The Who release invigorating new song, All This Music Must Fade
“Dedicated to every artist who has ever been accused of ripping off someone else’s song”.
The Who have released All This Music Must Fade, an anthemic new song from their upcoming album, Who. Listen to it above.
The track begins with a defiant declaration from Roger Daltrey: “I don’t care! I know you’re gonna hate this song / And that’s fair, we never really got along.” The rock veteran seems to issue a direct rejoinder to potential naysayers of The Who’s new material: “It’s not new, not diverse / It won’t light up your parade / It’s just simple verse / All this music will fade.”
In a statement, songwriter Peter Townshend said All This Music Must Fade “is dedicated to every artist who has ever been accused of ripping off someone else’s song”. He added, “Our musical palette is limited enough in the 21st century without some dork claiming to have invented a common chord scheme” – a remark that seems apropos of recent high-profile music copyright lawsuits.
All This Music Must Fade is the opening track of Who, the English rockers’ first record in 13 years. The band announced the album’s release last month with the single Ball & Chain.
“There is no theme, no concept, no story,” Townshend said in an earlier statement on the album, “just a set of songs that I (and my brother Simon) wrote to give Roger Daltrey some inspiration, challenges and scope for his newly revived singing voice.”
He added, “Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are OK, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today.”
Who arrives 22 November via Interscope Records. For more music news, click here.