Sally Simpson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Sally Simpson" | ||
---|---|---|
Song by The Who | ||
From the album Tommy | ||
Album released | 23 May 1969 | |
Recorded | September 19 1968 to March 7, 1969 | |
Genre | Rock | |
Song Length | 4:12 | |
Record label | Polydor | |
Producer | Kit Lambert | |
Tommy Album Listing | ||
Miracle Cure | Sally Simpson | I'm Free |
"Sally Simpson" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the twentieth track on the group's first rock opera, Tommy (1969). The song is written through the perspective of a young girl named Sally Simpson. Sally comes from a wealthy family, yet desires more, so she sneaks out of the house against her father's will to see one of Tommy's sermons, where she plans to jump on stage and touch him.
At the sermon (themed "Come unto me, love will find a way"), Sally attempts to jump onto the stage to touch Tommy, but her plans are foiled by a security guard, who throws her onto the floor, causing her to sustain a cut on the cheek that requires stitches.
After being carried away in an ambulance, Sally returns home, gets married to a rock star in California, but always remembers Tommy.
The storyline resembles that of Mark 5 25-34, in which an ill woman touches Jesus' robe. It is unknown if this was intended.
In the book 'Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend' by Stephen Davis, it is mentioned that Pete Townshend loosely based the song on a concert he saw. The Doors were playing and he saw Jim Morrison's stage antics and penned this song.