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Tommy (Music)
- 666 statements
- 131 feature instances
- 51 referencing feature instances
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Tommy | |
| Tommy (Music) | comment |
Tommy is the fourth studio album by The Who, released in 1969. Their best-known and most influential album, its release introduced the world to the concept of Rock Opera, made the Who into a household name in Britain and the US and propelled what had previously been a typical '60s mod band into the annals of rock history.Born at the end of World War I (World War II in the movie and Broadway versions) to a war widow, Tommy Walker is an ordinary child growing up in postwar Britain until his father, presumed dead but actually missing behind enemy lines for several years, comes home, finds his wife with her new lover, and kills him in self-defense (in the Broadway version, anyway; the movie version has the new lover kill the husband in self-defense, and the album itself leaves the nature of the event deliberately ambiguous) while Tommy witnesses it all in a mirror. Traumatized by the experience, and his parents' exhortation that "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it, you won't say nothing to no one ever in your life", Tommy is struck deaf, dumb (i.e. mute), and blind.As Tommy grows from a boy to a young man, his disability leaves him despised by his peers, and even his own family turns against him — he's beaten and tortured by his cousin, sexually abused by his uncle, and his parents consider institutionalizing him after a doctor tells them there's nothing physically wrong with him. The only things keeping Tommy sane are his memories and his "visions" — a sensation of a spirit guide showing him the true nature of the universe, which eventually manifests itself, as far as Tommy is concerned, in the most mundane of leisure activities — pinball. He becomes a "Pinball Wizard"; even though he cannot see the machine nor hear it, he can feel the vibrations of the table under his hands, which enables him to outplay and outscore anyone. He develops a fandom because of this; his celebrity making his family rich and famous.Eventually, he gains, or regains, his senses after a cathartic moment wherein the mirror in which he glimpsed the original murder is smashed. Free to speak for himself, Tommy becomes a spiritual leader to the fans he's gained through his playing and seeks to create a new religion to teach the world about the revelations he acquired during his blindness. Tommy gradually discovers that his disciples are more interested in a quick fix than spiritual enlightenment; he warns them that they can't follow him through drinking, getting high, or dropping acid, and when they beg him to give them some kind of easy spiritual key he forces them to play pinball while wearing blindfolds and earplugs. In the end, the masses rebuke and abandon him — and it is then that Tommy, broken, alone, and possibly dying, finds God.Being something that delivers plot through music, you have to make some allowances and read into it in some places. That said, it has much more continuity than many examples of Rock Opera and has a very definite plot arc embedded in the catchy tunes. The story is heavily inspired by Pete Townshend's then-recent conversion to the teachings of Meher Baba and his subsequent rejection of psychedelic drugs, a theme he would continue to explore in later albums.In addition to the original LP and several live recordings by the Who, a number of adaptations have been produced, including: A 1972 recording by the London Symphony Orchestra, with members of the Who singing various parts along with other vocalists including Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Steve Winwood, and Richard Harris. In 1972, the salsa record company Fania made this a Salsa Opera called Hommy (pronounced Ome). The story follows the same as the original, but instead of becoming a pinball player, Hommy became a conga drum master. A 1975 film directed by Ken Russell, which manages to be even more trippy than the original album. Like the LSO recording, a number of guest musicians were featured, including Elton John (whose recording of "Pinball Wizard" became a radio hit), Ann-Margret as Tommy's mother Nora, Eric Clapton and Arthur Brown as the high priests of the church of Marilyn Monroe, Oliver Reed as Tommy's "Uncle Frank" Hobbs (who in this version kills Tommy's father rather than the other way around), and Jack Nicholson, in his only singing role (barring his performance of "La Vie en Rose" in As Good as It Gets), as Tommy's doctor. Lighter and Softer than the album, with gratuitous quantities of synthesized instrumentals and lots of Large Ham moments. The soundtrack album was also released by Polydor Records as a double album and went gold in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, proving popular enough to get reissued on CD several times. A 1993 Broadway musical, composed by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff. The musical changes the song order from both the album and the movie versions and takes a completely different tack in the finale — here, it's Tommy's fans who want him to lead them to enlightenment, while Tommy believes they shouldn't put themselves through what he had to suffer, and believes that normality is the greatest gift one can have. In 2015, bluegrass band the Hillbenders covered the album as a "bluegrass opry" with all-acoustic instrumentation.See also Quadrophenia, The Who's second Rock Opera, and The Wall and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, those other incredibly influential rock operas. | |
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| Tommy (Music) | isPartOf |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_10e866aa | type |
Fangirl | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_10e866aa | comment |
"Sally Simpson" is a song about the titular girl, who believes Tommy to be the new messiah. She's a Fangirl, but it's treated like a schoolgirl crush more than seriously thinking that Tommy is really a messiah. | |
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Dirty Coward | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1235f055 | comment |
In at least one version of the stage show, Cousin Kevin tries to protect Tommy from the angry mob. At least until he's overwhelmed and runs away. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_137f2d7 | type |
Card-Carrying Villain | |
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Card-Carrying Villain: "I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie..." And let's not forget, from "Cousin Kevin:" | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_1439161f | type |
Heroic BSoD | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1439161f | comment |
Heroic BSoD: The whole point of the story. It's about a boy who is traumatized by seeing a murderous fight, is told by his parents that he didn't witness it, and checks out for most of his life. When he wakes up, he continues to act in a way that suggests that he is still not fully connected to reality. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_191a3673 | type |
Graceful Loser | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_191a3673 | comment |
Graceful Loser: The narrator of "Pinball Wizard" knows when he's beaten and is in awe of Tommy's skills: Less so in the film version when Elton John's character is visibly upset (even pouting when he sings the above line!), and has to be carried out after Tommy beats him. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_191e0d45 | type |
Preacher Man | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_191e0d45 | comment |
In the film version of "Eyesight to the Blind", a religious cult led by Preacher Man Eric Clapton brings out a statue of Marilyn Monroe in her pose from The Seven Year Itch hoping that her touch can cure Tommy. This whole scene is pure, unadulterated Faux Symbolism. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_1c5002bc | type |
The Stoic | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1c5002bc | comment |
The Stoic: Justified with Tommy and especially noticeable in the film adaptation. Because of his disability, he can hardly react to what's going on around him so he spends most of the story staring blankly into space. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_1ccad9a3 | type |
Villain Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1ccad9a3 | comment |
Villain Song: "Fiddle About", "Tommy's Holiday Camp" "The Acid Queen" and "Cousin Kevin." Note that Kevin and Uncle Ernie's songs were written by John Entwistle—Pete Townshend's prior experiences with childhood trauma and abuse made it impossible for him to address those topics directly. The film adds "Bernie's Holiday Camp" for the lover. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_1dfd19f9 | type |
Papa Wolf | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1dfd19f9 | comment |
Papa Wolf: Captain Walker in the 1993 musical. And he's not very happy when he discovers his wife and son with her new jerkass lover on her 21st birthday! Frank in the film: when he finds that Uncle Ernie may have molested Tommy, he sets his newspaper on fire. He also tries fighting off some of the Rioters trying to attack Tommy. They overpower and kill Frank, though. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_1f37a427 | type |
Face on the Cover | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_1f37a427 | comment |
Face on the Cover: The original release of the album features this due to the insistence of Track Records, The Who's British label. The 1996 remastered CD release edits these portraits out to better reflect the original intentions for the album art. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_234073a4 | type |
Your Mind Makes It Real | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_234073a4 | comment |
Your Mind Makes It Real: Tommy goes deaf, dumb, and blind because his parents convince him that he didn't see or hear something that he clearly saw and heard. When Tommy is finally diagnosed properly by a doctor, the doctor even says that there is nothing physically wrong with Tommy; it's all in his head. It takes smashing a mirror for Tommy to finally break this mental block, at which point he can see, hear, and speak again. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_23473ae7 | type |
Adaptation Expansion | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_23473ae7 | comment |
Adaptation Expansion: The movie has quite a bit of new music, and gives Nora Walker's second husband a good deal more characterization, shows more of their relationship, and even has him as an employee at a holiday camp. Speaking of added details, Mrs. Walker doesn't even have a first name on the original album. Sally Simpson is given a bigger role in the stage version, with her getting thrown off the stage being what triggers Tommy's My God, What Have I Done? moment, and he tends to her personally. She's also the one who asks how they can all be more like him (Sally Simpson's Question) leading to Tommy realizing that they want him to be their spiritual leader. That doesn't turn out too well. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_24321e44 | type |
Only Sane Man | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_24321e44 | comment |
Only Sane Man: The doctor in "Go To The Mirror!" He's the one person who finally deduces that Tommy's condition is psychosomatic, and he (briefly) considers the sort of isolation shock that recovering his senses will cause. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_24ec14c7 | type |
Crappy Holidays | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_24ec14c7 | comment |
Crappy Holidays: The joy of the holidays is at first built up in "Christmas", only to dissolve into a preoccupation about how Tommy doesn't (read, can't) care about the religious significance of the day while in his traumatized state. It's especially sour in the movie version, where the scene dissolves into all of the adults drunkenly berating him. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_25f0ed12 | type |
Hollywood Tone-Deaf | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_25f0ed12 | comment |
Hollywood Tone-Deaf: In the film version, Keith Moon's Uncle Ernie tone-deaf "singing" sounds as if he talks like a West Country pirate. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_26ac510e | type |
Mythology Gag | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_26ac510e | comment |
Mythology Gag: In the 1993 musical, Captain Walker is the Papa Wolf killing his wife's lover in self-defense, which is an ironic shout-out to the 1975 film in which the lover does the same to Tommy's dad in self-defense. In the 1975 film, Nora gets covered in baked beans, echoing the cover to The Who Sell Out, where Roger Daltrey is in a bathtub full of beans, while carrying a giant can of Heinz Baked Beans. | |
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Shoot the Shaggy Dog | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_272abb98 | comment |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The film version at least. It turns very cruel very quickly in the last ten minutes after Tommy's followers turn on him and start calling him a hypocrite. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_2b7d29e1 | type |
Artifact Title | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_2b7d29e1 | comment |
Artifact Title: The film soundtrack version of "Go to the Mirror" keeps that title despite the phrase "go to the mirror" no longer appearing in the lyrics. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_2bf54826 | type |
Longest Song Goes Last | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_2bf54826 | comment |
Longest Song Goes Last: Played with; at 10:10, "Underture" out-spans every other track on the album and closes off Part One, but it's not the end of the album overall. Likewise, while "We're Not Gonna Take It" is both longer than any other track on Part Two and closes it— and the album— out, it's only the second-longest track on Tommy, beat out by the aforementioned "Underture". | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_2e70a1db | type |
Miniscule Rocking | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_2e70a1db | comment |
Miniscule Rocking: "Do You Think It's Alright?", "Fiddle About", "There's A Doctor", "Tommy Can You Hear Me?", "Smash the Mirror", "Miracle Cure", and "Tommy's Holiday Camp" all fall below the 2-minute mark. The abundance of tracks on Tommy that qualify for this trope are certainly a far cry from the tendency for rock operas to be known more for Epic Rocking. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_2efc138f | type |
Welcoming Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_2efc138f | comment |
Welcoming Song: "Welcome", Tommy greeting his followers, and "Tommy's Holiday Camp", Uncle Ernie welcoming the saps they're exploiting. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_2f8b178f | type |
Pinball | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_2f8b178f | comment |
Pinball: "Pinball Wizard", of course. Tommy becomes a Godlike Gamer at pinball, probably the only thing that gives him any joy in his life. Bally produced a Real Life Wizard! pinball machine "Inspired by…" the 1975 film, with Ann-Margret in the promotional material. Data East later produced The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard, a proper Licensed Pinball Table. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: The Local Lad/The Champion in the stage version, at least if you just read the script. Pinball Wizard is now sung by either Cousin Kevin and his friends or the group of people Tommy has defeated. Well, it depends on the director, since there are plenty who will make an homage to Elton John's character. | |
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The Rich Have White Stuff | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_3483645b | comment |
The Rich Have White Stuff: In the movie, after Tommy becomes a pinball wizard, his family moves into a larger house with white walls, carpets, and furniture. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_34e1ef45 | type |
Unnamed Parent | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_34e1ef45 | comment |
Unnamed Parent: Both of Tommy's parents are unnamed in both the album and the 1993 musical, though in the film version his mother has a name: Nora Walker. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_34f6774c | type |
Concept Album | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_34f6774c | comment |
Concept Album: One of the early ones, the album is a Rock Opera about a deaf, dumb and blind kid. | |
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Fan Disillusionment | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_360aa1f | comment |
Fan Disillusionment: In-universe. Tommy's followers are looking for a quick fix and an easy path to enlightenment. When Tommy at first tells them that there is no such thing and then tries it anyway with pinball, his followers turn on him, and Tommy's left with nothing. | |
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Actor Allusion | |
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Actor Allusion: Ann-Margret and Jack Nicholson share a pretty adulterous scene together in "Go To The Mirror!" mirroring their mutual roles on Carnal Knowledge. | |
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| Tommy (Music) / int_3bbf3fef | type |
Recurring Riff | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_3bbf3fef | comment |
Recurring Riff: And all of them appear in the first track—"Overture" | |
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Pun-Based Title | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_3eb0f889 | comment |
Pun-Based Title: "Underture" | |
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Surprisingly Realistic Outcome | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_3ed23024 | comment |
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: "Sally Simpson" sees the titular teenage girl having fantasies of Tommy ending up with her if she can just get onstage with him. She goes to one of his sermons, jumps up onstage, and brushes him on the face. Not only does Tommy not indulge, but a security guard promptly throws Sally off the stage, making her land awkwardly on a steel chair and giving her a cut on her cheek that requires sixteen stitches to close. | |
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The Cover Changes the Meaning | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_3f1f6c04 | comment |
The Cover Changes the Meaning: In both the album and the 1993 musical, a pimp who calls himself a "hawker" (i.e., a peddler) says that there is a prostitute of his (eventually the Acid Queen/Gypsy) whose sexual prowess can heal Tommy. In the 1975 film, however, the Hawker is replaced by a preacher and a priest of a "religious" cult of Marilyn Monroe who claims that her movie-acting fame, sexual prowess, and "saintly" nature can cure Tommy on the touch of her idol statue (even though she is dead). | |
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Recycled Soundtrack | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_405f6f52 | comment |
Recycled Soundtrack: "Sally Simpson" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" started out as unrelated pop ballads that Townshend re-worked to fit into the story — the former was originally a story about a groupie at a rock concert featuring a Jim Morrison Expy, while the latter was a Protest Song about fascism. The group wanted to put a cover of Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues" in but couldn't find a place to make it fit. | |
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Blatant Lies | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_40bb59d0 | comment |
Blatant Lies: In the stage show, Tommy's father claims in an interview after he's been cured, "We never gave up faith [in Tommy recovering], all through the years, not once!" Especially blatant since it comes about ten minutes after a song that's literally about him and his wife giving up faith. | |
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Bittersweet Ending | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: "Sally Simpson" ends with Sally realizing too late that Tommy is a passing fad, but she ends up marrying a rock musician she met in California. In the film version, this is averted by giving Sally an obviously fake scar, making her husband a Frankenstein's Monster lookalike, and at the end, having her shrug the whole thing off while dressed in expensive furs and jewels. Though even in the movie, she appears to now be wasting her life raising a child at an extremely young age and living in sloth, the point being that she's probably stuck in a life that will get old when she outgrows her adolescent preferences for rockstar types. The entire rock opera ends this way. Tommy's followers have abandoned him, because they want a quick fix instead of true enlightenment. In the movie version, they even kill at least one of his family members. And only then — broken, alone, possibly dying, and having seen his attempts at preaching and suffering through his disabilities basically amount to nothing at all — does Tommy find God and realize what salvation truly is. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_40cc0c7e | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_40cc0c7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_40cc0c7e | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_43d612b7 | type |
Disney Acid Sequence | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_43d612b7 | comment |
Disney Acid Sequence: Most of the movie, especially the Acid Queen's scene. And it isn't a good trip. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_43d612b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_43d612b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_43d612b7 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4548bae | type |
Teen Pregnancy | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4548bae | comment |
Teen Pregnancy: Mrs. Walker at the beginning of the 1993 musical, who is pregnant at age 16 during World War II. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4548bae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4548bae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_4548bae | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_48c99e19 | type |
Death by Adaptation | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_48c99e19 | comment |
Death by Adaptation: Captain Walker in the 1975 film adaptation. Also Nora Walker (Tommy's mother) at the end of the film. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_48c99e19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_48c99e19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_48c99e19 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4a4d6f7c | type |
Comedic Sociopathy | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4a4d6f7c | comment |
Comedic Sociopathy: "Cousin Kevin": | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4a4d6f7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4a4d6f7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_4a4d6f7c | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ae690ca | type |
Laughing Mad | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ae690ca | comment |
Laughing Mad: Uncle Ernie bursts into crazy, hysterical laughing in the film version of "Fiddle About." | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ae690ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ae690ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_4ae690ca | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ca5d7ac | type |
Summon Backup Dancers | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ca5d7ac | comment |
Summon Backup Dancers: Averted. Townshend told Des McAnuff, the 1993 musical's book writer and director, that he wanted "no fucking dancing." | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ca5d7ac | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4ca5d7ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_4ca5d7ac | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4e02dc42 | type |
Ironically Disabled Artist | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4e02dc42 | comment |
Ironically Disabled Artist: Despite the album's title character being deaf, dumb, and blind, "Pinball Wizard" discusses how he plays pinball better than the bystanders watching and hearing him play, and they're amazed by his skills and wonder how he does it. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4e02dc42 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_4e02dc42 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_4e02dc42 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5012cb5c | type |
Blind People Wear Sunglasses | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5012cb5c | comment |
Blind People Wear Sunglasses: "Pinball Wizard" depicts Tommy wearing Round Hippie Shades. According to the lyrics: "That deaf, dumb, and blind kid / Sure plays mean pinball." Some combination of intuition and sense of smell lets Tommy know the table layout and ball trajectory well enough to attain the high score roster. How can this be? Well, since Tommy is a pinball wizard, then A Wizard Did It. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5012cb5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5012cb5c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_5012cb5c | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_512b00e0 | type |
BSoD Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_512b00e0 | comment |
BSoD Song: This is what "See Me, Feel Me" becomes when reprised at the end, though it is followed by a glorious reprise of "Listening to You". It also applies to "1921" and "Christmas", and "Smash the Mirror." | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_512b00e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_512b00e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_512b00e0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_53224e46 | type |
Bookends | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_53224e46 | comment |
Bookends: The film begins and ends with the silhouette of a man on the sun on a mountain. The beginning is the sun setting with Captain Walker in front of it, and at the end, the sun is rising with Tommy in front of it. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_53224e46 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_53224e46 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_53224e46 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_55591abc | type |
Medicine Show | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_55591abc | comment |
Medicine Show:Repurposes Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Eyesight To The Blind" as the cry of a hawker advertising one of these. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_55591abc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_55591abc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_55591abc | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_598ad6e2 | type |
Even the Guys Want Him | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_598ad6e2 | comment |
Even the Guys Want Him: In the director's commentary for the DVD release of the movie, Ken Russell and the interviewer with him spend quite some time at one point gushing about Roger Daltrey's body. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_598ad6e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_598ad6e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_598ad6e2 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5a40d6a | type |
Adaptation Distillation | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5a40d6a | comment |
Adaptation Distillation: The 1975 movie and the 1993 stage musical. For instance, in the movie Mrs. Nora Walker's new husband is the one who murders Tommy's father (whether in self-defence or not is a matter of interpretation), rather than the other way around, and the mysterious figure that guides Tommy during "Amazing Journey" is replaced with his (dead) dad, reducing the overall number of characters. In the stage version, on the other hand, the actor who plays the adult Tommy doubles as the spirit guide. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5a40d6a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_5a40d6a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_5a40d6a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_63389b0b | type |
Kids Are Cruel | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_63389b0b | comment |
Kids Are Cruel: Cousin Kevin. And after that the song turns into him listing all the assorted things he could do to Tommy (burning his arm with a cigarette and dunking his head underwater (and spraying him with a fire hose outside from upstairs in the film version), among others. Songwriter John Entwistle was inspired by his childhood experiences with a bullying neighbor kid, with whom his parents inexplicably left him on a regular basis (John eventually beat up the bully when he realized he'd grown tall enough to look the other kid in the eye). | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_63389b0b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_63389b0b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_63389b0b | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_65cbb040 | type |
Pinball Scoring | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_65cbb040 | comment |
Pinball Scoring: "Pinball Wizard" has Tommy playing a Kings and Queens, while The Pinball Wizard plays a Buckaroo. Both machines have a three-reel points scoreboard that flips over (back to 000, and a light up numeral "1" on the backglass, indicating points of at least 1,000 has been scored) when 999 is exceeded and neither machine is able to physically display points achieved beyond 1,999 (the three reels can flip back over and continue scoring beyond 1,999, but the player and/or observer has to track the points scored beyond 1,999, including additional flip overs). However, the production staff seems to have just scraped off or covered the lightup "1" on both machines and replaced it with whatever higher number ("2" through "9") between cutaway edits to show Tommy's and The Pinball Wizard's scores rapidly increasing between cuts that are showing the score on the backbox; yet there is also light up board behind each player supposedly tracking points far beyond what is possible to achieve in a single game of either machine, even if those machines were using a four-reel scoring display that the movie was trying to portray! In fact, the final score achieved by Tommy is 999,999,999,999 which is barely, if at all, even possible on modern pinball machines that have high scores usually go into the tens of billions! | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_65cbb040 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_65cbb040 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_65cbb040 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6627695f | type |
Author Appeal | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6627695f | comment |
Author Appeal: The plot and theme of the opera were heavily influenced by Townshend's conversion to the teachings of Meher Baba and his simultaneous rejection of psychedelic drugs. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6627695f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6627695f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_6627695f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_68068108 | type |
Evil Laugh | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_68068108 | comment |
Evil Laugh: There's some in "Tommy's Holiday Camp" on the Live at Leeds version. Tina Turner gives an epic one during "Acid Queen" in the film. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_68068108 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_68068108 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_68068108 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_688afa6a | type |
Evil Uncle | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_688afa6a | comment |
Evil Uncle: Ernie. He molests Tommy, and then exploits his cure, and later his fame, as well as his fans. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_688afa6a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_688afa6a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_688afa6a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6a496c41 | type |
Miser Advisor | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6a496c41 | comment |
Miser Advisor: Tommy's adoptive dad in the movie, as well as uncle Ernie in both versions. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6a496c41 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6a496c41 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_6a496c41 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6c62b1a8 | type |
Covered in Gunge | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6c62b1a8 | comment |
Covered in Gunge: This happens to Tommy's mother in the movie. After she smashes the screen of a TV set, it belches out waves of soap suds, then baked beans, and finally chocolate syrup, all of which Ann-Margret gamely writhes around in. (Everything after the screen-smashing turns out to have been All Just a Dream.) | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6c62b1a8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6c62b1a8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_6c62b1a8 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6f2fe973 | type |
Epic Instrumental Opener | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6f2fe973 | comment |
Epic Instrumental Opener: The album starts off this way. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6f2fe973 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_6f2fe973 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_6f2fe973 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_727a65e0 | type |
Gaslighting | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_727a65e0 | comment |
Gaslighting: In "1921", Tommy's parents' attempt to convince him that he didn't witness a murder sets off his disability. They claim he didn't see or hear what he clearly saw and heard, and also tell him to never tell anyone anyway. The only way Tommy can reconcile with this is to become deaf, dumb, and blind. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_727a65e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_727a65e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_727a65e0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_73d9c25f | type |
Quack Doctor | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_73d9c25f | comment |
Quack Doctor: Tommy ends up seeing a few to try and cure him of his illness. This is what "The Acid Queen" does to him as well. In any case, the only doctor who actually manages to get through to Tommy is one who says that it's all in his head, and there's nothing physically wrong with him. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_73d9c25f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_73d9c25f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_73d9c25f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_74149c93 | type |
Epic Rocking | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_74149c93 | comment |
Epic Rocking: The 10:10 "Underture" and the 6:45 "We're Not Gonna Take It." | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_74149c93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_74149c93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_74149c93 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7453bc5b | type |
Spared by the Adaptation | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7453bc5b | comment |
Spared by the Adaptation: Played straight with lover Frank at first in the 1975 film adaptation, but then subverted at the end of the film when the angry mob kills him and Nora Walker. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7453bc5b | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7453bc5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7453bc5b | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "See me, feel me, touch me, heal me..." Said in Tommy's subconscious, these words first express his desire to be healed from his condition. Later, after his afflictions are gone, it expresses a desire to be understood as a person instead. "Tommy, can you hear me?" Said by Tommy's relatives in an attempt to get through to him, a bit ironic considering that they caused his afflictions in the first place. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7464705c | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7485b8b1 | type |
Accidental Adultery | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7485b8b1 | comment |
Accidental Adultery: Tommy's father returns from war years after going missing and discovers that his wife has taken a lover, now Tommy's stepfather. It doesn't go well for Tommy's father. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7485b8b1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7485b8b1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7485b8b1 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_78e8eba5 | type |
"I Am" Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_78e8eba5 | comment |
"I Am" Song: Some very literal examples in the lyrics to "Cousin Kevin" ("I'm the school bully / The classroom cheat"), "Acid Queen" ("I'm the gypsy / The acid queen"), and "Fiddle About" ("I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie!") | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_78e8eba5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_78e8eba5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_78e8eba5 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7a2ebcba | type |
Frankenstein's Monster | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7a2ebcba | comment |
"Sally Simpson" ends with Sally realizing too late that Tommy is a passing fad, but she ends up marrying a rock musician she met in California. In the film version, this is averted by giving Sally an obviously fake scar, making her husband a Frankenstein's Monster lookalike, and at the end, having her shrug the whole thing off while dressed in expensive furs and jewels. Though even in the movie, she appears to now be wasting her life raising a child at an extremely young age and living in sloth, the point being that she's probably stuck in a life that will get old when she outgrows her adolescent preferences for rockstar types. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7a2ebcba | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7a2ebcba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7a2ebcba | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7cc8d769 | type |
Sore Loser | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7cc8d769 | comment |
Less so in the film version when Elton John's character is visibly upset (even pouting when he sings the above line!), and has to be carried out after Tommy beats him. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7cc8d769 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7cc8d769 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7cc8d769 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d0316d2 | type |
Godlike Gamer | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d0316d2 | comment |
Godlike Gamer: The Pinball Wizard is, as his name implies, one of the best pinball players in England, though he ends up being usurped by Tommy Walker. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d0316d2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d0316d2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7d0316d2 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d276626 | type |
Siamese Twin Songs | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d276626 | comment |
Siamese Twin Songs: "Amazing Journey"/"Sparks", "Overture"/"It's a Boy". | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d276626 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7d276626 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7d276626 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7eebe99c | type |
The Alcoholic | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7eebe99c | comment |
The Alcoholic: Uncle Ernie. The song "Do You Think It's Alright?" is about Ernie already having had a few too many before Tommy's parents leave Ernie to babysit. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7eebe99c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_7eebe99c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_7eebe99c | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_80a247a9 | type |
Breather Episode | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_80a247a9 | comment |
Breather Episode: "Pinball Wizard" is a song about how good Tommy is at pinball, in-between songs about how much Tommy is suffering and how he might not be saved because "he doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is" on Christmas. Perhaps this is part of how it became a Black Sheep Hit. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_80a247a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_80a247a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_80a247a9 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_823c6e3e | type |
Large Ham | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_823c6e3e | comment |
Large Ham: This shows up a lot in every version except the original album. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_823c6e3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_823c6e3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_823c6e3e | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82b64343 | type |
Twisted Eucharist | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82b64343 | comment |
Twisted Eucharist: In the movie version, produced by flamboyant over-the-top director Ken Russell, Eric Clapton plays a priest in the cult of Saint Marilyn Monroe. Backed by the Who, this church has a version of Holy Communion where handfuls of sleeping pills and other downers are solemnly handed out to the Faithful (followed by slugs of ritual Scotch) while Clapton and the band hammer out the old blues standard "Eyesight To The Blind". It's Black Comedy if you know about the circumstances of Monroe's death. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82b64343 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82b64343 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_82b64343 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82e9aaba | type |
Down in the Dumps | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82e9aaba | comment |
Down in the Dumps: Tommy Walker in the film version is led to a junkyard in one of his visions, where he comes across a pinball machine, which he becomes good at. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82e9aaba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_82e9aaba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_82e9aaba | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_8741b74 | type |
Playing with a Trope | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_8741b74 | comment |
Played with during "Pinball Wizard" where the POV switches to a pinball champion that Tommy defeats. The character himself isn't very important to the plot, but when comparing his character to all of the people singing the Villain Songs, it makes the villains singing them seem far, far worse. Though for some reason, some of the fandom seems to interpret it as if said pinball champ is merely a Sissy Villain. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_8741b74 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_8741b74 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_8741b74 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_875615dd | type |
Truth in Television | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_875615dd | comment |
Truth in Television: Tommy's disorder is a very obvious case of Conversion Disorder where a person develops some form of disability as a result of trauma despite there being nothing physically wrong with them. His parent's words, combined with the trauma of witnessing a murder caused him to go blind, deaf, and mute as a result. His way of getting over it is less realistic, as it usually takes actual therapy to recover. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_875615dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_875615dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_875615dd | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_91c001 | type |
Cute Mute | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_91c001 | comment |
Cute Mute: Tommy before he regains his senses (especially palpable in the movie, where he's played by a spaced-out Roger Daltrey). | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_91c001 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_91c001 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_91c001 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_963086ce | type |
Damn You, Muscle Memory! | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_963086ce | comment |
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: The original vinyl album's auto sequencing annoyed people who didn't own auto-changer turntables, as they flipped over the first LP expecting to play side 2 and got side 4 instead. As record changers have long since fallen out of use, modern vinyl reissues use standard sequencing. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_963086ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_963086ce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tommy (Music) | hasFeature |
Tommy (Music) / int_963086ce | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_96fbeaf | type |
There Are No Therapists | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_96fbeaf | comment |
There Are No Therapists: Averted. The last doctor Tommy is taken to says that there's nothing physically wrong with him, and that whatever's causing Tommy's illness is all in his head. | |
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-1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_96fbeaf | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_978c4f8f | type |
You Didn't See That | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_978c4f8f | comment |
You Didn't See That: Causes Tommy to go blind, deaf, and even mute via Exact Words. | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_978c4f8f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9cad69bf | type |
Depraved Homosexual | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9cad69bf | comment |
Depraved Homosexual: Uncle Ernie molests his nephew when he stays over, and in the film is seen reading the Gay News. | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9cad69bf | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9cdef1ef | type |
Lovable Sex Maniac | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9cdef1ef | comment |
Lovable Sex Maniac: Uncle Ernie, or at least Keith Moon's hammy portrayal of him. | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9cdef1ef | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9ce6492a | type |
Taking the Bullet | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9ce6492a | comment |
Taking the Bullet: Tommy's mother Nora takes a knife slash directed at Tommy near the end of the movie. | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9ce6492a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: "Go to the Mirror!" (see Hilarious in Hindsight). Also interesting is "Overture" (the first track) which foreshadows the rest of the album by containing all the most important riffs. There's also a bit of it in The Movie with the holiday camp near the beginning. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9d72cf74 | type |
Fandom | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9d72cf74 | comment |
Fandom: Tommy ends up with one in-universe after his story is spread throughout the world. He attempts to turn this into a career as a preacher to spread a message of light and love, but people are more interested in a "quick fix" than actual salvation. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9d72cf74 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9dd2af4a | type |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9dd2af4a | comment |
Inspirationally Disadvantaged: On the album, Tommy's so inspirationally disadvantaged that an entire religion forms around him, and he has a legion of followers who want to be just like him. It turns sour when they realize that to be just like him and learn all he's learned they would first have to suffer just like him. After that, they aren't too happy. Defied in the stage version, where Tommy's followers want to be like him, but he doesn't want them to follow in his footsteps. His ridiculous requirements of them are played more obviously as a successful attempt to turn them off of the idea. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9dd2af4a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9e335555 | type |
Single-Issue Psychology | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9e335555 | comment |
Single-Issue Psychology: After years of attempts to treat him, all it takes to snap Tommy's trauma-induced catatonia is for his mother to smash the mirror he saw the murder in. Then he's instantly cured; he can see, hear, and talk again. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9e335555 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9f6fb586 | type |
Leitmotif | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_9f6fb586 | comment |
Leitmotif: In the form of Recurring Riffs, appropriately enough for a Rock Opera. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_9f6fb586 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a1b141f4 | type |
My God, What Have I Done? | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a1b141f4 | comment |
Sally Simpson is given a bigger role in the stage version, with her getting thrown off the stage being what triggers Tommy's My God, What Have I Done? moment, and he tends to her personally. She's also the one who asks how they can all be more like him (Sally Simpson's Question) leading to Tommy realizing that they want him to be their spiritual leader. That doesn't turn out too well. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a1b141f4 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a1fedb67 | type |
Parental Obliviousness | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a1fedb67 | comment |
Parental Obliviousness: Tommy's parents, who only offer token concern at leaving him alone with his cousin Kevin or uncle Ernie, the latter even being drunk at the time. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a1fedb67 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a3eb0c53 | type |
Confusing Multiple Negatives | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a3eb0c53 | comment |
Confusing Multiple Negatives: In "1921": "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it, you won't say nothing to no one ever in your life." | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a3eb0c53 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a45651a4 | type |
Ironic Birthday | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a45651a4 | comment |
Ironic Birthday: Inverted in the 1993 musical: As 4-year-old Tommy, his mother, and her new lover celebrate her 21st birthday, her presumed-dead husband arrives and breaks up by engaging in a fight between him and the boyfriend that soon leaves the boyfriend dead... all the while the mother tries turning Tommy away from the fight toward the mirror... with which he witnesses said fight by looking at it, after which the parents soon get surprised by what they see before the father gets arrested. Whoops! | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a45651a4 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a7de3c30 | type |
Anti-Christmas Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a7de3c30 | comment |
Anti-Christmas Song: In "Christmas", Tommy's father is apparently unable to enjoy the holiday due to worrying about the implications that his son's infirmities might hold for his eternal salvation. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a7de3c30 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a7f7e5f4 | type |
Absurdly Youthful Mother | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_a7f7e5f4 | comment |
Absurdly Youthful Mother: Ann-Margret is only three years older than Roger Daltrey. And in the stage version, Nora Walker is seventeen when she has Tommy. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_a7f7e5f4 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b032e4ed | type |
Ms. Fanservice | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b032e4ed | comment |
Ms. Fanservice: In the 1975 movie, during a drunken dream/hallucination, Ann-Margret smashes a TV set with a champagne bottle, releasing a gout of bubbles (and then canned beans, and chocolate) that she writhes orgasmically in. Fans of Ann-Margret specifically or busty redheads in general will not be disappointed. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_b032e4ed | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b134a27d | type |
Distinct Double Album | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b134a27d | comment |
Distinct Double Album: Ten tracks on disc one, 12 on disc two. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_b134a27d | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_b53077b3 | comment |
Take That!: "Bernie's Holiday Camp" and "Tommy's Holiday Camp" are parodies of Butlin's, a holiday camp that working-class Britons frequented during summer vacations. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_b53077b3 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_bd4264a3 | type |
Slasher Smile | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_bd4264a3 | comment |
Slasher Smile: Cousin Kevin wears one of these throughout most of his screen time in the movie version as he puts Tommy through relentless abuse. The Acid Queen after Tommy's "trip", accompanied by facial and body spasms. It freaks Tommy's dad out. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_bd4264a3 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_bda474d2 | type |
Last Note Nightmare | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_bda474d2 | comment |
Last Note Nightmare: "Tommy's Holiday Camp" is a fun, commercial-like jingle welcoming visitors to the cult of the Pinball Wizard himself, sung cheerfully by the child-molesting Uncle Ernie. At the end of the song, he calls out "Welcome" in a gravelly, menacing voice — an Ironic Echo for the ending of the preceding track by that name, in which Tommy whispers the word softly and gently. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_bda474d2 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c2cedc1c | type |
Big "NO!" | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c2cedc1c | comment |
Big "NO!": Tommy himself, when he sees his "Uncle Frank" get struck down and killed during "We're Not Gonna Take It" in the film. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_c2cedc1c | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: In the film version of "Eyesight to the Blind", a religious cult led by Preacher Man Eric Clapton brings out a statue of Marilyn Monroe in her pose from The Seven Year Itch hoping that her touch can cure Tommy. This whole scene is pure, unadulterated Faux Symbolism. "Pinball Wizard" naturally mentions Bally, a major pinball machine manufacturer. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_c75df49a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c98b7916 | type |
Messianic Archetype | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_c98b7916 | comment |
Messianic Archetype: Played with. Tommy is convinced that his experiences gained from his self-imposed exile from reality have given him some sort of spiritual insight into reality and gathers a small cult about him. His family tries to make money off of his cult, and his followers largely miss the point and ultimately reject his message. | |
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1.0 | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_c98b7916 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cb7fda55 | type |
Minor Character, Major Song | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cb7fda55 | comment |
Minor Character, Major Song: "Pinball Wizard" is a popular song that gets talked about a lot, but you'd be lucky to find someone outside of the Tommy fandom who knows that the real name of the minor character who sings it is officially credited as the Local Lad. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_cb7fda55 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cd0637d2 | type |
Extra! Extra! Read All About It! | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cd0637d2 | comment |
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: In "Miracle Cure," and in "Extra Extra" from the 1975 film adaptation. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_cd0637d2 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cff53786 | type |
Cover Version | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_cff53786 | comment |
Cover Version: "Eyesight to the Blind" was originally by Sonny Boy Williamson II. Though it's rather interesting how it still fits into the plot so well. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_cff53786 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d148b019 | type |
Mundane Made Awesome | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d148b019 | comment |
Mundane Made Awesome: Pinball. In the film, he doesn't wear a blindfold/earplugs, so it appears his massive following is simply based on being the pinball champ regardless of disability. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d148b019 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d4bb4e51 | type |
Walking Shirtless Scene | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d4bb4e51 | comment |
Walking Shirtless Scene: Tommy himself in the movie, after he gets his senses back. Though, granted, it's more like running shirtless underwater and on the lava from an active volcano. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d4bb4e51 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d52d28b6 | type |
Hypocrite | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d52d28b6 | comment |
Hypocrite: Tommy ends up as one after he's healed. He tells his followers that there's no such thing as easy enlightenment. However, Tommy then tries it anyway by having his followers play pinball while blinded, deafened, and muted (with blindfolds, earplugs, and a cork). Tommy's followers turn on him while calling him out on his hypocrisy at the end of the third act. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d52d28b6 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d848560f | type |
Unusual Euphemism | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d848560f | comment |
Unusual Euphemism: "Fiddle About," which actually makes things creepier. (Although "kiddie fiddler" has been a British euphemism since at least the 1860's.) | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d848560f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d935ee2f | type |
Innocent Blue Eyes | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d935ee2f | comment |
Innocent Blue Eyes: Tommy has some childlike qualities, such as his confidence that people will immediately drop their addictions and join his religion. In the movie, he is played by Roger Daltrey, who is famous for his gorgeous blue eyes. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d935ee2f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d96e8b29 | type |
Rock Opera | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_d96e8b29 | comment |
Rock Opera: This album was the Trope Maker and Trope Namer, with its advertising tagline dubbing it "the world's first rock opera." Accordingly, it sets the stage for later examples by using the Who's brand of Hard Rock to tell the story of an Inspirationally Disadvantaged boy who becomes a spiritual leader. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_d96e8b29 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_dbfd6b8 | type |
Lyrical Dissonance | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_dbfd6b8 | comment |
Lyrical Dissonance: More subtlety in most cases, but it's there. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_dbfd6b8 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_dc9b1fe9 | type |
Cue the Sun | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_dc9b1fe9 | comment |
Cue the Sun: During the band's performance at Woodstock, the climactic moment of "See Me, Feel Me" happened to coincide precisely with the morning sun breaching the horizon. The group had a lighting rig (then a rarity) constructed to replicate this effect for later performances. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_dc9b1fe9 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_df1793de | type |
Updated Re-release | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_df1793de | comment |
Updated Re-release: Initial CD releases of the album spread it across two discs, one for each part, as the full 75:15 album was just slightly too long to pack onto a single 74-minute CD without considerable editing. All later CD reissues since 1990 (after the emergence of 80-minute CDs) pack the entire album onto a single disc. The 1996 remaster takes an additional step by remixing the album to bring out elements and instrumentation that were previously buried in the original 1969 mix, as well as editing out the band members' faces from the album cover to better reflect their original intentions for the artwork. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_df1793de | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e016e53f | type |
Throwing Off the Disability | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e016e53f | comment |
Throwing Off the Disability: All it takes for Tommy to get rid of his impairments is to smash the mirror in which he witnessed his father's/mother's lover's death. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_e016e53f | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e462893a | type |
Artistic License – Sports | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e462893a | comment |
Artistic License – Sports: Tommy and The Pinball Wizard are playing two almost completely different pinball machines simultaneously (only similarity are the score reels, with three-reels and a numeral "1" that lights up for points exceeding 999; though the production staff decided to physically change the "1" for the film to show a higher score on the backbox, see Pinball Scoring below), when a competition would have them play the same exact machine at different times so no advantage or disadvantage could be claimed by either player. Also the light up scoreboard behind each player displays points scored far beyond what a three-reel scoring game is possible to achieve, with no indication on how those points are being tracked before the scoreboard lights up showing that particular number of points. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_e462893a | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e5411cdf | type |
Cult | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e5411cdf | comment |
Cult: Tommy's "holiday camp" is more of a quasi-religious scam thanks to the schemes of his opportunistic parents. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_e5411cdf | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e7db27c7 | type |
Sympathetic P.O.V. | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_e7db27c7 | comment |
Sympathetic P.O.V.: Played with during "Pinball Wizard" where the POV switches to a pinball champion that Tommy defeats. The character himself isn't very important to the plot, but when comparing his character to all of the people singing the Villain Songs, it makes the villains singing them seem far, far worse. Though for some reason, some of the fandom seems to interpret it as if said pinball champ is merely a Sissy Villain. "Sally Simpson" is a song about the titular girl, who believes Tommy to be the new messiah. She's a Fangirl, but it's treated like a schoolgirl crush more than seriously thinking that Tommy is really a messiah. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_e7db27c7 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_eb8ec7c8 | type |
Jerkass | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_eb8ec7c8 | comment |
Captain Walker in the 1993 musical. And he's not very happy when he discovers his wife and son with her new jerkass lover on her 21st birthday! | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_eb8ec7c8 | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_ec02c97e | type |
Defied Trope | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_ec02c97e | comment |
Defied in the stage version, where Tommy's followers want to be like him, but he doesn't want them to follow in his footsteps. His ridiculous requirements of them are played more obviously as a successful attempt to turn them off of the idea. | |
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Tommy (Music) / int_ec02c97e | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_ecc22051 | type |
Licensed Pinball Tables | |
| Tommy (Music) / int_ecc22051 | comment |
Licensed Pinball Tables: Appropriately enough, the album has three of them: Bally released Wizard! in 1975, "inspired" by the film. It featured the likenesses of Roger Daltrey and Ann-Margret on the backglass but was otherwise only tangentially related. Bally released Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy a year later, named after Elton John's hit album and featured him dressed as The Local Lad from the movie. In 1994, Data East released The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard (usually shortened to just Tommy). It includes 21 songs from the soundtrack, sung by the cast of the Broadway show, and gives players an option to cover the flippers so they can play "blind." | |
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Vocal Tag Team | |
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Vocal Tag Team: The album features the different members of the band "playing" different characters in the story. While this is not strictly adhered to, the rough breakdown would be that Daltrey plays Tommy, the Local Lad and the Doctor; Townshend plays the parents, the Acid Queen and the narrator; and Entwistle plays Cousin Kevin and Uncle Ernie. | |
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Easily Forgiven | |
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Easily Forgiven: Uncle Ernie. Despite Frank having caught Ernie in the act and burned his newspaper as a warning, Frank apparently bears no malice towards Ernie later in the film. | |
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Creepy Uncle | |
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Creepy Uncle: Uncle Ernie, an alcoholic pedophile. Even creepier is that, aside from his number "Fiddle About", the part is usually played as dark comic relief, with the 1975 and 1993 versions. (The movie in particular, as it casts Keith Moon as Ernie and he spends his entire time on camera completely hamming it up. Credit must also be given to Ringo Starr, who similarly hammed it up as Ernie in the London Symphony Orchestra recording.) | |
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Gold Digger | |
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Gold Digger: A common interpretation for The Lover. Expect the stage version to show him happily opening what he thinks is Nora's widow pension only to find that it's a letter informing her that Captain Walker is alive and on his way home, which he then burns. Even in the movie, Frank seems a little too eager to see what kind of house he's getting out of marrying Nora. | |
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Now, Buy the Merchandise | |
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Now, Buy the Merchandise: Tommy's family heavily promotes merchandise to his followers. | |
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Alternate Album Cover | |
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Alternate Album Cover: The 1996 remaster has the artwork as the band originally intended, without their faces on the cover. | |
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Movie Bonus Song | |
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Movie Bonus Song: A few of them: "Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Extra Extra" (set to the tune of "Miracle Cure"), "Champagne", "Mother and Son", and "TV Studio." Although not Movie Bonuses, a few new songs are included in the musical: "We've Won", "I Believe My Own Eyes", and "Sally's Question." | |
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Disposable Fiancé | |
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Disposable Fiancé: In the 1993 musical, the boyfriend talks about getting married to Tommy's mother. However, when her husband comes back home from the war, the mother feels surprised and relieved that he's alive after all, and the boyfriend soon becomes a jerkass by acting hostile toward Tommy's parents and attempting to kill the father. Fortunately, the father disposes of him by shooting him dead in the struggle. | |
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Lady Drunk | |
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Lady Drunk: Nora Walker in the film version. | |
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Brick Joke | |
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Brick Joke: The seemingly unrelated "Pinball Wizard" later becomes important as a path to enlightenment. | |
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Pet the Dog | |
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Pet the Dog: What the parents did to make Tommy blind, deaf and dumb is horrible, but the film version shows them trying to either make his life better or cure him of his illness. Special points go to Frank the Stepdad in the film, who tries to get Tommy to do things normal kids do in "Amazing Journey," such as ride amusement park rides and play arcade games. He even found a competent doctor that diagnosed the root of Tommy's problem. Sure, later on, they exploit his newfound enlightenment for money, but they are not entirely horrible people. In at least one version of the stage show, Cousin Kevin tries to protect Tommy from the angry mob. At least until he's overwhelmed and runs away. | |
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