"It's Hard" is a song written by Pete Townshend that featured on British rock band The Who's tenth album, It's Hard, of which it was the title track. It was released as the third and final vinyl single from the album in 1983, backed with the John Entwistle written song "Dangerous", but failed to chart, although it reached number 39 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. This would become the last Who single of new material until "Real Good Looking Boy" in 2004, and the last album single by them until "Black Widow's Eyes", two years later.
History
The lyrics to "It's Hard" were written long before the actual song.[2] It was originally presented to the Who in 1981 for the Who's previous album, Face Dances, in the form of a demo called "Popular", but the band's reaction was cool towards it, as the album was nearly finished at the time. The music of "Popular" was later re-written and the lyrics slightly altered and the song, as "It's Hard", was shown to the Who again and this time featured on the album. The original demo of "Popular" is featured on the Pete Townshend solo compilation album Scoop, which was released in 1983. The original mix featured an error in Townshend's opening guitar solo, which was fixed in the 1997 remix.
Live history
"It's Hard" was only performed live on the tour promoting the album in 1982, featuring Roger Daltrey on rhythm guitar, which was a very rare occasion. It was played at every concert on the tour, and featured a short full-band jam at the end. The version from the tour's final show at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on December 17 is included as a bonus track on the 1997 rerelease of It's Hard
The Who albums and videos featuring "It's Hard"
In order of release:
Personnel
- The Who
- Additional musicians
References
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| Encore Series |
- Encore Series 2002
- Encore Series 2004
- Encore Series 2006
- Encore Series 2007
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- Albums
- Associated people
- Compilation albums
- EPs
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