Talk:My Generation

Vandalism
While it made me laugh out loud, the claim that Townshend came up with the song's famous lyric because he heard an old painter muttering "I hope these dry before it gets cold" is certainly spurious. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.224.54.60 (talk) 14:22, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Cleanup
I removed the cleanup notice. I believe the information it referred to had already been removed. Sensation002 01:53, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Should the Green Day categorization be removed?
Just wondering. This wasn't an original Green Day song, so... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Squid Vicious (talk • contribs) 21:53, 5 January 2006
 * The song was actually covered by Green Day on the Sweet Children EP. That EP comes on the same disc as kerplunk now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.94.145.133 (talk • contribs) 18:06, 24 August 2006

Magic Bus as Prototype
I'm having trouble finding out when the title track of "Magic Bus" was recorded. The song is identical in structure and melody to "My Generation. It only differs in beat and lyrics. I'm trying to figure out if it is prototype to My Generation or did it come later as just a rehash?--Mark 2000 06:49, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

The Zimmers
I have added the Zimmers' to the list of notable covers. --82.11.32.93 16:00, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

"Fade Away"/"Fuck off"
I have never heard of Roger saying "fuck off" instead of "fade away." Can someone provide evidence for this? Sensation002 18:47, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
 * On Live at Leeds he quite clearly says "fuck off". --Bruce1ee (Talk) 06:20, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Sorry to bother you, but I have the album and I listened to the song multiple times and I cannot find this. do you mind providing a specific time in the song, just for my clarity?  Sensation002 15:24, 30 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately I don't have my copy of Live at Leeds anymore but I can remember those words very clearly because at the time four-letter words on LPs were rare. I'm not sure which release of Live at Leeds you have but the LP I had had a 15-odd minute version of "My Generation" that becomes "See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You". But the original lyrics were supposed to be "Why don't you all f-f-f-fuck off" . Perhaps someone else can confirm (or deny) that Roger Daltrey does replace "f-f-fade away" with "f-f-fuck off" on Live at Leeds. --Bruce1ee (Talk) 09:46, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
 * No, he sings that verse twice, and very clearly sings "fade away" both times. I have listened to it this very moment. &mdash; B.Bryant 11:55, 31 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Just as a side note, he does say, "fuck off" at the end of Young Man Blues on the same record. Sensation002 13:28, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

I'm listening to Live at Leeds now. Yes, Daltrey ends Young Man Blues with "sweet fuck all". However, he sings "fade away" in My Generation. I assume that the legend arose because people vaguely remembered hearing the word fuck on the album, but were unwilling to sit through all fourteen tedious, self-indulgent minutes of My Generation to make sure where it was.

With regards to "But the original lyrics were supposed to be "Why don't you all f-f-f-fuck off" ", the first source is a user comment at Songfacts.com, which is a totally unreliable source, and the second source qualifies this with "supposedly", which is the language of weakness.

Bruce1ee's "On Live at Leeds [Daltrey] quite clearly says "fuck off"" and his subsequent rapidy retreat from this position, which is now preserved on this talk page for all eternity, damages his credibility terribly and will undoubtedly be used against him in any further disputes in which he chooses to participate.


 * There is no need to be patronising. Looks like he made an honest mistake. Assume good faith. exolon 22:59, 7 October 2005 (UTC)


 * For someone with such a prissy writing style, he can't even spell "rapidly". -Ashley Pomeroy 13:42, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure Pete Townshend was aware of the word fuck in 1965, and I can imagine someone hearing the song for the first time in 1965 might have been shocked or surprised by the stuttering f-f-f-; and I'm doubly sure that Thownsend was fully aware that he couldn't possibly include the f-word in a pop single, and he didn't. The MC5 had enough trouble with the word motherfuckers in 1969, and they were an underground band. When was the first f-word used, uncensored, on a mainstream rock record put out by a major label? John Lennon had a potty mouth, but that was a couple of years hence.
 * So far as I know, it was on Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane. "Up against the wall, motherfucker!"  Big stink with the company, but they got their way.
 * Kalisphoenix

Besides which, "Why don't you all fuck off" doesn't fit the song's rhythm, and I'm sure that 'fade away' was a reference to the Rolling Stones' Not Fade Away. -Ashley Pomeroy 20:14, 20 August 2005 (UTC)


 * In the movie Quadrophenia, the mods listen to My Generation at a party and they all sing it "f-f-fuck off," although the recording probably does not say that. They also listen to The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" and sing "so I masterbate at night" instead of "so I can't sleep at night." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.128.217.184 (talk • contribs) 02:08, 5 January 2006

....As this question is still being asked in 2018, my husband was a mod and apparently when the song was played at mod nightclubs and the line 'fade away', came up, everyone there shouted 'FUCK OFF!' They couldn't hear Townshend!

Fair use rationale for Image:MyGenerationUK.jpg
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BetacommandBot 06:01, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Cleanup: Notable covers
How does the notable covers section need to be cleaned up? Hyacinth (talk) 21:59, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It doesn't. That's what "Notable Covers" sections are supposed to look like. And that other tag ("Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided") under the "In popular culture" section, needs to go as well. There is nowhere else in the entry that the section outlining the effect of "My Generation" in popular culture could go. Some Wiki contributors the moment they see a section titled "In culture", they tag it! -The Gnome (talk) 23:07, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Notability
I think these days more people are familiar with the Limp Bizkit song. It's a lot heavier. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.40.118.28 (talk) 08:25, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Bass solo
According to the liner notes of the sound track to The Kids Are Alright, the solo was in fact performed on a Damelectro, and that it was the third one Entwistle bought. Middle Eye 512 (talk) 21:30, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm looking at the Genrea
and am not happy with either heavy metal, stoner rock. Wikipedia describes Stones rock as something started in 1990s, and the Who don't (opinion) really fit as Heavy Metal either. Carptrash (talk) 00:21, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

I am wondering
if the section in Popular Culture that reads:
 * "In a 2009 Pepsi commercial used to promote their new logo"

should read, "The song was used in a 2009 Pepsi commercial used to promote their new logo?" Since I never heard the ad I am not inclined to make this change. Carptrash (talk) 14:19, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

Notable Covers & Popular Culture
There are problems with both these sections, despite what is said in the above section.


 * 1)  They are both entirely uncited.  This is never good.
 * 2) What criteria is being used to decide which covers are "notable"?  Currently it appears that anyone can list any cover they know of.  They don't need to make it verifiable or demonstrate any notability.
 * 3) The "in popular culture" section is 90% trivia of no significance. It demonstrates no, or very little, impact of the song on popular culture. It is amply demonstrated in other parts of the article that the song is well-known and popular, so it's news to no-one that, amazingly, it can be heard on TV and in films.  No-one is ever going to read the entirety of this undesirable list format because it says very little of interest.

As of Dec. 9, 2013, there are no covers shown in the article, although there is a category listing for Patti Smith songs. I remember the Patti Smith cover with John Cale playing bass. Also, should there be mention of songs that refer to "My Generation", such as Generation X's "Your Generation" and Sham 69's "Whose Generation"? Jtyroler (talk) 10:00, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

-- Escape Orbit (Talk) 18:24, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
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Why are we having reverts on the "Personnel" section?
Is there any doubt that this is Townshend, Daltry, Moon and Entwistle? I his bio Pete mentions three of them but not Moon. I am going to use that as a source. Pleae feel free to join in the discussion. Carptrash (talk) 20:36, 5 January 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 16 November 2020

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: not moved --  JHunterJ (talk) 13:44, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

– According to stats of the this year and of the last 90 days, the album is viewed more than the song. However, the song is also more well known, yet the album has plenty of notable songs, including ones that the band covered. If you can search for books and articles, the song will be more likely referenced recently. For a better compromise, the dabpage should take over the base title. George Ho (talk) 10:31, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * My Generation → My Generation (song)
 * My Generation (disambiguation) → My Generation
 * Oppose, well, in talking about my generation (and the song), the lead sentence includes "The song was named the 11th greatest song by Rolling Stone on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll." The song was released as a stand-alone single months before the album, and although the album is also prominent readers will reach it, as they have been, from the hatnote or text link. Having all readers so through the disamb page seems excessive page-jumping. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:54, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * AutoComplete and search results via search engines also contribute to views of the album article as well as the song one. BTW, I'm not convinced that reception from US-based establishments (Rolling Stones, VH1, Grammy Hall of Fame), even as highest prestige (or esteemed?), should be one of reasons to oppose the proposal. I'm looking at NME (UK) blog post, which I'm planning to insert soon. George Ho (talk) 22:52, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Support per nom, no clear primary topic given that the album gets more views and there are several other uses on the DAB page.  Crouch, Swale  ( talk ) 19:17, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Support per nom.--Ortizesp (talk) 20:33, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Randy Kryn. The song is listed variously as #11 and #13 of all time, and meanwhile the album failed to chart in the US and peaked at #5 in the UK. There is a clear winner here in terms of cultural significance, especially as the song has only some 40% more pageviews than the album (I personally try to use at least 100% more when seeking to change a primary topic). — HTGS (talk) 21:19, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Those chart performances were part of first-run (i.e. initial). They do not (severely) affect how American and British critics view the album in later years (My Generation (album)). --George Ho (talk) 22:52, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. Using an apples to apples comparison though, the album is 237/500 and the song is 11/500 per Rolling Stone. If you have some other comparison that contradicts that, I’m happy to hear it, but I think Rolling Stone at least demonstrates the relative relationship, even if you don’t like their absolute rankings. — HTGS (talk) 18:52, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Randy Kryn.  White venom 187 talk to me 21:40, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose, malformed. (CC) Tb hotch ™ 01:54, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * What about Thriller (album) and others listed at WP:PDAB? George Ho (talk) 03:27, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * It should be My Generation (The Who song) then which I also support views don't show an overwhelming difference (5,359 v 955)[].  Crouch, Swale  ( talk ) 10:33, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * If this is not primary over this, or this over this, I don't see why we should move it were proposed. (CC) Tb hotch ™ 19:52, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Crouch's alt proposal is plausible, but I am uncertain whether more precision is necessary, especially for readers. George Ho (talk) 00:08, 18 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Oppose. Isn't the album, in fact, named after the song? Carptrash (talk) 04:47, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose. The song is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC in respect of long-term significance. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 08:45, 20 November 2020 (UTC)


 * The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Release date
In the article for the song "My Generation," the release date in listed as 29 October 1965, but in the sidebar for the album the release date is listed as 5 November 1965. CltNC830 (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 23:24, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

What is “00000007”?
When you go to see the singles chronology, for the release year of this single instead of “1965” it says a bunch of 0’s followed by a singular 7. Is this a joke????????? I hope someone cleans this up. Tengoritmo (talk) 19:12, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Garage rock
Hi,

I was wondering if we can put in garage rock in this page; considering it has the qualities of a garage rock song and is noted by the sources, though is there a way we can put it in there? 203.185.244.152 (talk) 11:47, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Key
In the composition section there's a picture of the first 2 lines of the vocal melody written on sheet music. It's in F major, but the song (as mentioned later in that section) is up a step in G major. Should this be changed? Sallysballs (talk) 20:31, 6 July 2024 (UTC)