550 – The Who – Substitute (1966)

Escrita por Pete Townshend, foi gravada em 12 de fevereiro de 1966, no Olympic Studios, em Londres. Foi lançada nos |Estados Unidos em 4 de março de 1966, em um compacto que tinha Waltx for a pig no Lado B e em 5 de abril de 1966 no Reino Unido, em um compacto que tinha Circles (Instant party) como Lado B.

Chegou ao número 5 dos charts britânicos, número 2 na Holanda, número 13 na Alemanha e número 17 na Bélgica. Pitchfork colocou-a como número 91 das 200 maiores canções dos anos 60.

Substitute foi inspirada na música The tracks of my tears, dos Miracles, de 1965. Pete Townshend ficou obcecado pela frase “Although she may be cute, she's just a substitute”. Ficou então com vontade de criar uma canção ao redor da palavra substitute.

No compacto americano, a frase do refrão “I look all white but my dad was black” foi trocada por “I try walking forward but my feet walk back”. Substitute e I can't explain tem sido frequente nos shows da banda como música de abertura desde 1971.

Foi regravada pelos Ramones, Sex Pistols, Blur e outros artistas.

A letra:

You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather

But I'm a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah

Substitute your lies for fact
I can see right through your plastic mac
I look all white, but my dad was black
My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It's a genuine problem, you won't try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

Substitute me for him
Substitute my coke for gin
Substitute you for my mum
At least I'll get my washing done

But I'm a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I'm just backdated, yeah

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It's a genuine problem, you won't try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

Substitute me for him
Substitute my coke for gin
Substitute you for my mum
At least I'll get my washing done

Substitute your lies for fact
I can see right through your plastic mac
I look all white, but my dad was black
My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack

A versão do Who:

A versão dos Ramones:

A versão dos Sex Pistols: