The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” Lyrics Meaning

It has been pointed out that both Roger Daltrey, who sings “Behind Blue Eyes” and Pete Townshend, who wrote it, do in fact have blue eyes. The prevailing theory is also that the lyrics were a reflection of Pete’s personal life at the time or more specifically his ruminations on being a celebrity. Or as he sparsely put it according to a few sources, this song revolves around “how lonely it is to be influential”.

WHO’S “BLUE EYES” ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

The above explanation on the part of Townshend is obviously not a full one, as there’s clearly more going on in the lyrics. But all things considered, this may indeed be taken as The Who’s version of one of those songs in which a popular singer goes about highlighting some of the less-than-ideal aspects of being a celebrity. 

However, if we were to interpret it as so, this would clearly be one of the earliest examples of such a track. And that may explain why for instance the lyrics never go there directly, as singers tend to do these days when dealing with that subject.

Additionally, The Who are known to be progenitors of what is known as a rock opera, which is basically a narrative concept album. At first this song was to be featured on such a project and more specifically to be sung by the story’s villain, whom we will thus also presume, as conceptualized, must’ve had blue eyes.

So keeping all of that in mind (as well as some other facts touched upon later on in this post), it can be concluded that this piece is partly autobiographical, i.e. speaking to Townshend’s early experiences with stardom. But at the same time the vocalist is taking on the role of a fictional character, so the lyrics don’t have to be taken too literally in that regard.

WHAT LIES “BEHIND BLUE EYES”?

What the vocalist is relaying, i.e. what lies “behind [his] blue eyes”, are primarily feelings of repression and loneliness. In the first verse and outro, he refers to himself as “the bad man”. But in the end, he is not shown to be evil per se – if you will – but rather adhering to the wicked nature of his occupation.

In fact if we were to come to any hasty conclusion, it would be that the wording portrays someone who is putting up an admirable fight as far as controlling his emotions go. However, suppressing his feelings like this also has its detrimental effects on him personally.

For example, there is a sentence in the bridge, “when I smile tell me some bad news, before I laugh and act like a fool”, which implies that the vocalist is not privy to allowing himself to be happy. And also there is the thesis sentiment, where he puts forth that “no one knows what it’s like” to go through what he’s experiencing. 

But of course it would be difficult for others to empathize with someone who, as relayed at the end of the first verse, is admittedly dishonest and by the looks of things not privy to opening up to being with. 

Indeed, the conclusion of the first verse and into the chorus is very important to understanding the character at hand. And why? Because here it is also inferred that the vocalist’s line of work, by its very nature, is such that it is bothering his conscience and bound to cause people to dislike him.

THE WHO?

The Who has been around for a long time. In fact by the time “Behind Blue Eyes” was dropped on 6 November 1971 via Decca Records and Track Records, they were already on their fifth studio album, “Who’s Next”. “Behind Blue Eyes” actually acted as the third and final single of “Who’s Next”.

The Who are still around as of this writing, being held down by the act’s co-founders, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. Both men are, at the time of writing, approaching the age of 80 (though being in their late twenties when this song was dropped). 

Even though The Who is now in its seventh decade of existence, their discography is for the most part limited to the late 1960s, the entirety of the 1970s and a bit of the 1980s. So it’s the 1970s especially which can be considered the group’s heyday, consisting of the band’s classic lineup. And besides for Daltrey and Townsend, in that regard they were joined by bassists John Entwistle (1944-2002) and drummer Keith Moon (1946-1978). Both John and Keith were officially members of the band at the respective times of their deaths.

WHO WROTE “BEHIND BLUE EYES”?

It is Pete Townshend, the group’s main songwriter, who authored this track. “Behind Blue Eyes” was produced by the entirety of The Who alongside fellow Englishman Glyn Johns.

“BEHIND BLUE EYES”, A CLASSIC THOUGH NOT A HIT

As far as singles go there aren’t any mega hits in The Who’s entire discography. This is pretty amazing considering the band is one of the most renowned acts in British music history. For example, “Behind Blue Eyes”, though being firmly noted as being a fan favorite, just barely broke the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. 

Moreover, Townshend apparently opted out of releasing this track as a single in the UK, so it did not chart in the group’s homeland. However, it has gone silver across the pond, thus marking one of only a handful of The Who’s songs that have been certified.

This song being a Who classic is evident in it also being included on a couple of Pete’s solo projects, i.e. 1983’s “Scoop” and 2000’s “Lifehouse Chronicles”. And The Chieftains dropped a rendition, buttressed by Roger Daltrey, in 1992.

OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS

• This song was originally intended to be featured on Lifehouse, an ill-fated rock opera The Who was planning to put out circa the onset of the 1970s.
• The version of “Behind Blue Eyes” which did officially see the light of day via the release of Who’s Next was not the original. However, said original was also eventually made public, in 1995, when the album was remastered and issued as a CD.
• “Behind Blue Eyes” did eventually become a semi-major international hit, though as covered by American act Limp Bizkit in 2003.
• This track originated from an Eastern-spirituality influenced prayer Townshend composed in 1970. The prayer in question began with “when my fist clenches, crack it open”, i.e. the opening line of the bridge. And said prayer was inspired by Townsend, who was married at the time, resisting the temptation to get down and dirty with a willing groupie.
• It has been theorized that these lyrics speak to what Pete Townshend was going through personally at the time. That said, it has also been pointed out that as originally written they are being relayed from the perspective of a fictional character, “Jumbo”, who serves as the antagonist in Lifehouse.  In other words “Jumbo”, as postulated, was a characterization of Townshend.
• Roger Daltry served as the lead vocalist on this track. At the time of its recording, he was in his feelings due to his pet dog having been killed on that very day.
• There is a biography of Townshend, by Geoffrey Giuliano, which is named after this song – Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (2002).
• “Behind Blue Eyes” charted in France as recently as 2012.

CONCLUSION

The number of people who like this song evidently transcends those who are familiar with Lifehouse. But ultimately, fully understanding this composition would entail some knowledge of said narrative. That is to say that even though this song was officially released and Lifehouse wasn’t, the two are still intertwined works. Therefore the lyrics do not have a universal applicability per se, since some of them speak specifically to the “Jumbo” character.

That said, listeners have obviously gleaned their own understanding of these lyrics. For instance, it is widely accepted that the vocalist is speaking to the pressure of being famous which, to reiterate, he would in fact be doing to some limited degree. 

But we will conclude by saying that this song’s overall popularity, i.e. despite many fans not knowing the backstory which is intrinsic to understanding it in full, serve as a testament to the efficacy of Townshend’s songwriting skills when they were at their peak.