Drowned (song)
| "Drowned" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Who | |
| from the album Quadrophenia | |
| Released | October 19, 1973 |
| Recorded | May 1972 and June 1973, Olympic Studios, London (except "The Kitchen" in Battersea, London in Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio) |
| Genre | Rock, hard rock |
| Length | 5:26 |
| Label |
Track/Polydor (UK) Track/MCA (US) |
| Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend |
| Producer(s) | The Who, Kit Lambert, Glyn Johns |
| Quadrophenia track listing | |
|
17 tracks
|
|
"Drowned" is a song written by Pete Townshend, the guitarist for The Who, for their sixth album, Quadrophenia.
Music critic Chris Charlesworth describes "Drowned" as a "tough blues-based rocker." He states that the band loved to play it live since it was less complex than other songs from Quadrophenia.Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh describes the song as among the most interesting on the album. Who biographer John Atkins views the song as having "such purity of essence" that it may be the "quintessential Quadrophenia performance." He describes it as being "simple and direct" without needed "cleverness," dramatic musical effects or complex arrangements."
The oldest song featuring on Quadrophenia ("Joker James", though hailing from the Tommy era, did not feature on the album), "Drowned" was initially written as an ode to Meher Baba in early 1970. Townshend sang it facing the tomb of Meher Baba on his first visit to India in January 1972.
"When the tragic hero of Q[uadrophenia] sings it, it is desperate and nihilistic. In fact, it's a love song, God's love being the ocean and our 'selves' being the drops of water that make it up. Meher Baba said, 'I am the Ocean of Love.' I want to drown in that ocean, the 'drop' will then be an ocean itself."
In Quadrophenia, "Drowned" tells of how Jimmy contemplates drowning himself in the water, in the midst of his disappointment at not being able to see his hero, Ace the Face. At the end, seagulls, crowd noises and waves can be heard, along with Pete Townshend walking along singing the sixth verse of "Sea and Sand". Mike Segretto interprets the water in the song as a metaphor for God and the song itself as a metaphor for the search for spirituality, or the "quest for a tributary leading to God." Steve Grantley and Alan G. Parker interpret the song similarly. According to them, in the song Jimmy sees the ocean "as a symbol of cleansing redemption." Atkins interprets the song as representing the "freedom of release," both in the lyrics and in the music. Atkins also notes that in the song Jimmy adopts a "wider philosophy than mod conformism," which is his objective through much of the album.
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