Who Are You?

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

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

Well, who are you?
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)

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 hiccupped
And looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the Tin Pan
God, there's got to be another way

Well, who are you?
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who are you?
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, who the fuck are you?
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)

Who are you?
Ooh wah ooh wah...

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
I really wanna know
(Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?)

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?

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



- Released 1978

- According to the documentary Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, Sex Pistols's guitarist Steve Jones recalls the encounter with a drunk Pete Townshend screaming "Who are you?! Who are you?!" at strangers.

- Soho is the night-club area in London and Pete Townshend was drinking with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols. He was telling them that they were the future of music and they had to take the "baton". Hence the line "preaching from my chair". They told him in no uncertain terms to go away. After Pete left, he passed out in a doorway. A policeman recognized him, and told him if he didnt get a move on, he'd run him in. Pete took the Tube home.

- "The Tube" is London's underground rail system.

- An alternate take: This song is based on a day in the life of Pete Townshend. It began with a very long meeting dealing with royalties for his songs: "Eleven hours in the Tin Pan, God, there's got to be another way." The "Tin Pan" he is referring to is "Tin Pan Alley" which is the name given to the collection of New York City-centered music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States. After this excruciating meeting he received a large check for royalties, left and went to a bar and got completely drunk. In that bar he encountered Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, who thought very highly of Pete for paving the way for Punk rock music. Townshend was conflicted because he feared The Who had sold out, and seeing The Sex Pistols, who were icons of rebellion, exasperated him even more. Pete left that bar and passed out in a random doorway in Soho (a part of New York). A policeman recognized him ("A policeman knew my name") and being kind, woke him and and told him, "You can go sleep at home tonight (instead of a jail cell), if you can get up and walk away." Pete's response: "Who the f--k are you?" Reference

- The album version includes an extra verse compared to the much shorter single. Additionally, a "lost verse" mix of the song was released on the 1996 reissue of Who Are You, with a completely different second verse: "I used to check my reflection / Jumping with my cheap guitar / I must have lost my direction, cause I ended up a superstar/ One night I was in the boardroom/ Affected by the human race/ You can learn from my mistakes, but you're posing in the glass again".

- The song is unusual in that it contains two clearly audible instances of the word "f*ck" at 2:16 and 5:39 (at 2:14 and 4:27 in the single edit version), yet has been played frequently in its entirety on rock radio stations. The expletives did, however, cause controversy when ABC's unedited broadcast of The Who's Live 8 performance retained them

- This is the theme song to CSI TV series.