Mar 7

Mar 7 Bargain, by The Who

Who doesn’t love a bargain!?

I absolutely love the euphoric energy of this song. Until I started researching it for this blog piece I had always thought the lyrics were about physical human love, so it was a bit of surprise to discover that it has a more spiritual meaning. But that just goes to show that music can mean whatever you want it to and no-one can ever dictate to you why you should or shouldn’t like it. I find it fascinating, though, to see if it’s also possible to hear in the music the intentions of its composer and for me, in this example, it gives a whole new layer of appreciation.

How do they do that?

Pete Townsend is quoted as saying: "The song is simply about losing one's ego as a devotee of Meher Baba. I constantly try to lose myself and find him. I'm not very successful, I'm afraid, but this song expresses how much of a bargain it would be to lose everything in order to be at one with God."

What’s interesting about this music is that it doesn’t try to evoke the feeling of enlightenment, it seems to me to be much more about the struggle and the imagining of how worth it it will be if we can only reach it. We might perhaps expect music that is reflective or introspective, something more like another piece I’ve written about, Meditation by Jules Massenet - https://www.jenxlovesmusic.com/home-1/2020/meditation-by-jules-massenet

In contrast, Bargain is hard edged. Yet in its own way it is completely absorbing. The lyrics clearly meant a lot to the songwriter, however this piece is as much about the instrumentals as it is the singer and the lyrics. There is the extraordinary drumming of Keith Moon, which is wild yet metronomically perfect and the volume, intensity, euphoric energy, changes in tempo, delays in gratification of the piece hold you to it. In particular there is the pause before the euphoric cry of “the best I ever had” that builds tension and then gives us release. It does become difficult to hear or think about anything else when this song is playing. Perhaps they found a way for us to lose ourselves after all.

Hope you enjoy it or feel inspired to listen to something new today.

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