10 Beatles Songs Not Written By The Beatles
8. So Sad About Us - The Who
After the Beatles conquered America and the rest of England, you had offshoot genres popping up left and right. Though a bit off-kilter than the pop rock and roll of the Fab Four, the Mod scene was taking the blues and soul numbers from America and putting rock arrangements around them. The Who had originally gotten their start in the Mod scene, but their second album showed them growing by leaps and bounds.
A Quick One tends to be remembered today as the start of the Who’s epic period, with the title track turning into a 9 minute journey that predicted later works like Tommy. However, one of Pete Townshend’s greatest pop detours arrives just before we reach the grand finale. In just three minutes, “So Sad About Us” takes every great melodic trick the Beatles pioneered and applies it, with the sweet background harmonies being combined the subject matter of teenage romance.
This was a far stretch for what the Who would be doing on something like Quadrophenia, but “So Sad About Us” serves as a great final song to close out their initial pop rock period. It doesn’t have the same charm as someone like Paul McCartney, but this is one of the few rock songs that doesn’t have a single element out of place.