The last of
The Who's
Lifehouse singles prior to
Quadrophenia, "The Relay" was what you would call a filler single, similar to the earlier "
Let's See Action (Nothing is Everything)" and "
Join Together".
Released in
December 1972, "The Relay" (called simply "Relay" in England) charted at #21 in the UK charts. The
B-side was drummer
Keith Moon's creation, "
Waspman".
"The Relay" instigated an unforgettable appearance on the BBC's Russel Harty Show in which Moon bit guitarist Pete Townshend and then ripped his shirt - only to follow his madness by performing an impromptu striptease. This was later featured, sans the actual song performance, in the documentary The Kids Are Alright.
Even so, its "mediocre" chart placing excluded "The Relay" from many Who compilation albums thereafter.
"The Relay" was part of Townshend's failed "rock opera" Lifehouse. In Lifehouse, the protagonist was supposed to be a revolutionary who tired of the government's totalitarianism. He wanted to set everyone free by staging a concert to create "a celestial cacophony of sound" to free them from mind control. This mind control comes from a computer network known as "The Grid".
Not unlike the internet (and, keep in mind, this was the early 70s-the internet was still a secret government operation), "The Grid" made people live life through virtual reality. "The Relay" is about the social revolution of the Lifehouse world, when they realise what's really going on with their government.
You can hear it in the street
See it in the dragging feet, the
Word is getting out about control
The spies, they've come and gone,
the story travels on,
the only private place is inside your soul
From tree to tree, from you to me
Traveling twice as fast as on any freeway
Every single dream wrapped up in the scheme
They all get carried on the Relay
(The Relay...)
(The Relay) Things are brewing
(The Relay) Something's doing
(The Relay) There's a revolution
(The Relay) Hand me down a solution, yeah
(The Relay)
Pass it on...keep on...A relay
Ahhhh
Ahhhh
Ahhhhhhhhhh
Someone disapproves of what you say and do
I was asked to see what I could really learn you
Don't believe your eyes, they're telling only lies
What is done in the first place don't concern you
From tree to tree, from you to me
Traveling twice as fast as on any freeway
Every single dream wrapped up in the scheme
They all get carried on the Relay
(The Relay) Things are brewing
(The Relay) Something's doing
(The Relay) There's a revolution
(The Relay) Hand me down a solution, yeah,
pass it on, pass it on...
The Relay....The Relay, The Relay....
thanks: Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who by Andy Neill and Matt Kent
CST Approved