Never knew The Who were trainspotters

The Day We Caught The Train

I wonder if The Who actually tried to find some a driver's view video of the Underground when they were planning their performance at Hyde Park Calling on Sunday.


Neil, me and a couple of our friends joined thousands of others to see The Who at Hyde Park Calling. I imagine The Who wanted to keep to their sixties roots, so perhaps that's why we were treated with some vintage railway footage rather than a driver's eye view of the Jubilee Line or the DLR.

I was initially quite surprised to see the train driver's eye view film making up the background to "Who are You?". Although not so surprising when you recall the lyrics of the song:

"I staggered back to the underground
And the breeze blew back my hair
I remember throwin' punches around
And preachin' from my chair .......

I took the Tube back out of town
Back to the Rollin' Pin
I felt a little like a dying clown
With a streak of Rin Tin Tin"

Does anyone know where the Rollin' Pin is or what it refers to?

Like most bands from London or writing songs about London, at some point in time the Tube is going to feature. Although there seemed to more of a trend with this in the sixties or with Mod/sixties sounding bands like The Jam. The Tube represented (and still to some extent represents) a hip and trendy, urban London. Throwing in London Underground references is kind of short-hand for saying "We're a bit edgy & street-wise". Although I'm sure Roger Daltry & Pete Townshend have done more than their fare share of Tube travel in the past.


By the way, one of the support acts Ocean Colour Scene performed their signature hit, The Day We Caught The Train - see how the links are not just thrown together.

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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