# Your favorite The Who song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972 "2015-11-08T00:22:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/1 "2015-11-08T00:22:23Z")
I thought I’d go with a bit more mass appeal this time. (I’m picking artists that are heavily represented in my music collection, by the way. Next week, maybe Tom Waits or Mark Knopfler.) Despite its massive overplay on the radio, and its overuse in other places, that the best song by The Who is “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. There is no question, no doubt, no possibility except in some weird alternate reality, that if it isn’t everybody’s favorite song by The Who, it should be. This should be a short thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/2 "2015-11-08T00:36:27Z")
Sorry, no - it’s **Love, Reign o’er Me** ;). Not that your choice isn’t a perfectly cromulent one of course. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/3 "2015-11-08T00:47:19Z")
“I Can See For Miles”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/4 "2015-11-08T00:51:34Z")
“Guitar and Pen” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/5 "2015-11-08T00:58:28Z")
Eminence Front. I like it more than WGFA, but it is close. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/6 "2015-11-08T01:00:34Z")
Eminence Front Baba O’Riley ---
**Author:** ![scoots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@scoots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scoots)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/7 "2015-11-08T01:02:19Z")
Actually it’s Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. Only the third single. It’s succinct, compact and efficient. There’s no flab, every note is essential. It’s got a great, joyful riff and the lyrics sum up The Who ethos perfectly and all in under three minutes. It’s the perfect Who song. The others are too long and bloated and basically say the same thing. They could have split up right there and then after releasing that and we’d have heard all we needed to - we wouldn’t have lost any essential Who-ness from the world. [The-Who Anyway" Anyhow "Anywhere 1965 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWltppVsSXs) ---
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/8 "2015-11-08T01:08:45Z")
Happy Jack ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/9 "2015-11-08T01:13:30Z")
Pinball Wizard ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/10 "2015-11-08T01:20:36Z")
“Magic Bus.” “Substitute.” “Love, Reign o’er Me” of the ones already mentioned. I don’t even like “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” to be honest. It’s not bad, but it’s the, say, least song on their best album. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/11 "2015-11-08T01:40:17Z")
“Baba O’Riley”. Sentimental favorite: “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/12 "2015-11-08T01:42:14Z")
You Better, You Bet. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/13 "2015-11-08T01:46:51Z")
Ugh. I listened to **Who’s Next** so much as a teenager I can’t stand it any more. I was one of those classic albums I never bothered to replace when CDs came in. I still can’t get enough of their older stuff, though. I think I have to go for “Pictures of Lily,” the first great rock song about whacking off. If extended multi-song mini-operas are allowed, “A Quick One, While He’s Away.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/14 "2015-11-08T01:47:17Z")
An old one, probably the first one I ever heard: “Call me Lightning”. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/15 "2015-11-08T01:50:58Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > If extended multi-song mini-operas are allowed, “A Quick One, While He’s Away.” Sure they are, why wouldn’t they be? I must admit, I’m bewildered by the lack of a chorus of, “The OP is RIGHT!” I must be living in some weird alternate reality. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/16 "2015-11-08T01:52:18Z")
**Pure And Easy** \*We all know success when we all find our own dreams And our love is enough to knock down any walls And the future’s been seen as men try to realize The simple secret of the note in us all \* ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/17 "2015-11-08T02:05:10Z")
The stuff from Tommy, Im Free and that See Me Feel Me montage. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/18 "2015-11-08T02:06:39Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > If extended multi-song mini-operas are allowed, “A Quick One, While He’s Away.” This. Also, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (including the “Listening to You” _Tommy_ conclusion). I also like “Love Ain’t for Keeping.” (Great description of “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” scoots.) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/19 "2015-11-08T02:10:11Z")
Behind Blue Eyes ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972/20 "2015-11-08T02:10:54Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I must admit, I’m bewildered by the lack of a chorus of, “The OP is RIGHT!” I must be living in some weird alternate reality. Nah. We just all really, really hate “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-the-who-song/736972.md?page=2)