Editing My Generation (section)

==Composition==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2019}}
The song's lyrics comprise a distilled statement of youthful rebellion. The's song's melody and composition is considered a forebear to [[punk rock]]. One of the most quoted—and patently rewritten—lines in rock history is "I hope I die before I get old," famously sneered by lead singer [[Roger Daltrey]].

Like much of The Who's earlier [[Mod (subculture)|Mod]] output, the song showcases influences of American [[rhythm and blues]], most explicitly in the [[Call and response (music)|call and response]] form of the verses. Daltrey would sing a line, and the backing vocalists, [[Pete Townshend]] (low harmony) and [[John Entwistle]] (high harmony), would respond with the refrain "Talkin' 'bout my generation":

[[File:My Generation vocal melody with response.PNG|thumb|400px|right|"My Generation" vocal melody with call and response. {{audio|My Generation vocal melody with response.mid|Play}}]]

<blockquote><poem>
People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we g-g-get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
</poem></blockquote>

The vocal melody of "My Generation" is an example of the [[shout-and-fall]] [[modal frame]]. This call and response is mirrored in the instrumental break with solo emphasis passing from Townshend's guitar to Entwistle's bass and back again several times.
[[File:John Lee Hooker two.jpg|thumb|Roger Daltrey's famous lyrical approach in "My Generation" was inspired by bluesman [[John Lee Hooker]]]]
Another salient aspect of "My Generation" is Daltrey's delivery: an angry and frustrated [[Stuttering|stutter]]. Various stories exist as to the reason for this distinct delivery. One is that the song began as a slow [[talking blues]] number without the stutter (in the 1970s it was sometimes performed as such, but with the stutter, as "My Generation Blues"), but after being inspired by [[John Lee Hooker]]'s "Stuttering Blues", Townshend reworked the song into its present form. Another reason is that it was suggested to Daltrey that he stutter<ref>{{cite magazine|title= The Who's 20 best songs, chosen by Roger Daltrey |magazine= [[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |page= 3 |date= 24 February 2015 |access-date= 25 May 2019 |url= https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/roger-daltrey-s-track-by-track-guide-to-the-who-s-greatest-hits-28335/3}}</ref> to sound like a British mod on [[Amphetamine|speed]] (amphetamines). It is also proposed, albeit less frequently, that the stutter was introduced to give the group a framework for implying an expletive in the lyrics: "Why don't you all fff ... fade away!" However, producer [[Shel Talmy]] insisted it was simply "one of those happy accidents" that he thought they should keep. Roger Daltrey has also commented that he had not rehearsed the song prior to the recording, was nervous, and he was unable to hear his own voice through the monitors. The stutter came about as he tried to fit the lyrics to the music, and Talmy decided it worked well enough to keep.<ref name="DayinMusic">{{cite web|title= My Generation – Why Don't You All F-Fade Away |website= This Day in Music |date= 17 August 2018 |access-date= 20 September 2021 |url= https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/liner-notes/the-who-my-generation/}}</ref> The BBC initially refused to play "My Generation" because it did not want to offend people who stutter, but it reversed its decision after the song became more popular.<ref>{{cite web|first= Jeremy |last= Allen |title= 8 songs banned by the BBC for the strangest of reasons |publisher= [[BBC Music]] |date= 26 October 2017 |access-date= 8 December 2019 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/46f837da-9ffa-494d-94e7-c7ffb0781bea}}</ref>

The instrumental elements of the song are fast and aggressive. Significantly, "My Generation" also featured one of the first bass solos in rock history.<ref>{{cite book|first= Per Elias |last= Drabløs |year= 2016 |title= The Quest for the Melodic Electric Bass: From Jamerson to Spenner |publisher= [[Routledge]] |page= 40 |isbn= 978-1-4724-3482-1 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ODKrCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40}}</ref> This was played by Entwistle on his [[Fender Jazz Bass]],<ref>{{cite web|title= Jazz bass (serial no. L89716) |publisher= [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date= 20 September 2021 |url= https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/753541}}</ref> rather than the [[Danelectro]] bass he wanted to use; after buying three Danelectros with rare thin strings that kept breaking easily (and were not available separately), a frustrated Entwistle used his Fender strung with nylon tapewound strings and was forced to simplify the solo. The song's [[Coda (music)|coda]] features drumming from [[Keith Moon]], as well, whereupon the song breaks down in spurts of guitar feedback from Townshend's [[Rickenbacker]], rather than fading out or ending cleanly on the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]]. There are two guitar parts. The basic instrumental track (as reflected on the instrumental version on the My Generation Deluxe edition) followed by Townshend's overdubs including the furious feedback on the coda. Similarly to [[The Kinks]]'s "[[You Really Got Me]]" (also produced by Shel Talmy), the song [[Modulation (music)|modulates]] from its opening key of G up to C via the keys of A and B{{music|flat}}. Townshend's guitars were tuned down a whole step for the recording.

For the band the song was the basis for an extended medley or improvisation, going on as long as fifteen minutes, as evinced by the version appearing on ''[[Live at Leeds]]''. Live recordings from 1969 to 1970 include snippets of music from ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' as well as parts of what would become "Naked Eye".

Townshend's demo version of the song (together with a demo of "[[Pinball Wizard]]") appeared on a [[flexi disc]] included in the original edition of the book ''The Who: Maximum R&B'' by Richard Barnes.<ref>{{cite book|first= Richard |last= Barnes |year= 1982 |title= The Who: Maximum R&B |publisher= Plexus Publishing |location= Medford, New Jersey, USA |page= 168 |isbn= 978-0-85965-351-0}}</ref>

The Who re-recorded the song for the ''[[Ready Steady Who]]'' EP in 1966; ultimately it was not included, and remained unissued until the 1995 remaster of ''[[A Quick One]]''. The main difference between this version and the original is that it is heavily abridged and instead of the hail of [[Audio feedback|feedback]] which closes the original, the band play a chaotic rendition of [[Edward Elgar]]'s "[[Land of Hope and Glory]]". In the album's liner notes the song is thus credited to both Pete Townshend and Elgar.