As vast and worldwide as it may seem from the audience’s perspective, the musical world is incredibly small. Influence and inspiration travel hundreds and hundreds of miles across cities, countries, and even entire oceans. And that was certainly the case for a Top 10 hit by The Who called “Substitute”. Guitar-smasher extraordinaire Pete Townshend wrote the song, and interestingly, he based it on a 1965 soul single by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
The Motown stars’ Going to a Go-Go track, “The Tracks of My Tears”, is your standard, lonesome heartbreak fare. A “laughing on the outside, crying on the inside” kind of song. One verse in particular stuck in Townshend’s mind. “Since you left me, if you see me with another girl, seeming like I’m having fun / Although she may be cute, she’s just a substitute because you’re the permanent one.”
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More specifically, Townshend zeroed in on the word “substitute.” The British rock ‘n’ roller decided to write an entire song around being the substitute, leading to lines like, “You think we look pretty good together / You think my shoes are made of leather, but I’m a substitute for another guy.”
Why The Who Had to Censor Their Smokey Robinson-Inspired Track
Of course, the musical world might have been vast in the mid-1960s. But more broadly—and particularly in the United States—the general mindset was woefully small. Ironically, The Who had to censor one of their lyrics in the chorus for the American release of “Substitute”. “I look all white, but my dad was Black” proved too controversial for the States in the mid-1960s. And on the heels of the Civil Rights movement, it was certainly a tumultuous time in the U.S.
Thus, a song that a Black musical ensemble helped inspire had to use different lyrics so as not to offend the more racially intolerant corners of The Who’s American audience. The band switched the line to, “I try walking forward, but my feet walk back.” Not necessarily as clear as the original, but at least it rhymed. The U.S. version of “Substitute” was also shorter by nearly an entire minute.
Although not their most ubiquitous hit, The Who enjoyed moderate success with “Substitute”. The song peaked at No. 5 in their native U.K. That was four chart positions above the song that inspired it, “The Tracks of My Tears”. The song also marked a maturation in The Who’s songwriting abilities, graduating from the righteous indignation of “My Generation” into something more introspective and emotional.
Despite the maturity it evoked from the outside looking in, Townshend would later describe The Who’s “Substitute” as more of a “take off on Mick Jagger” than a tribute to Smokey Robinson or Townshend’s insecurities. Whatever the motivation, the feeling of being someone’s next-best thing undoubtedly resonated with the band’s global audience.
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