Time and time again men have written and created women characters either for books or popular movies. They've tried to write stories from a woman's perspective. Why is this any different? It doesn't make anyone gay -- it makes them sensitive, honest, and human.
Pete Townsend is bisexual and if you actually stop listening to his music because of that then you literally deserve to be executed in front of your family.
erueka..i've been searching for this song..found it! thanks for posting. The first time I heard this song..I snuck in my sisters room to play records and I listened to this album and I was moved....Pete is such gift....thanks for uploading.
Agreed about his sexuality -- it doesn't matter. He was the genius behind the band and did some amazing work. That album ranks high on my list of all time favorites.
I don't understant the obsession with sexuality in the US. Why must you worship and crucify messengers? If this song is sung by a woman, it is as banal as so many country or pop songs. If, however, sung from a man's perspective, the song gives deeper poignancy of discovery and exciting romance. Try finding YOUR relationship to art and put down your People Magazine, adolescent silliness.
@amazonjn well your OBVIOUSLY a woman or gay.... this is man's music, where we dont give a f@$k about what the song means, we just like it. oh, Tiger Woods, you say, it means he's a MAN.. Newt Gingrich.... MAN
From an Interview with Timothy White with Pete- I wrote another song about HOMOSEXUALITY called And I Moved, which I intended for Bette Miller to sing.
and
Rough Boys was an acknowledgment that I had had a gay life and knew what gay sex was about.
This is a beautiful song that can mean anything to you, but do not deny that it is a song about homosexual love written by Pete, it 's disrespectful to do so.
@lillyx7 This song may really be about homosexuality, but why would he write a song about a homosexual experience with a man that he intends for a woman to sing?
amusing that his 'sexuality' would be an issue. Regardless, it doesn't make him any less of an incredible musician.
When will people get that if Gay is an issue...it's 'your' issue. Stop trying to deflect what's in your being, by denouncing it in others. Seriously...So what?
Fear (of what's inside you) = Hate (it's ok...just live and let live)
Wait a minute, I read that this was about Meher Baba, Townshend's spiritual mentor. Many ways to interpret a song, I suppose, as him singing about truth and being moved toward him, doesn't sound sexual in the least, but rather being moved in a spiritual sense.
Such a great song. And so cool of Pete to openly sing a love song to a man at a time when gay people in society were so still hideously vilified or closeted.
Rough Boys is on the same album of course, and is similarly straightforward in addressing his attraction to men ("I want to bite and kiss you" is pretty straightforward.) "Empty Glass" was a really important and moving piece of art. And it rocks like crazy!
Sad that people are so small-minded they would need to deny Pete's sexuality.
Pete has released some good solo material since this record. But nothing like Empty Glass. The entire record is incredible ans sounds incredible all these years later. I still get chills from this album as I did all those years ago when I was just 12 listening to it for the first time .
I have this album, and I am glad that you are using the cover. You paid for it. I am just glad to get some of the songs, since I have only lp version, and no turntable. thanks for the post.
look, he said rough boys was to do with gay encounters, however, for what it's worth, this song was about meher baba. moreover, it was, i believe, originally written for bette midler, who decided not to record it, ala beast of burden.
i remember having this on album and eight track...i was first learning to play bass, and i was blown away by this bassline, and all the little nuances. still a magnificent composition after all these years.....
I thought this song was about a grandfather. Like someone whose gone, who's spirit comes and visits you, and you can't believe they are there. I definately didn't even think anything about sexual stuff. lol. Goes to show that song meaningss can be interpreted many ways. And I think it should be left up to the listener.
@qdog568 I love Pete too, but he's anything but gay. All the Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes is an open confessional to his then wife. How he "abandoned" her for booze and drugs and is now begging forgiveness. Hardly the emotions of a "gay" man.
Dear God this brings back so many memories of such great music by such a talented man. I listened to The Who in my younger days, but learned to appreciate the immense talent Pete had with his solo stuff.
Petes hetrosexual as can be..He just like many artist know folks who are gay..So he was liberal in his expression of gays..I always knew it was to express that people are people...Like many im not looking at sexual preference just love the music of the artist themselves..I love women and dont know why people do what they do..But im concern about me and me only..Now back to the music..Pete is one the best songwriters and performers ever :)
Does anyone know who played the drums on the original,studio take of 'And I Moved'(on the 'Empty Glass'album)?I know people will say-'it's not Keith,so it doesn't matter'-but it's technically superb-and I just want to know,OK?!!
@Pulsar205 I've always had a thing for the babe in the middle......but that will just stir up more controversy. Who gives a @$%%()@ who one sleeps with.....Pete is the best.
I love this song for so many reasons....the great "traveling" piano or incredible bass riffs...but the line "he laid me out just like an empty dress" takes the cake! Eat it up yum!
as a gay man I think it good and gracious Pete admitted he did love men. Quote:
In a 1989 interview with writer Timothy White Townshend said, "Rough Boys, It's about homosexuality" adding that his tune, "And I Moved", was as well. Townshend's admission of having "had a gay life" and his statement that "I know how it feels to be a woman because I am a woman" came as a surprise to many, including his bandmates.
If this song means Pete's gay, I guess that means he's deaf, dumb and blind, too. Geez, people, it's a song. He wrote it for Better Midler to perform. She turned it down, so he did it himself. When Pete said he'd "had a gay life" he was referring to important people in his life who were gay, like former Who manager Kit Lambert. Pete's heterosexual.
@clashwho Everybody's heterosexual these days... even Bowie.
In fact, sexuality doesn't matter. All that matters is if he makes good music or not. (Come to think of it, categories are quickly becoming useless. People are finally realizing that they are far too limited; they can't describe real human beings.)
BTW, how can you be so sure that he's heterosexual? Even if you are a girl who had sex with him, this doesn't mean he's straight... it just means that you had sex with him.
@clashwho It's real simple: NO heterosexual rock and roll god in 1980 would write lyrics like "Rough boys, come over here, I want to bite and kiss you" "... under the sheets, we can't be seen together..." etc. That is simply not in the realm of possibilities for a purely straight man. He's bi maybe, but hetero? No way in hell. And when he got caught with underage boy porn on the net, what was he supposed to say? Research! Right. More power to him. He's one of the best ever, and he's gay or bi.
@clashwho Pete did admit so some same sex experimentation in the 60s. So what he's great Great song. Yes I know he wrote this for Bette Midler. Great song.
@clashwho Pete has admitted to sexual experimentation with the same sex in the 60s. I'm well aware he wrote this for Bette Midler. Great song. Love Pete.
Also, do not forget, that "Gay" , up until modern times, was described in the dictionary as happy and carefree, it has only been applied to homosexuals in modern times to take away the stigma of being called "queers"
There are thousands of songs with the word "Gay" in them, and none of them are songs about "Queers"
Oh wow this song brings back so many memories of when I was a kid sitting in my sisters room listening to all her "new" records. She was a big Who fan but I always loved Pete's solo work.
Such a beautiful song -no matter what meaning you put to it, who cares. This is one B side that has come to my mind recently, gosh knows why, so thank you posting this.
This album was the cultural bridge between the 70's and the '80s.
It's musical style and topics were those of both decades.
What Empty Glass was a portrait of transistion and reflection.
(The lyrics and subjects were, finally, too personal to make this a Who album. Thought Daltry had a great understanding of what his partner often wanted to express, this time, it was not possible.)
this song has nothing to do with sexuality. it's a very spiritual song. i can't speak for pete, but i always thought this song was about his belief in (or searching for) God.
The song unquestionably is about sexuality, i mean listen to the lryics. However, it's not homosexuality. I always took it as a song about sex taken from a woman's perspective, Pete simply created a character and wrote from first person.
i think Pete's point then was that he doesn't give a sh*t what anyone thinks about his own sexuality. that comes through on this album also. takes a real man to say that.
This is on one hand one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and on the other hand one of the most disturbing songs ever written. Genius can be a wondeful gift, but also a curse.
I might be wrong, but i always thought that this was a love song written from the female point of view. which makes it a much more interesting piece from the artist who was obviously a male.
This is one one the eeriest compositions I have ever heard. The lyrics are frightening, yet the ethereal melody is irresistable. Kitten is right, this artist is truly a genius! What a song!
Thanks for your input, gracelier. Your commentary was much better written than mine, so thank you again! "Frightening lyrics, with an irresistibly compelling tune that induces people to WANT to explore...whatever frightens them? I hope you dont mind that I played with your comments; Im coming through a bad time, as a family member recently died. Peace to you; you seem nice.
Teflon65 has a good point as well. This song can be seen as being a "confession" of sorts, concerning abuse. Yet he still got through his demons, if you want to call it that. Perhaps we'll never know for sure, but it's nice to know we all agree this song is beautiful, this man can compose songs that still stir debate after 30+ years, and he still makes us think. Peace to all.
I dont think its any secret that pete had probably experienced some abuse during his childhood. Having said that it never entered my mind in this song until you mentioned it. a haunting and erriesong to say the least. Could be, could be>
The piano/keyboards, on this track, are wonderful. In retrospect, this could be about some encounter Pete had, with an Uncle Ernie type, or it could be about a gay encounter, or it could be from a woman's point of view, or darn near anything. Very confessional tone.
Has anyone ever considered the following: this song might have been composed by Pete Townshend after a true vision he experienced? I'm only saying this because I felt a chill go down my spine when I first heard this song, many years ago.
He also touched upon this theme in his song "Pure and Easy." Again, he's found "one note" that he responds to, in which he can express himself (and, we're to find our individual notes ourselves). At any rate, I think the man is a genius!
lilyx7 has got to get facts straight (forgive the pun) And I moved was probably written for Bette Midler (as Pete has claimed a number of times!!) Check Rolling Stone mag's interview with him promoting Empty Glass. And yeah he may very well be gay (married once or twice kids etc.) But he's no pedo. Total exoneration. No he is not on your registry. Beautiful song. i have seduced more sober girls because of this song than drunk girls to any other! lol
From the book Rock Lives by Timothy White (An interviewer)
Tim-"was rough boys written for the who?"
Pete Townsend- " No, no how could Rough boys be written for the Who? ROUGH BOYS IS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY.ROUGH BOYS WAS A SORT OF COMING OUT THAT I'D HAD A BISEXUAL LIFE AND THAT I UNDERSTOOD WHAT GAY SEX WAS ABOUT.I WROTE ANOTHER SONG ABOUT HOMOSEUALITY CALLED
AND I MOVED.
Accept it, most rock stars from his era were experimenting, they were'nt uptight like we are today about it.
This is one of the greatest albums of all time. Every song is great. This is a prime example. You never here it on the radio, but it is as good as any number one song that has ever been played on the radio. Peace.
This just in: You know the guy who made that statue of David? Totally not gay or bi, just a misunderstood fraternity prank. Seriously. 'Cause if he's gay or something, it kinda ruins it, right?
This song is not about sex; gay, straight or bi, etc! This is a spiritual love song for his Indian Guru Meher Baba! You have to hear not just listen. However, like all good writers; Townshend's lyric is simple and ambiguous enough for multiple readings and interpretations.
A classic rock album. My college roommate (a straight guy) and I (a gay guy) would take turns blaring it through giant padded headphones. I'd play the side with all the gay material, he'd play the side with all the straight material -- truly, Pete was responsible for keeping the peace in my college apartment. As for whether Mr. Townshend's really bi or not, I guess it depends on which interview you're reading.
Astounding song by Pete.....and he isn't bisexual, that i what i thought when i first heard this song two years ago, but i learned that he was sexuallt abused as a child.... :(
Poor Pete! he is so amazing and so is this album and song.... :)
Beautiful, if you don't pay attention to the dodgy lyrics. Just concentrate on the phenomenal piano and the *sound* of Pete's voice, and you'll find it 3:12 well spent.
This and "I am an Animal" are my favourites from Townshend. Most of the other stuff on Empty Glass is good, too (and 'Dig' from the Iron Man, great song).
hmm, I can't decide... I also really like White City Fighting (the guitar at the start reminds me of some type of... old renessaince theme)... but I like most of the acoustic stuff on Who Came First, that is a real nice album
This is a great song for long car trips. Great song. Thanx for posting.
PS: If you drive 65mph on Interstate 75 near Ocala, FL with this song on, you will pass the broken lines on the road at the same tempo of the song.
MrCzechers 4 days ago
Pete avoids, stays out of boxes!!
limolimo2012 1 week ago
Don't matter if its a Man OR a Woman Just to have someones arms around you is what you need......What we all need.
obiwil 2 weeks ago
Rough boys Dont walk away I very nearly missed you Tough Boys Come over here I wanna bite and kiss you....i'd say dude dables.
ScorpioOx 3 weeks ago
pete is a happy dude! and I love him very much, he make me soooooo very very happy!
giffworks 4 weeks ago in playlist newbie bands
Exquisite
stacys05 1 month ago
I love this. The simple act of moving toward someone, something, anything rather than away is very powerful. This song moves me.
LakeErie2Edinburgh 1 month ago
Time and time again men have written and created women characters either for books or popular movies. They've tried to write stories from a woman's perspective. Why is this any different? It doesn't make anyone gay -- it makes them sensitive, honest, and human.
larrytate38 1 month ago
ADOLATION AT IT'S BEST..MAN TO MAN WOMAN TO WOMAN
jbarry2001 1 month ago
Excellente chanson, mais la qualité sonore est ordinaire
MegaAndreNo 1 month ago
Pete Townsend is bisexual and if you actually stop listening to his music because of that then you literally deserve to be executed in front of your family.
Radonwings 1 month ago
To me, the intro sound a little PINK FLOYD...........
coqui333 2 months ago
erueka..i've been searching for this song..found it! thanks for posting. The first time I heard this song..I snuck in my sisters room to play records and I listened to this album and I was moved....Pete is such gift....thanks for uploading.
skylilly1 2 months ago
simon phillips, drums, awesome. Saw him at the ARMS concert '83 MSG NYC
fiddude1 2 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Pete wrote this song for Bette Medler. Not sure why she did not take it and sing it, but Pete does a fantastic job with it.
RailmasterHobbies 2 months ago
Pete wrote this song for Bette Medlir. Not sure why she did not take it and sing it, but Pete does a fantastic job with it.
RailmasterHobbies 2 months ago
Pete just wrote this for someone else, and didn't want his creation to go for nothing. I love it. Zamzar is a good way to download.
fairday2 2 months ago
Hi obviously wrote this about his guru, Meher Baba. It's a beautiful, moving devotional song.
harprich 2 months ago
where can I download this? It's not on itunes or google
crlittler 2 months ago
Agreed about his sexuality -- it doesn't matter. He was the genius behind the band and did some amazing work. That album ranks high on my list of all time favorites.
billcote1 3 months ago
Who gives a shit gay or not, the man is a genius. A rare breed today in popular music.
bassmanjoe 3 months ago
This song brings back so many memories. Love the whole album.
jakyjac63 3 months ago
He is writing/singing about Meher Baba - his spiritual Master. !!!!!!!
babasbiki 6 months ago
Frankly, I don't care if he's gay or not. The dude can write some beautiful songs.
bastidface 6 months ago
When i useto listen to this song years ago,i thought he was singing about "God"
Why does peeps think this is gay?....must be the pic with him sitting down with two sexy ladies
hereinthebronx 7 months ago
@hereinthebronx All art is open to interpretation. I related a lot of songs w/ God. :)
kevbarone 4 months ago
@kevbarone wow ,deep man,real deep!
hereinthebronx 4 months ago
this song was about Keith Moon...so I heard from a good source
CF77777 7 months ago
pete is straight, have you seen his partner rachel, wow she is stunning.
alisidey12 8 months ago
I don't understant the obsession with sexuality in the US. Why must you worship and crucify messengers? If this song is sung by a woman, it is as banal as so many country or pop songs. If, however, sung from a man's perspective, the song gives deeper poignancy of discovery and exciting romance. Try finding YOUR relationship to art and put down your People Magazine, adolescent silliness.
amazonjn 8 months ago 5
@amazonjn well your OBVIOUSLY a woman or gay.... this is man's music, where we dont give a f@$k about what the song means, we just like it. oh, Tiger Woods, you say, it means he's a MAN.. Newt Gingrich.... MAN
TheCincinnatifan 2 months ago
From an Interview with Timothy White with Pete- I wrote another song about HOMOSEXUALITY called And I Moved, which I intended for Bette Miller to sing.
and
Rough Boys was an acknowledgment that I had had a gay life and knew what gay sex was about.
This is a beautiful song that can mean anything to you, but do not deny that it is a song about homosexual love written by Pete, it 's disrespectful to do so.
lillyx7 8 months ago
@lillyx7 This song may really be about homosexuality, but why would he write a song about a homosexual experience with a man that he intends for a woman to sing?
theyself 8 months ago
amusing that his 'sexuality' would be an issue. Regardless, it doesn't make him any less of an incredible musician.
When will people get that if Gay is an issue...it's 'your' issue. Stop trying to deflect what's in your being, by denouncing it in others. Seriously...So what?
Fear (of what's inside you) = Hate (it's ok...just live and let live)
hocuspocusfocusable 9 months ago 3
Wait a minute, I read that this was about Meher Baba, Townshend's spiritual mentor. Many ways to interpret a song, I suppose, as him singing about truth and being moved toward him, doesn't sound sexual in the least, but rather being moved in a spiritual sense.
DogBoneRanch 9 months ago
Such a great song. And so cool of Pete to openly sing a love song to a man at a time when gay people in society were so still hideously vilified or closeted.
Rough Boys is on the same album of course, and is similarly straightforward in addressing his attraction to men ("I want to bite and kiss you" is pretty straightforward.) "Empty Glass" was a really important and moving piece of art. And it rocks like crazy!
Sad that people are so small-minded they would need to deny Pete's sexuality.
catchaz21 9 months ago
I don't care if he's gay. He's still the man!
qdog568 11 months ago
Great sound... especially the base line.
11gerbal 11 months ago
@11gerbal
yes!
sorry i hit the wrong button and it won't let me change it to a thumb's up : (
catchaz21 9 months ago
I wish someone would post the song "Never Ask Me", from Pete's album, "Another Scoop". That was a song he intended for Frank Sinatra to sing.
Teflon65 11 months ago
Awesome song! Awesome album!
Pete has released some good solo material since this record. But nothing like Empty Glass. The entire record is incredible ans sounds incredible all these years later. I still get chills from this album as I did all those years ago when I was just 12 listening to it for the first time .
johnisallin 1 year ago
@johnisallin ditto
floridakenny1 1 year ago
I have this album, and I am glad that you are using the cover. You paid for it. I am just glad to get some of the songs, since I have only lp version, and no turntable. thanks for the post.
fairday2 1 year ago
Really, I thought he wrote this about Keith Moon right after his death.
oconnorteresa 1 year ago
look, he said rough boys was to do with gay encounters, however, for what it's worth, this song was about meher baba. moreover, it was, i believe, originally written for bette midler, who decided not to record it, ala beast of burden.
mezzetin1 1 year ago
i remember having this on album and eight track...i was first learning to play bass, and i was blown away by this bassline, and all the little nuances. still a magnificent composition after all these years.....
JoeFisher12String 1 year ago
...two Misguided Justin Beiber fans...bahahahaaaaaaaa
sarniarocks 1 year ago
My ratings for this song is 14+
PMCcty 1 year ago 2
Long lost track.....I certainly was moved when i heard this for the first time!
The lyrics sounded strange at first, especially for a 14 year old kid, but a sense of spirituallity placed the song on a higher level...
PMCcty 1 year ago
I'm gay
indyandsam 1 year ago
i like to hear this sung by a man..iam not joe iam his wife
joeblowthehot 1 year ago
I thought this song was about a grandfather. Like someone whose gone, who's spirit comes and visits you, and you can't believe they are there. I definately didn't even think anything about sexual stuff. lol. Goes to show that song meaningss can be interpreted many ways. And I think it should be left up to the listener.
wouldntyoulike2know 1 year ago
he isn't gay. he wrote this for someone else to sing
accadaccasuperstar 1 year ago
I have been looking for this song for a very long time...thanks so much
TheRetrowax 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
he is not gay he is bisexual
Mrwheelchairwill 1 year ago
I don't care if he's gay. I love Pete!!
qdog568 1 year ago
@qdog568 uh. Pete isn't gay. Just throwin' that out there.
Pra5286 1 year ago
@qdog568 I love Pete too, but he's anything but gay. All the Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes is an open confessional to his then wife. How he "abandoned" her for booze and drugs and is now begging forgiveness. Hardly the emotions of a "gay" man.
zeets93 1 year ago
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@64 adman and @ Clashwho
Right on 64 adman..Like i said now back to the music lol ..peace
Right on to clashwho as well..couldnt have said it better myself :)
whofan95337 1 year ago
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whofan95337 1 year ago
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whofan95337 1 year ago
Dear God this brings back so many memories of such great music by such a talented man. I listened to The Who in my younger days, but learned to appreciate the immense talent Pete had with his solo stuff.
mindlessjrlee 1 year ago
"his eyes were silent flys"...thanks, tfa
thefreedomartist 1 year ago
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whofan95337 1 year ago
Petes hetrosexual as can be..He just like many artist know folks who are gay..So he was liberal in his expression of gays..I always knew it was to express that people are people...Like many im not looking at sexual preference just love the music of the artist themselves..I love women and dont know why people do what they do..But im concern about me and me only..Now back to the music..Pete is one the best songwriters and performers ever :)
whofan95337 1 year ago 6
@whofan95337 Hmmm-actually,I think it's quite amusing that anyone could think Pete was gay....what a laugh!!They obviously don't really know him....!
64adman 1 year ago
hes a fucking genious
patforpatrick 1 year ago 3
Does anyone know who played the drums on the original,studio take of 'And I Moved'(on the 'Empty Glass'album)?I know people will say-'it's not Keith,so it doesn't matter'-but it's technically superb-and I just want to know,OK?!!
64adman 1 year ago
@64adman I would think it must of been Simon Phillips
ceazea 1 year ago
@ceazea Of course-actually,I think I already knew that...just forgotten!Thanks very much anyway!
64adman 1 year ago
If anyone objects there an asshole and a half!
RupertDCD27 1 year ago
I heard in an interview with Pete Townsend that this song was written for Bette Midler, but she thought it was too dirty, so she didn't record it.
pataphysician66 1 year ago
that babe on the left is so pretty!! ahhh i always had a thing for her with her luschious blonde locks and full kissable lips
Pulsar205 2 years ago 2
@Pulsar205 I've always had a thing for the babe in the middle......but that will just stir up more controversy. Who gives a @$%%()@ who one sleeps with.....Pete is the best.
leefoyn 1 year ago
One of Pete's best...I was MOVED, fist time I heard it!
kelley61 2 years ago 13
Love this song ! Havn't heard it for far to many years, but now I've found it it will get well played !
hankharp 2 years ago
EPIC
EasyCheezy317 2 years ago 4
I love this song for so many reasons....the great "traveling" piano or incredible bass riffs...but the line "he laid me out just like an empty dress" takes the cake! Eat it up yum!
ssbbw4me4ever 2 years ago 3
some of the finest stuff.
almadora 2 years ago 3
Have you got a problem with the last note or something?
surfmcgoogler 2 years ago 3
the album and pete came out in 1980.
artboy55 2 years ago
screw you, he was just trying to find himself
lifehouse57 2 years ago
as a gay man I think it good and gracious Pete admitted he did love men. Quote:
In a 1989 interview with writer Timothy White Townshend said, "Rough Boys, It's about homosexuality" adding that his tune, "And I Moved", was as well. Townshend's admission of having "had a gay life" and his statement that "I know how it feels to be a woman because I am a woman" came as a surprise to many, including his bandmates.
adjesch 2 years ago
If this song means Pete's gay, I guess that means he's deaf, dumb and blind, too. Geez, people, it's a song. He wrote it for Better Midler to perform. She turned it down, so he did it himself. When Pete said he'd "had a gay life" he was referring to important people in his life who were gay, like former Who manager Kit Lambert. Pete's heterosexual.
clashwho 2 years ago 23
@clashwho Everybody's heterosexual these days... even Bowie.
In fact, sexuality doesn't matter. All that matters is if he makes good music or not. (Come to think of it, categories are quickly becoming useless. People are finally realizing that they are far too limited; they can't describe real human beings.)
BTW, how can you be so sure that he's heterosexual? Even if you are a girl who had sex with him, this doesn't mean he's straight... it just means that you had sex with him.
effin2000 2 years ago 2
@clashwho It's real simple: NO heterosexual rock and roll god in 1980 would write lyrics like "Rough boys, come over here, I want to bite and kiss you" "... under the sheets, we can't be seen together..." etc. That is simply not in the realm of possibilities for a purely straight man. He's bi maybe, but hetero? No way in hell. And when he got caught with underage boy porn on the net, what was he supposed to say? Research! Right. More power to him. He's one of the best ever, and he's gay or bi.
desertmac 1 year ago
Actually he wrote the song for Bette Midler which is where the effeminate lyrics are from. He's not gay dude. Just ask his girlfriend Rachel.
Mayrienn 1 year ago
Sorry blonde moment. Didn't read your entire message and you're right. Ignore me -- just a little hammered tonight.
Mayrienn 1 year ago
@clashwho the song doesn't mean he's gay. He's gay and wrote a song. No big whoop.
decimatorcortez 1 year ago
@clashwho Pete did admit so some same sex experimentation in the 60s. So what he's great Great song. Yes I know he wrote this for Bette Midler. Great song.
qdog568 1 year ago
@clashwho Pete has admitted to sexual experimentation with the same sex in the 60s. I'm well aware he wrote this for Bette Midler. Great song. Love Pete.
qdog568 1 year ago
@clashwho
Thumbs way up!
Right on! And a very right on to your explanation of the song.
Peace.
Rock
rockinroller7 1 year ago
Also, do not forget, that "Gay" , up until modern times, was described in the dictionary as happy and carefree, it has only been applied to homosexuals in modern times to take away the stigma of being called "queers"
There are thousands of songs with the word "Gay" in them, and none of them are songs about "Queers"
bassjocky 1 year ago
@clashwho
well it was orginally intended for Bette Midler to record...
SandozSaxonWilliams 1 year ago
@clashwho deff dumb and blind pete hahahahhahhahahah
BILLYKARLOFF 1 year ago
@clashwho Pete has openly stated he is BISEXUAL and he wrote this song about it.
lillyx7 11 months ago
@clashwho but pete was gay....nothing wrong with that
kellie7573 6 months ago
@clashwho Pete's come out as a bisexual. He's had wives and girlfriends, but he's been attracted to men as well, such as Jagger.
erock195 5 months ago
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Pulsar205 2 years ago
@adjesch
Who cares if you're gay! Pete Isn't! He wrote the song for Bette Midler. She rejected it, and he recorded it.
Apercue 1 year ago
Thank you so much for posting this! I love this track! It's Pete Being most personal! Hits my soul everytine I hear it! Thank you!
RupertDCD27 2 years ago
Oh wow this song brings back so many memories of when I was a kid sitting in my sisters room listening to all her "new" records. She was a big Who fan but I always loved Pete's solo work.
keef186 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
guess pete beat the pedo rap
inredress 2 years ago
"Beat it"? Yes...Scotland yard issued a public statement of apology to Pete. The man was innocent
cheappassion 2 years ago 3
Such a beautiful song -no matter what meaning you put to it, who cares. This is one B side that has come to my mind recently, gosh knows why, so thank you posting this.
theothermurdoch 2 years ago
let's get the original Rough Boys video up again.... without that wanker shit!
kitakashiwa 2 years ago
This album was the cultural bridge between the 70's and the '80s.
It's musical style and topics were those of both decades.
What Empty Glass was a portrait of transistion and reflection.
(The lyrics and subjects were, finally, too personal to make this a Who album. Thought Daltry had a great understanding of what his partner often wanted to express, this time, it was not possible.)
Arkady63 2 years ago
this song has nothing to do with sexuality. it's a very spiritual song. i can't speak for pete, but i always thought this song was about his belief in (or searching for) God.
sal4015 2 years ago
The song unquestionably is about sexuality, i mean listen to the lryics. However, it's not homosexuality. I always took it as a song about sex taken from a woman's perspective, Pete simply created a character and wrote from first person.
cheappassion 2 years ago 2
I can't remember the year, but Pete said he's a woman. I'm thinking 90 or 91. Either way, great music.
decimatorcortez 2 years ago
i think Pete's point then was that he doesn't give a sh*t what anyone thinks about his own sexuality. that comes through on this album also. takes a real man to say that.
mouser98k 2 years ago 3
Comment removed
mousefloor1 2 years ago
I believe he wrote this for Bette Midler originally, so i dont think it has a thing to do with his childhood abuse or homosexual tendencies.
Bloodshock 2 years ago
Exactly right. And Midler turned down the song.
qdog568 2 years ago
This is on one hand one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and on the other hand one of the most disturbing songs ever written. Genius can be a wondeful gift, but also a curse.
waveneywally 2 years ago
I can't agree with your more.
This song sends shivers up my spine and gives me goose bumps.
normau12 2 years ago 2
Could someone please upload Empty Glass?!
einysjame 2 years ago
ALL of Pete's solo work is fabulous! :)
Brzezickigirl 3 years ago 2
great song. great album....
peters9nine 3 years ago
Always adored this song. Beautiful and odd - what a combination. Spiritual and earthy. Much like Pete himself.
The piano is gorgeous, tinkling... like rain. The lyrics haunting.
Medicboy said it well about the multiple intepretations.
Nur100etc 3 years ago 3
i remember thinking at the time how he seem so long removed from The Who. that was 28 yrs ago.
hebber1961 3 years ago
pass the cognac!
pennyfritz 3 years ago
I've heard "The perfume nearly beats the taste." :)
cheappassion 2 years ago
I might be wrong, but i always thought that this was a love song written from the female point of view. which makes it a much more interesting piece from the artist who was obviously a male.
johnjohn302 3 years ago
It was written for Bette Midler at her request and SHE NEVER SANG IT!!
germurph51 3 years ago
This is one one the eeriest compositions I have ever heard. The lyrics are frightening, yet the ethereal melody is irresistable. Kitten is right, this artist is truly a genius! What a song!
gracelier 3 years ago 4
Thanks for your input, gracelier. Your commentary was much better written than mine, so thank you again! "Frightening lyrics, with an irresistibly compelling tune that induces people to WANT to explore...whatever frightens them? I hope you dont mind that I played with your comments; Im coming through a bad time, as a family member recently died. Peace to you; you seem nice.
kitten1955 3 years ago
Teflon65 has a good point as well. This song can be seen as being a "confession" of sorts, concerning abuse. Yet he still got through his demons, if you want to call it that. Perhaps we'll never know for sure, but it's nice to know we all agree this song is beautiful, this man can compose songs that still stir debate after 30+ years, and he still makes us think. Peace to all.
kitten1955 3 years ago
funny... I'm not remotely religious but I'd never seen this one as anything but a religious... jesus type thing.
looking at it again 20 years on I can see the possibilities of all kinds of dare I say... abuse..?
whatever the influence... what a song?
what a song x
vixxie2 3 years ago
I dont think its any secret that pete had probably experienced some abuse during his childhood. Having said that it never entered my mind in this song until you mentioned it. a haunting and erriesong to say the least. Could be, could be>
clashlc 3 years ago
The piano/keyboards, on this track, are wonderful. In retrospect, this could be about some encounter Pete had, with an Uncle Ernie type, or it could be about a gay encounter, or it could be from a woman's point of view, or darn near anything. Very confessional tone.
Teflon65 3 years ago
Has anyone ever considered the following: this song might have been composed by Pete Townshend after a true vision he experienced? I'm only saying this because I felt a chill go down my spine when I first heard this song, many years ago.
He also touched upon this theme in his song "Pure and Easy." Again, he's found "one note" that he responds to, in which he can express himself (and, we're to find our individual notes ourselves). At any rate, I think the man is a genius!
kitten1955 3 years ago
lilyx7 has got to get facts straight (forgive the pun) And I moved was probably written for Bette Midler (as Pete has claimed a number of times!!) Check Rolling Stone mag's interview with him promoting Empty Glass. And yeah he may very well be gay (married once or twice kids etc.) But he's no pedo. Total exoneration. No he is not on your registry. Beautiful song. i have seduced more sober girls because of this song than drunk girls to any other! lol
Mugsycache14567 3 years ago
That's how I got it- it was written for Bette Midler. I was a huge fan back then who read everything coming out of Pete in interviews-
did so from about 1971-80.
germurph51 3 years ago
From the book Rock Lives by Timothy White (An interviewer)
Tim-"was rough boys written for the who?"
Pete Townsend- " No, no how could Rough boys be written for the Who? ROUGH BOYS IS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY.ROUGH BOYS WAS A SORT OF COMING OUT THAT I'D HAD A BISEXUAL LIFE AND THAT I UNDERSTOOD WHAT GAY SEX WAS ABOUT.I WROTE ANOTHER SONG ABOUT HOMOSEUALITY CALLED
AND I MOVED.
Accept it, most rock stars from his era were experimenting, they were'nt uptight like we are today about it.
lilyx7 3 years ago
This is one of the greatest albums of all time. Every song is great. This is a prime example. You never here it on the radio, but it is as good as any number one song that has ever been played on the radio. Peace.
makingsense53 3 years ago
This just in: You know the guy who made that statue of David? Totally not gay or bi, just a misunderstood fraternity prank. Seriously. 'Cause if he's gay or something, it kinda ruins it, right?
bigtall2001 3 years ago
i don't know.... "he laid me back just like an empty dress"??? sounds kinda gay. i don't want it to be cause it's a great tune.
hebber1961 3 years ago
Ahhh, damn, that's beautiful. I haven't heard that song in almost 20 years. Thank you, thank you.
raymisra 3 years ago
This song is not about sex; gay, straight or bi, etc! This is a spiritual love song for his Indian Guru Meher Baba! You have to hear not just listen. However, like all good writers; Townshend's lyric is simple and ambiguous enough for multiple readings and interpretations.
mediciboy1 3 years ago
A classic rock album. My college roommate (a straight guy) and I (a gay guy) would take turns blaring it through giant padded headphones. I'd play the side with all the gay material, he'd play the side with all the straight material -- truly, Pete was responsible for keeping the peace in my college apartment. As for whether Mr. Townshend's really bi or not, I guess it depends on which interview you're reading.
bigtall2001 3 years ago
one of the gayest songs ever....but it's still one of my all-time favs!
yougofuckyourself 3 years ago
no, that would be anything by pet shop boys
hebber1961 3 years ago
how about Smallboy Town by Bronski Beat?
yougofuckyourself 3 years ago
Astounding song by Pete.....and he isn't bisexual, that i what i thought when i first heard this song two years ago, but i learned that he was sexuallt abused as a child.... :(
Poor Pete! he is so amazing and so is this album and song.... :)
JohnnyDepp5115 3 years ago
The song is about him being sexually abused as a child.
rszelen 3 years ago
My favorite Townshend song: churning, that beautiful piano, and such strange lyrics.
thrash5409 3 years ago 2
how no one figured out he was bisexual from this song is beyond me.
bartleby2007 3 years ago
................................
bobbrun46 3 years ago
FANTASTIC STUFF!
teethingp 3 years ago
great lp any chance of posting rest of it
bobbrun46 4 years ago
Who is on the piano??
vonknackertrasher 4 years ago
John "Rabbit" Bundrick
DanielMumby 3 years ago
this song and all the songs from this album moved me, a classic and thank you Pete, for giving me this wonderful gift.
jovalivlia 4 years ago
One of the few albums in music where ALL the songs are great!
TheLatigoKid 4 years ago
Gawd, I love this albim. This song always breaks my heart with it's lyrics and emotion.
JessieDallton 4 years ago
Beautiful, if you don't pay attention to the dodgy lyrics. Just concentrate on the phenomenal piano and the *sound* of Pete's voice, and you'll find it 3:12 well spent.
vonknackertrasher 4 years ago
i love pete, but i think he was molested as a child.
worldglobe1 4 years ago
correct - very torment that drove his genious
and love for the band
frododarg 4 years ago
yeah,therefore he was recherching in the net for find the key to the memory of that in his life
KIESRICHARD 4 years ago
I'm sure I read that Bette Middler commissioned this song from Pete, then rejected it!
germurph51 4 years ago
I read the same thing. Not sure if it is true but if so she made a mistake.
tranquilatus 4 years ago
One of my favourite Pete songs. rabbit is kicking butt!
BrickLaneBetty 4 years ago 2
GORGEOUS.
Nur100etc 4 years ago
This and "I am an Animal" are my favourites from Townshend. Most of the other stuff on Empty Glass is good, too (and 'Dig' from the Iron Man, great song).
Tranchera 4 years ago
I love this song... it is like a waltz in my mind
slotwinski1414 4 years ago 2
Glad you like it. It's my personal favorite by Pete Townshend.
tranquilatus 4 years ago
hmm, I can't decide... I also really like White City Fighting (the guitar at the start reminds me of some type of... old renessaince theme)... but I like most of the acoustic stuff on Who Came First, that is a real nice album
slotwinski1414 4 years ago