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The Who — Won't Get Fooled Again
Album: Who's Next
Avg rating:
8.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 4432









Released: 1971
Length: 8:30
Plays (last 30 days): 2
We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again

The change it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!

I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie
Do ya?

Yeah!

There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
Comments (689)add comment
I just noticed that I only rated this a 9. Mea culpa, have now corrected to a 10.
 timmus wrote:

"There's an old saying in Tennessee... I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee..."




??
"There's an old saying in Tennessee... I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee..."
 ewas1 wrote:

Fuck Biden and  minions




What has that comment got to do with the Who? This is a music station, moron.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump


There'll be plenty of large nasty dudes doing that in prison.
Fantastic segue from Oliva Rodrigo's Vampire, strangely enough. 
 reallylost wrote:

This song should be played at 11.




or louder
 Highlowsel wrote:

Not that I want to get into this, but it's funny in its fashion.  The Creator, it seems, isn't with a sense of....humor?  The generation who made this song their anthem went on to be fooled upwards of 3 TIMES since this song first hit the airwaves in 1971.  I'm on the tail end of that generation, but will freely admit that as smart as we proved to be - I point to all the modern tech that stems from us - we are also probably one of the most gullible and stupid generations to have come along in some time.  We won't get fooled again?  Nah....How about

Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....




Surely the absurd idea that there is a creator god was the first time we got fooled. :O)
Fuck Biden and  minions
Pete Townshend: the 1st punk power chord guitar player. 
Keith Moon: the world's only three armed drummer. 

No other way to explain it. 
 talexb wrote:

It's 2021, and I've been working from home for 11 months. My 33 year-old step-son is in the basement, and every once in a while I'll play something loud, and he'll come upstairs and in his ADHD way say something like "That's pretty loud."

For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.

Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.



Your tale is a clear sign of great progress over generations. Your parents would have just kicked your ass. 

When I played The Who back in high school, my neighborhood listened in for free.     
 bhabrown wrote:


was that William or Aberdeen streets? we cranked this and other tracks there, and you could hear us from the Jock Joint


Wow!   So I am talking about the spring of ‘78 or ‘79.   I think it was Earl.   Might have been William 
Were you there?   Oil Thigh!!!!
Definitely a signature song from The Who and most outstanding Songs of all. 
 pwilster wrote:

I'm sorry to have to comment this, but I think we have been, in fact, fooled again, and again... and again... and again.



I think that's the point isn't it?

"Meet the new boss/pres/PM (etc etc etc), same as the ol' c..."

that's what i've always thought anyway...
 Montreal_Mort wrote:

When I was in uni in Kingston, Ontario in the latest 70s, I had a friend on a small street in the student ghetto who would regularly organize a count down where 5 houses would drop the needle at (about) the same time for this classic …. And everyone would BLAST this out the front windows!! Mayhem erupted every time!! Great memories of university (= college for the Yanks who are reading 😉)



was that William or Aberdeen streets? we cranked this and other tracks there, and you could hear us from the Jock Joint
I'm sorry to have to comment this, but I think we have been, in fact, fooled again, and again... and again... and again.
best scream ever!
When I was in uni in Kingston, Ontario in the latest 70s, I had a friend on a small street in the student ghetto who would regularly organize a count down where 5 houses would drop the needle at (about) the same time for this classic …. And everyone would BLAST this out the front windows!! Mayhem erupted every time!! Great memories of university (= college for the Yanks who are reading 😉)
I was in a downtown Tweeters, Etc or Tech HiFi in the mid-Seventies in Massachusetts on a hot summer day. The front door was propped open so music from within could draw people’s attention. At some point, someone put on this song on the biggest system and cranked it pretty loud. Everyone was groovin’ to it, and just before the big scream, they flipped the amp front panel switch from “-20 dB” to “0”, and all hell broke loose! It was so loud that a cop came in, astonished. By then, the song had ended and everyone laughed at the good times. 😄👌🏻
And God said, “Let there be ROCK!” And there was. And it was good.
 sfyi2001 wrote:

“Bye, Don!”
2023 and too many of us still be gettin’ fooled. Again.
 reallylost wrote:

This song should be played at 11.


11 was invented by this song. 
Yet we continue to get fooled again.  And again and again.   So thank goodness we have music even if it has constantly proven that we will get fooled again.  How is it that this song and countless others are even more pertinent these days?  Great tune.
We can be fooled as many times as we like it turns out. All we have to do is want to.

Yeah, play it loud.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump




WHO?
 tm wrote:

Dear Omaha - the keyboard makes this fucking tune… fuck off mr negativity


Is this really an appropriate response to someone who’s done nothing more than post an opinion about a song, that you disagree with?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There needs to be a rating higher than 10 for songs such as this 😀
Dear Omaha - the keyboard makes this fucking tune… fuck off mr negativity
I dare anyone to listen to this and NOT do the air windmill🤘🤣
 jot wrote:

Today my beloved uncle died way too young. I am crying the whole morning. He loved classic rock. Pink Floyd The Stones the Who. I want to write this here to remember Onkel Franz. I already miss you so much man. Rock on Franz. We wont get fooled again.



I am so sorry for your loss. Rock on Onkel Franz - Go show 'em how its done!
 jot wrote:

Today my beloved uncle died way too young. I am crying the whole morning. He loved classic rock. Pink Floyd The Stones the Who. I want to write this here to remember Onkel Franz. I already miss you so much man. Rock on Franz. We wont get fooled again.


So sorry for your loss.
Today my beloved uncle died way too young. I am crying the whole morning. He loved classic rock. Pink Floyd The Stones the Who. I want to write this here to remember Onkel Franz. I already miss you so much man. Rock on Franz. We wont get fooled again.
if this isnt the greatest drumming ever in a rnr song...

then what is?
yeah! 
What an intro  😲 ..... awesome

What a track ..............  😮

Truly wonderful to be a teenager in the 60's ........

❤️
67 now I can am the possisian to declair: it will last. maybe like bach or wagner
A likeable song, lots of youthful rebellion.  The long keyboard solo didn't age well, otherwise very playable still.
Glory to Arstozka! :)
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get food again
 
Yeah, all that.  And the lyrics are pretty damn good.
And yet.... We keep getting fooled....
Do Ya!
 SchoepTone wrote:

I wonder what the sound engineers thought when that final scream put the meters into solid red territory.




They probably used a  Universal Audio /Urei 1176 compressor/ limiter to prevent that!!
No foolin'.
This still needs an "11" rating button ....
 On_The_Beach wrote:

Giving the raspberry to that lying loser Trump. Love it!


basement joe...sad commentary on our country to allow him to do anything
 sfyi2001 wrote:

Giving the raspberry to that lying loser Trump. Love it!
 eileenomurphy wrote:

EXCELLENT!!  It is 5am & my coffee is kicking in! Wake up call!! In high school, I bought this album when it came out. In the morning, I would play this song, right after my alarm went off, while getting ready for school!



As did I. Really got the blood flowing and prepared me for anything high school could throw at me!  Damn, we're old!
 mjbaumann wrote:
mjbaumann wrote:


Let's Go Brandon!
 
No respect here for the Orange iciot.  And the mess he made of things, including thousands of dead Ukrainians.
I wonder what the sound engineers thought when that final scream put the meters into solid red territory.
Perhaps the greatest drum playing  ever in one song. 
News Flash!!

I've seen the video. It shows Keith with three arms, playing drums on this song.

There is no other explantion.

 mjbaumann wrote:


Let's Go Brandon!


The battle of insipid political commentary. It expresses sentiment but offers nothing. No information. Not artful. Not thoughtful. The truth is, we haven't really had a president who wasn't a complete twit since FDR.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



Let's Go Brandon!
 Highlowsel wrote:

Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....


Particularly apt in the age of tweets, tic toc; & Facebook. Oy vey!
Although I did experience the WHO in concert in Oct 1976  - (yes Keith was there) This song always reminds me of seeing Fleetwood Mac in Sept 1977, pre-concert tunes blasting - getting the audience pumped.
It was an outdoor concert, a wind storm came up and some of the speakers blew over. 
Chaos, and biting, gritty dust but the show went on. 

Good times. 
First song played on 4ZZZ way back in 1975. Things have changed so much since then and yet somehow they are still the same. This remains a brilliant rock anthem.
 carmelmik wrote:


careful there Chaos.  Look where we are now with Basement Joe, happy? The tyranny must be confronted and DJT was the one to do it.



I'm just here for the music!!!    ....To get a way from politics!!!
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



careful there Chaos.  Look where we are now with Basement Joe, happy? The tyranny must be confronted and DJT was the one to do it.
 SpencerAR wrote:


Top three, anyway.  I'm pretty certain that Steven Tyler and Robert Plant (among others) would have something to say about that "greatest" title.  

Was thinking exactly the same. But those three, that’s it then. 
 pigtail wrote:

More relevant than ever!


+1!  Yes!  This!

Wait, what the heck are you talking about?
That bass line.......
The Ox!
RIP John.
ahhhhh

the creation of the "power chord" 
 amystone wrote:


at least the greatest rock and roll scream ever recorded


Top three, anyway.  I'm pretty certain that Steven Tyler and Robert Plant (among others) would have something to say about that "greatest" title.  
In the 1970s, there were a few songs that got overplayed so much that I came to despise them. I would change the station when they came on. This was one such song. Then the years passed, and my impatience with such lack of imagination by radio programmers faded, and gradually, I began to hear--and even enjoy some of those songs, as though hearing them for the first time. This is not one of those songs.
 gillespp wrote:


#3


at least the greatest rock and roll scream ever recorded
 deepwoodskev wrote:

Greatest rock song ever recorded?



#3
EXCELLENT!!  It is 5am & my coffee is kicking in! Wake up call!! In high school, I bought this album when it came out. In the morning, I would play this song, right after my alarm went off, while getting ready for school!
GODLIKE!!! Their first tune that I ever heard was "I Can See For Miles"! It was played on AM radio, when it was released. WMCA (Good Guys). 570AM NYC.
 Highlowsel wrote:

Not that I want to get into this, but it's funny in its fashion.  The Creator, it seems, isn't with a sense of....humor?  The generation who made this song their anthem went on to be fooled upwards of 3 TIMES since this song first hit the airwaves in 1971.  I'm on the tail end of that generation, but will freely admit that as smart as we proved to be - I point to all the modern tech that stems from us - we are also probably one of the most gullible and stupid generations to have come along in some time.  We won't get fooled again?  Nah....How about

Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....




This comment had to do with climate issues not politics. 
GREAT TUNE! ...I bought the album, the first week it came out!
The best scream in rock 'n roll! And the opening of CSI Miami!
Working from home and reaching for the volume nob on the opening bars - up to 11! Moon you are so missed!
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



Yeah, sure, but the point the song is making is actually about youth who get duped by a left leaning political party who turns out to be just more of the same. It's so easy to hate your enemies. It's harder to discern which allies might not really be pursuing the ends you want. 

And, mind blowing song, of course. What Rock 'N Roll is all about.
Moon was the inspiration for the Muppets Animal Actually, while the physicality is definitely Moonish, the true inspiration for animal was Ginger Baker.
 theralph wrote:

Has anyone else noticed that the song title is won’t get fooled again but Daltry sings we don’t get fooled again? What’s up with that? Genius.



He fooled us
This will never get old.  Always a 10 no matter how many times i hear it. epic musicianship, massive energy and a lyrical message that spans generations.  Let's hope we can learn something from this little ditty.
 talexb wrote:

It's 2021, and I've been working from home for 11 months. My 33 year-old step-son is in the basement, and every once in a while I'll play something loud, and he'll come upstairs and in his ADHD way say something like "That's pretty loud."

For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.

Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.



Agreed - I saw The Who in Toronto in 1980. It was a hot and steamy August nite - they put on fantastic light show, even by today's standards, and there was lightening going off all around. This song is the defining anthem of my prolific concert-going career.
 Stetsonman wrote:

LOL 
"Fuck Donald Trump"

He sure did a number on you dumb-ass yanks, the grandson of a german immigrant.




I'm sorry your president did not get the world war he begged for but I remind you other Americans exist outside the North East. You go ahead cheering for the former guy who doesn't know a war crime from a Big Mac.
LOL 
"Fuck Donald Trump"

He sure did a number on you dumb-ass yanks, the grandson of a german immigrant.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



Agreed. And all the others on The Hill. Unless I stand corrected and there is someone honest left indeed. For using this comment section to spread your political leanings - fuck you too!   
 talexb wrote:

It's 2021, and I've been working from home for 11 months. My 33 year-old step-son is in the basement, and every once in a while I'll play something loud, and he'll come upstairs and in his ADHD way say something like "That's pretty loud."

For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.

Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.


How many times I remember turning this up and screaming with him - this was an amazing album when I first bought it - and is still fun...even if my voice cannot accompany in quite the same way... YYEEEAAAAHHH!!!
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



Rapper YG: "I like white folks, but I don't like you"

FDT
 Highlowsel wrote:

Not that I want to get into this, but it's funny in its fashion.  The Creator, it seems, isn't with a sense of....humor?  The generation who made this song their anthem went on to be fooled upwards of 3 TIMES since this song first hit the airwaves in 1971.  I'm on the tail end of that generation, but will freely admit that as smart as we proved to be - I point to all the modern tech that stems from us - we are also probably one of the most gullible and stupid generations to have come along in some time.  We won't get fooled again?  Nah....How about

Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....



Looks like we got fooled oncemore andare being taken down...
https://www.incimages.com/uplo...
 doktorkev wrote:

It's a 10........ Flat out defines rock n roll. Maybe Townshend's greatest moment





I was just thinking how iconic this song is.
Once again I am reminded of how old I am! Still great after all these years!
It's a 10........ Flat out defines rock n roll. Maybe Townshend's greatest moment



 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump


Trompez Donald Trump !
Connection between this and Hammer To Fall - The Who followed Queen at Live Aid. Both songs were performed that day. 
I this the only Who song RP plays? Seems like it. Very boring.
Pure Joy


a ten if there ever was one
 Highlowsel wrote:

Not that I want to get into this, but it's funny in its fashion.  The Creator, it seems, isn't with a sense of....humor?  The generation who made this song their anthem went on to be fooled upwards of 3 TIMES since this song first hit the airwaves in 1971.  I'm on the tail end of that generation, but will freely admit that as smart as we proved to be - I point to all the modern tech that stems from us - we are also probably one of the most gullible and stupid generations to have come along in some time.  We won't get fooled again?  Nah....How about

Pogo's anthem is probably more apt....



Agreed. We the people get the government we deserve. If we want better leaders, we should work harder at cultivating and electing better leaders. 
drumming is very good in this tune! Moon!
 fredriley wrote:

Sometimes one chord does it. As soon as that clanged pompously I was at PSD in a second. Eat your heat out, Pavlov :o)



And yet you spent the time to type this. . . .
 fredriley wrote:

Sometimes one chord does it. As soon as that clanged pompously I was at PSD in a second. Eat your heat out, Pavlov :o)

I guess that's what a flailing air guitar arm does accidentally...

 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump



This is not the place for that Asshat!  Your need to say that speaks way more about you than you're smart enough to understand.
Sometimes one chord does it. As soon as that clanged pompously I was at PSD in a second. Eat your heat out, Pavlov :o)
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Fuck Donald Trump




Eeewwww
Greatest rock song ever recorded?
 mattenuttall wrote:

Yup. The way those drums break over the synthesizer bridge; impending, the way the drum rolls in the William Tell Overture hint at something to come. In this case, those drums are leading us to the most definitive scream in musical history.... 


Moon was the inspiration for the Muppets Animal
 sfyi2001 wrote:

Given the previous 4 years this comment could NOT be less appropriate.
This song should be played at 11.
 talexb wrote:
It's 2021, and I've been working from home for 11 months. My 33 year-old step-son is in the basement, and every once in a while I'll play something loud, and he'll come upstairs and in his ADHD way say something like "That's pretty loud."

For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.

Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.
 

Did it go to eleven?
It's 2021, and I've been working from home for 11 months. My 33 year-old step-son is in the basement, and every once in a while I'll play something loud, and he'll come upstairs and in his ADHD way say something like "That's pretty loud."

For several reasons, this song must be played loud. And I expect this is going to be one of those days.

Update: He did come upstairs. And it was very loud. 10/10.
 BCarn wrote:
Still the best scream in rock n' roll.
 

I am minded to agree. Then I remember Ian Gillan on Deep Purple's 'Child in Time'.
Has anyone else noticed that the song title is won’t get fooled again but Daltry sings we don’t get fooled again? What’s up with that? Genius.
Playing this is a commitment, because we all know how it ends, and it ain't good.
Hello to whoever is looking at this page right now with me.
Daltry is my personal all time fave male rock vocalist. What a fantastic band.
More relevant than ever!
Quintessential rock song
4 band members that are masters of their  craft (Moon and Entwistle are outstanding)
anti establishment lyrics that resonate today as much as they did nearly 50 years ago.
OUTSTANDING!!
Love the Live Aid connection. The Who followed Queen at Wembley (poor buggers - they must've wondered what hit them with how good Queen were that afternoon). Both Hammer To Fall and Won't Get Fooled Again were played that day. Queen made HTF sound good. WGFA is always superb.
The words ring true today
Great segue from Anderson’s Dangerous Ones
One of those tunes recognizable from the first chord. John Entwistle on bass -Keith Moon on drums, incredible. I bought this record when I was 15 and still play it.
Still the best scream in rock n' roll.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
Fuck Donald Trump
 

are you saying you did?  or Would?

asking for a friend