Trick of the Light (The Who song)

"Trick of the Light"
Single by The Who
from the album Who Are You
B-side	"905"
Released	2 December 1978 (US)
Format	7"
Recorded	30 September 1977
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	4:06 (Original mix) 4:45 (1996 remix) 3:37 (Single edit)[1]
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	John Entwistle
Producer(s)	Glyn Johns & Jon Astley
The Who singles chronology
"Who Are You" (1978) "Trick of the Light" (1978) "Long Live Rock" (1979) Who Are You track listing 9 tracks Side one "New Song" "Had Enough" "905" "Sister Disco" "Music Must Change" Side two "Trick of the Light" "Guitar and Pen" "Love Is Coming Down" "Who Are You"

"Trick of the Light" is a song written by bassist John Entwistle for The Who's eighth studio album, Who Are You. The lyrics describe fear of being sexually inadequate in the face of a prostitute.^[2] It features a guitar-like assault throughout the song, described by Pete Townshend as sounding like "a musical Mac truck"^[1] and is actually Entwistle's heavily distorted eight-string Alembic bass. It was performed occasionally on The Who's 1979 tour with Entwistle on eight-string and Townshend playing one of Entwistle's Alembic basses used on the 1975-1976 tours. It made its return to the setlist in 1989, with Townshend originally on electric guitar on the two Toronto dates in June and acoustic guitar for the rest of the tour. It was disliked by Roger Daltrey, who thought that although it had clever lyrics, it was too long.^[1] On the original recording and in its 1979/1980 performances, Daltrey sang the lead vocal; in 1989 Entwistle sang it.

References