‘Won't Get Fooled Again’ is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend. It was released as a single in June 1971, reaching the top 10 in the UK, while the full eight-and-a-half-minute version appears as the final track on the band's 1971 album Who's Next, released that August. In the US, the single entered Billboard on 17 July, reaching No. 15.
Townshend wrote the song as a closing number of the Lifehouse project, and the lyrics criticise revolution and power. The track is known for a staccato keyboard figure, played on a simple home organ with a “rhythm” feature that produced a synth-like effect. The Who tried recording the song in New York in March 1971, but re-recorded a superior take at Stargroves the next month using the organ from Townshend's original demo. Ultimately, Lifehouse as a project was abandoned in favour of Who's Next, a straightforward album, where it also became the closing track. It has been performed as a staple of the band's setlist since 1971, often as the set closer, and was the last song drummer Keith Moon played live with the band.
As well as being a hit, the song has achieved critical praise, appearing as one of Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has been covered by several artists, such as Van Halen, who took their version to No. 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It has been used for several TV shows and films and in some political campaigns. Roger Daltrey's scream is considered one of the best on any rock song. It was quite a convincing wail - so convincing that the rest of the band, lunching nearby, thought Daltrey was brawling with the engineer.
The song's message is summarized in the last line "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Townshend was influenced to write the composition by an incident at Woodstock when he chased Abbie Hoffman off the stage, who had commandeered the microphone during a break in the band's performance. He explained to Creem in 1982, "I wrote 'Won’t Get Fooled Again' as a reaction to all that – ‘Leave me out of it: I don’t think your lot would be any better than the other lot!' All those hippies wandering about thinking the world was going to be different from that day. As a cynical English arsehole, I walked through it all and felt like spitting on the lot of them, and shaking them and trying to make them realise that nothing had changed and nothing was going to change."
‘Won't Get Fooled Again’ was first released in the UK as a single A-side on 25 June 1971. It replaced ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, which the group felt did not fit the Who's established musical style, as the choice of single. It was released in July in the US. The single reached No. 9 in the UK charts and No. 15 in the US. In 2012, Paste ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest The Who songs, and in 2022, Rolling Stone ranked the song number one on their list of the 50 greatest The Who songs. In 2021, the song was ranked number 295 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. As of March 2018 it was certified Silver for 200,000 sold copies in the UK.
Labels – Track (UK), Decca (US)
Songwriter – Pete Townshend
Producers – The Who, Glyn Johns (associate producer)
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]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
[Chorus]
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
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
[Bridge]
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 you?
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
Yeah
There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are effaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
[Chorus]
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
[Instrumental Break]
[Outro]
Yeah
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss