I have a question about "Tommy" by the Who.

[rockymountaindem]

I've been listening to the whole thing (not just the parts they play on the radio), but I don't get it. So, Tommy is born blind, deaf and dumb. However, he's a pinball wizard. The doctor said that there's nothing physically wrong with him, but that Tommy has some kind of "block". Next we learn that Tommy can evidently recongnize himself in a mirror. Could he always do this, or was it part of some gradual healing process? Then we get a "miracle cure" interlude, followed by the song about Sally. After that, Tommy is ok. Did Sally's love fix him? What's the deal?

What the helly was wrong with Tommy and how did it get better?

Then, he becomes a councilor at a summer camp for kids who have also just become "aware" after being in a condition like he was. All the while we've thought Tommy was one of a kind, but now we learn there are many like him. What's the deal?

[chas 2010]

1. Tommy who? What was his last name? NT

[Parrcrow]

5. Tommy Walker

actually.


and welcome to DU:hi:

[chas 2010]

9. Who was Tommy? NT

[FormerDittoHead]

2. See the movie...

yes, I remember when it was just the record, it was quite the rumour mill what it really meant.

but I won't spoil the movie for you, and as you haven't seen it you SHOULD simply because it stars MANY great rock 'n rollers and pre-dates and foreshadows MTV.

If you must:
http://www.answers.com/topic/tommy-1

[disgruntled_goat]

3. he was not born that way

IIRC he was a mostly normal kid who went into some sort of catatonic shock as a young boy when he sees his mom's boyfriend kill his (tommy's) dad who had returned at long last from the war, where he had been reported KIA or MIA...

so we get this bit where ma and her boyfriend are singing to tommy over and over:
you didnt see nothing
you didnt hear nothing
you wont say nothing
(not exact lyrics)

and so tommy goes on this long sorta catatonic inner voyage.

hope that helps


p.s. there are two tommy albums. if you dont like one try the other! :)

[johnnie]

4. He wasn't born that way

He saw his father get killed by a man that his mother was involved with because they thought his father had died in the war.
They told Tommy, You never saw it..you never heard it..don't ever say anything. Basically that's what it was.

[ClintonTyree]

6. Tommy wasn't born blind, deaf and dumb.

He was traumatized by the sight of his step-father killing his real father.(his mother remarried after it was thought he was killed in the war)
The pinball wizard stuff, the acid queen etc. are all attempts to get him to open up.
Tommy is finally cured by himself in the end. His self realization that he is in control of his own life breaks through the mental block he has built up around himself.
Pull down your eye shades. take out your earplugs, you know where to put the cork.
It's a classic, I make it a point to watch it at least once a year. Ann Margaret in the tub with all of those baked beans.....yeah baby!

[rockymountaindem]

7. Upon further investigation

it seems that the father and the mother killed the lover. In "1921", the lyrics on 2 websites have the "you didn't see nothing" section noted under "mother and father". That's after the lover's death, I presume.

[LisaM]

8. The album is WAY better than the movie soundtrack

and yes, Tommy was not born that way.