain)
It's a certain kind (Can't explain)
I feel hot and cold (Can't explain)
Yeah, down in my soul, yeah (Can't explain)

I said ... (Can't explain)
I'm feeling good now, yeah, but (Can't explain)

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling blue
The things you've said, well, maybe they're true
I'm gettin' funny dreams again and again
I know what it means, but

Can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I feel blue

But I can't explain (Can't explain)
Yeah, hear what I'm saying, girl (Can't explain)

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling bad
The things you've said have got me real mad
I'm gettin' funny dreams again and again
I know what it means but

Can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I feel blue

But I can't explain (Can't explain)
Forgive me one more time, now (Can't explain)

I said I can't explain, yeah
You drive me our of my mind
Yeah, I'm the worrying kind, babe
I said I can't explain




- Released February 13, 1965

-
The Who's first release, and first hit, was January 1965's "I Can't Explain", a record influenced by the Kinks, with whom they shared American producer Shel Talmy. The song was first played in the USA by DJ Peter C Cavanaugh on WTAC AM 600 in Flint, Michigan, where [Keith] Moon drove a car into a hotel pool on his 21st birthday.

-
The song was not released on an album until 1971. It is the first song on their compilation album, Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy.

- [Pete] Townshend notes the song's similarity to its contemporary hit single "All Day and All of the Night" by The Kinks: "It can’t be beat for straightforward Kink copying. There is little to say about how I wrote this. It came out of the top of my head when I was 18 and a half."

- The Kinks "All Day and All of the Night"



- Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame was a session musician at the time and was brought in to play guitar on this. [Shel] Talmy knew the guitar would be very prominent on this and had Page ready in case Townshend couldn't handle it. Pete did just fine, and quickly established himself as a premier Rock guitarist.

- The Clash used the main riff as the basis for two songs, "Guns On The Roof," and "Clash City Rockers."

- John Carter and Ken Lewis provided the background vocals. They were part of a group called The Ivy League, and went on to have a hit called "Let's Go To San Francisco" as The Flower Pot Men.

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