Tommy

Story

Tommy is the fictitious biography of Tommy Walker. Tommy's father had been listed as missing in action during World War I, but he returns unexpectedly in 1921 and kills his wife's new lover in front of the seven-year-old Tommy. Tommy's parents enjoin him that "you didn't hear it, you didn't see it ... you won't say nothing to no-one", and Tommy retreats into deafness, dumbness, and blindness as a consequence. He has a vision of a tall stranger dressed in silvery robes with a golden floor-length beard, presumably an ersatz father figure, and the vision sets him on a spiritual journey. During the remainder of his childhood he suffers abuse at the hands of various family members, and he interprets all the physical sensations as music. One Christmas he is given a poxy pinball machine and he soon becomes the master of the game, with fans and groupie-wannabes just like a pop star (hinting that the whole story is a satire on its author's own career). He is finally cured when a doctor places him before a mirror and his mother, noticing that he seems to see his own reflection, shatters the mirror in a pique. Thereafter he assumes the messianic mantle and tries to lead his fans to an "enlightenment" like his own, but the heavy-handedness of his cult and a bit of exploitation by his family cause his followers to revolt against him. The story ends ambiguously with the "Listening to you" chorus from "Go to the Mirror", suggesting that Tommy may have shut the world out and returned to his fantasies again after the revolt.

Related Topics:
Missing in action - World War I - 1921 - Pinball - Groupie - Messianic

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In its original album version, the story is quite sketchy and details were often filled in by Townshend in interviews. As other adaptations of the album appeared, some details were filled in and others changed (for example the timeframe was changed to World War II and 1951 in some later versions and in the film version, the lover kills the husband rather than the converse).

Related Topics:
World War II - 1951

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