The Who: My Generation Meaning

Song Released: 1965

My Generation Lyrics

People try to put us d-down (talkin’ ’bout my generation)
Just because we 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...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jan 31st 2006 !⃝

   This song is about the 60s... and how at this time generational differences stood in stark contrast... more conservative and slightly befuddled parents on the right, and their hippie/liberal/anti-war/free love children on the left.
   So what he's saying is basically just a shout out to everyone in his generation, and he's talking about how people were trying to put the younger generation down and criticize their lifestyle choices, ideas, activism, music tastes, etc. because they were new and different and so the older generation got a bit scared and confused and wondered where the heck they went wrong.
   And he bascially concludes "I'm not tryin to make a big sensation/... Just talkin bout my generation."
   He's just trying to point out that his generation isn't any better or worse than anybody else's... It's just his generation and he doesn't think people should decide they're all wrong because they aren't comfortable with the way the new generation does things.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Nov 26th 2006 !⃝

   The reason Roger stutters is to express the frustration every generation feels when trying to deal with the previous.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 23rd 2008 !⃝

   Song isn't about hippies and acid, they were Mods from England, a completely different movement. Townsend has even stated that he didn't think much of the hippies.
   
   The stuttering is a device to show frustration, not that they're drugged up, and in fact wasn't even introduced to the song until halfway through the recording process.
   
   Try learning something about them first before you make all kinds of assumptions, there are plenty of documentaries and books out there.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 30th 2017 !⃝

   About the Generation Part of the 60'S Teenagers with Who many of them grew up in the shadows of their Older Peers, listening to their life stories of World War 2 experiences. About why and who caused what. Realizing that their older Peers and ideologies were embedded with some bad ideas of the 'ism's that were originally conjured up and taught by radical left wing Je[w]suits who from the beginning started this kind of luciferian indoctrination that came to be used on them and us for power and control by war with names of Marx,Lenin,Stalin, Churchhill,Hitler,Mussolini,Mao,Roosevelt etc., All to use with and against those men in those countries and ours that led to another war of World War 2. So these many new Generation kids came to the conclusion that the old Generation Leaders and their older Peers were crazy madmen that followed and believed somebody else's unChristian ideas that led millions of innocent people to their death. So many of these kids in the new Generation just wanted to do their own kind of thinking when experiencing life, if it was with sex,drugs and rock and roll or not. Either way They were usually put down for being different and rebellious. And even when trying to explain themselves why they did and do the things they do, They usually felt INTIMIDATED WITH FEAR and assumed guilt that They were doing something wrong in the presence of their older peers who had/has been taught with a mean Leftist Indoctrination punch. Which the more affected the kids in My Generation to stutter and stutter. Especially if and when They tried to say something important or speak out of Their mouths in hope that They would be loved and understood.
5. anonymous

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   Mar 20th 2017 !⃝

   The stuttering was to imitate a member of parliament, who had a stutter, and was very vocal about the "out of control youth of the period". This member of Parliament is seen in many old BBC clips, vocalizing his distain for the rebellious youth.
6. Randyi69

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   Jul 23rd 2012 !⃝

   Ringo if there is a dope here its you, Roger doe's not stutter that was him holding back what he knew we would understand without the censers knowing he was telling the squares to all f..k off Peter was a bit pissed off at the older generation because they did not understand his way of seeing things.
   And just a little extra,Roger had just been hired as the singer (Peter never got along with any of his singers so fired them)they recorded my generation and Peter fired Roger but the song hit number 1 and their manager told him they had to hire him back or there music would never get to the general public and that was more importin to peter then having to deal with a man he thought was a egomaniac. It was never about the money it was about Peter being heard by the masses, believed he would change the world with his songs (he was the one with the ego)
7. anonymous

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   Feb 9th 2012 !⃝

   This song addresses the older generations distaste towards the teens at the time. The teens were made out to be direspectful and drug addicts. It is also said that the Queen mother ordered Townshend to move his hearse off a street because it ruined her view. The stutter is also said to be a depiction of a British kid on Meth, it also gave the song sort of an explicit appeal.
8. anonymous

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   Oct 3rd 2007 !⃝

   As a few of you said this song is about the 60's, and also how young people don't want to be old and be like their parents.
   
   I also agree with the anonymous person before me on the "fade away" part.
9. anonymous

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   Jun 30th 2007 !⃝

   I'm not really sure but I sometimes feel like he stutters because he actually wants to say something else like:
   "People try to put us to death" instead of "down" or
   "Why don’t you all fu** you" instead of "fade away"
   but I think I'm probably wrong :)
10. anonymous

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    Mar 31st 2007 !⃝

    The stuttering refers to how in their generation, drugs, in this case speed, were popular, so the song is sung as though daltrey were on drugs.
11. anonymous

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    Feb 8th 2007 !⃝

    why do pot heads feel the need to comment on every song and say that theyre talking about drugs. Hes just singing with a stutter to give himself some personality. This song absolutely has nothing to do with drugs.
12. anonymous

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    Nov 19th 2006 !⃝

    Smitch, I think the last thing the who were focused on was money. That's the problem with the music industry today. They definitely were not trying to make "cash" through their songwriting.
13. anonymous

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    Oct 19th 2006 !⃝

    It's about Roger's addiction to meth and how he stuttered and said I hope I dnt die old ...........(retards!!1)
14. ringo

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    Jun 13th 2006 !⃝

    You dopes? LOL......Pete Townsend doesn't stutter; Roger Daltrey does!
15. anonymous

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    May 25th 2006 !⃝

    All you guys are dead wrong. This song is about the 60’s, but that is not the only thing it is about. It is mostly about how that generation of kids was experimenting with acid and other mind-altering drugs. That is why in the song Pete stutters when saying, “my g-g-g-generation”. This is because that generation of kids was into drugs and the stuttering makes it clear that they were getting stupid from the drugs. That is basically what the song is about, nothing much more than that. U dopes.
16. anonymous

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    Mar 16th 2006 !⃝

    The who sung this song as they believed that their generation were different to those of the past as they were sexually restrained where as the who's generation gained a lot more freedom in the sac.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
17. smitch

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    Mar 8th 2006 !⃝

    Personally, I believe the Who wrote this song to live on forever. It's a brilliant song about any youth generation. The line, "I hope I die before I get old," rings through society today. All of youth's greatest fear is becoming like their parents, and becoming old can be taken literally as said or taken from a different angle like so: becoming "old" is no longer having fun with life, and life becoming a waste and no one wants that. The Who, especially Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend were amazing song writers, and they knew if they wrote this song it would live through the "generations", therefore the Who living on, and them making a lot of cash.
18. anonymous

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    Jan 28th 2006 !⃝

    This song is how his generation is so different.

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