10 tracks
Side one "Slip Kid" "However Much I Booze" "Squeeze Box" "Dreaming from the Waist" "Imagine a Man" Side two "Success Story" "They Are All in Love" "Blue, Red and Grey" "How Many Friends" "In a Hand or a Face"

10 tracks
Side one "Slip Kid" "However Much I Booze" "Squeeze Box" "Dreaming from the Waist" "Imagine a Man" Side two "Success Story" "They Are All in Love" "Blue, Red and Grey" "How Many Friends" "In a Hand or a Face"

"Slip Kid" is a song from The Who's seventh album, The Who by Numbers. It was released as a single in the US, backed by "Dreaming from the Waist." "Slip Kid" was on the following compilation albums: The Story of The Who (1976), Hooligans (1981), 30 Years of Maximum R&B (1994) and The Who Hits 50! (2014).

"Slip Kid," like many other tracks released by The Who in the 1970s, was originally to be included in Pete Townshend's shelved Lifehouse rock opera. However, when The Who by Numbers was being created, the song was resurrected to be used in the album. A demo of this song was included on Lifehouse Chronicles.

Pete Townshend once said of the song, "'Slip Kid' came across as a warning to young kids getting into music that it would hurt them - it was almost parental in its assumed wisdom."

It starts off with a lot of percussion instruments and somebody counting, "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." After the counting, Pete Townshend's guitar comes in. The song starts with a shuffle rhythm. The music has a danceable salsa beat and includes an uncharacteristic one-note guitar solo played by Pete Townshend.Nicky Hopkins plays piano on the song. Townshend and Roger Daltrey alternate vocal lines.

The lyrics are a complaint about how it is impossible to avoid responsibility. Author Chris Charlesworth considers the song partially autobiographical, being about "a rock 'n' roll kid who's lost when he grows up." The rebellious teenager of the song learns that "there's no easy way to be free" and that this is true for everyone.

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Wikipedia