10 Most Underrated Songs (On Classic Albums)
4. The Song is Over - The Who
It's a real shame that Who fans will never see a finalized version of the Lifehouse project. Originally intended to be the follow-up rock opera to Tommy, its production development involved Pete Townshend nearly losing his sanity and the record getting folded into Who's Next, which became the highlight of the band's career.
Though many initial Lifehouse sketches landed on here like "Baba O Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," "The Song Is Over" feels like it could have been the emotional centerpiece of the record we never got. The entire track revolves around the concept of music as a healing mechanism, where people are able to sing their heart out into the void to find some type of spiritual release. The back-and-forth vocals between Townshend and Roger Daltrey feel like they are detailing the mind both before and after enlightenment.
The song gives us another tease at the Lifehouse project during the last verse, with quotes from the thesis statement of the opera "Pure and Easy." Who's Next may not have been the great artistic direction that Townshend had initially thought up, but "The Song Is Over" shows how amazing this project could have been if it were fleshed out.