My Generation

People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to dig what we all s-s-say (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

Why don't you all f-fade away (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
And don't try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby



- Released November 5, 1965

- The song, My Generation, has entered the rock and roll pantheon as one of the most celebrated, cited, and referenced songs ever; it was named the 11th greatest song by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll. It's also part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. In 2009 it was named the 37th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
Written by Pete Townshend in 1965 for rebellious British youths called mods, it expressed their feeling that older people "just don't get it".

- The performance of "My Generation" on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (shown in the video above) was another defining moment in the television comedy series. As they often did during that period, The Who destroyed their instruments at the conclusion of their performance. However, a stage hand, at the request of the band, had overloaded Keith Moon's kick drum with explosives. When they were detonated, the explosion was so intense, Moon was injured by cymbal shrapnel and bandmate Pete Townshend's hearing was permanently damaged. Townshend can be seen putting out the fire in his hair.

- Townshend reportedly wrote the song on a train and is said to have been inspired by the Queen Mother who is alleged to have had Townshend's 1935 Packard hearse towed off a street in Belgravia because she was offended by the sight of it during her daily drive through the neighborhood.

- Townshend has also credited Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues" as the inspiration for the song, saying "Without Mose I wouldn't have written 'My Generation'."

- Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues" (Music starts at 18 seconds into the video)



- Roger Daltrey sang the lead vocals with a stutter, which was very unusual. After recording 2 takes of this normally, manager Kit Lambert suggested to Daltrey that he stutter to sound like a British kid on speed. Reference

- Perhaps the most striking element of the song are the lyrics, considered one of the most distilled statements of youthful rebellion in rock history. The tone of the track alone helped make it an acknowledged forebear of the punk rock movement. One of the most-quoted—and patently rewritten—lines in rock history is "I hope I die before I get old", famously sneered out by lead singer Roger Daltrey.

- Like many of The Who's earlier mod output, the song boasts clear influences of American R&B, most explicitly in the call and response form of the verses. Daltrey would sing a line, and the backing vocalists, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, would respond with the refrain "Talkin' 'bout my generation"

- "My Generation" also featured one of the first bass solos in rock history. This was played by Entwistle on his Fender Jazz Bass, rather than the Danelectro bass he wanted to use, but after buying three Danelectros with rare thin strings that kept breaking easily, a frustrated Entwistle used his Fender.