Roger Daltrey Names The Who Song Pete Townshend Hated

The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey was interviewed by Coda Collection, during which he shared the band’s musical journey. He recalled when he performed an iconic The Who song and said that the band’s guitarist Pete Townshend didn’t like it all and explained the main reason behind it.

As you may know, The Who released their sixth studio album and second rock opera entitled ‘Quadrophenia’ on October 26, 1973. The whole album was written and composed by Pete Townshend and explored the story of a young man named Jimmy and his journey looking for self-worth. Its unique style drew great attention and received very positive reviews from its fans and music critics.

In the album’s iconic song ‘Love, Reign o’er Me,’ Pete Townshend wanted to reflect the main character Jimmy’s suicidal tendencies, which were ultimately erased after his spiritual healing and discovering the meaning of being an adult through love. On the other hand, the band’s lead singer Roger Daltrey had a different perspective toward the song, and according to him, it reflected sexuality and orgasm.

Therefore, Pete Townshend, who wrote the song to portray the pure and innocent love, hated it when Daltrey performed ‘Love, Reign o’er Me,’ in his own way. The lead singer revealed that he was devastated by the guitarist’s harsh reaction to his performance, but Daltrey insisted he couldn’t sing it like famous pop musician Dusty Springfield.

Daltrey shared his ideas, saying:

When he heard ‘Love, Reign o’er Me,’ he hated it. I felt devastated. Maybe it could be better. He heard it as a quiet love song, but I heard the ‘Love, Reign o’er Me,’ main theme as the orgasm, a primal thing that we are born out of. It could be just love, and you can’t get like Dusty Springfield saying that.”

You can listen to the song below.