| "5.15" | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Who | |||||||||||||
| from the album Quadrophenia | |||||||||||||
| B-side | "Water" | ||||||||||||
| Released | 5 October 1973 | ||||||||||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||||||||||
| Recorded | June 1972 & '73 | ||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||||||||||
| Length | 5:00 (album version) 4:16 (Single mix) |
||||||||||||
| Label | Track Records/MCA | ||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Pete Townshend | ||||||||||||
| Producer | The Who | ||||||||||||
| The Who singles chronology | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
"5.15" (sometimes written "5:15" or "5'15") is a song written by Pete Townshend of British rock band The Who from their second rock opera, Quadrophenia (1973). The song reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart,[1] while the 1979 re-release (accompanying the film and soundtrack album) reached #45 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]
Although written as "5.15" on the single cover, on the back cover of Quadrophenia (the album from which the song is taken) it is written as "5:15".
Contents |
In the song, the main character Jimmy has taken the titular train to Brighton, consumed a lot of drugs, recollecting his life with the Mods, the cultural movement to which he belongs (even if he has dropped out for now), and their duels with the Rockers. Jimmy's memories are extremely disjointed, consisting mainly of anger, confusion, violence, sexual frustration, and rootlessness.
"5.15", like many of the songs from Quadrophenia, is self-referential - "M-m-m-my generation" is a line - and thus represents an angrily self-centered, teenage disconnection with society, family and the opposite sex. 'Jimmy' was "born in the war", that is, World War II and its aftermath, does not understand why he should care about it (or anything) in the context of his extravagant Mod values.
The studio recording shows off the originality of Keith Moon, whose drumming toward the end of the song mimics the rhythm of a train, slowing down as it enters a station. The simple power and drive of the song made it an extremely popular concert staple. A highlight of the live performances of the song from 1996 to early 2002 was an extended bass solo by John Entwistle, pushing the song toward or past the ten-minute mark (the version on Live at the Royal Albert Hall album clocks in at 11:40).