Baba O'Riley

"Baba O'Riley"
Single by the Who
from the album Who's Next
B-side	"My Wife"
Released	October 1971 (1971-10)[1]
Recorded	May 1971
Studio	Olympic, London[2]
Genre	Hard rock[3]
Length	5:00
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Pete Townshend
Producer(s)	The Who
The Who singles chronology
"Let's See Action" (1971) "Baba O'Riley" (1971) "Behind Blue Eyes" (1971)
Audio
"Baba O'Riley" on YouTube

"Baba O'Riley" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenage wasteland". The song's title comes from this combination of the song's philosophical and musical influences: Meher Baba and Terry Riley.^[4]

Personnel

The Who

• Roger Daltrey – lead vocals and harmonica (live versions only)
• Pete Townshend – Lowrey organ, piano, electric guitar and co-lead vocals
• John Entwistle – bass
• Keith Moon – drums

Additional personnel

• Dave Arbus – violin

Charts

The Who performing "Baba O'Riley" live at Manchester Arena in 2014

1972 chart performance for "Baba O'Riley"

Chart (1972)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5]	80
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6]	13
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7]	11

2012 chart performance for "Baba O'Riley"

Chart (2012)	Peak position
France (SNEP)[8]	200
UK Singles (OCC)[9]	55

Certifications

Certifications for "Baba O'Riley"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[10]	Platinum	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[11]	Platinum	600,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Baba O'Riley". ung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
2. Who's Next 1995 Remastered Liner Notes Page 17
3. Atkins, John (1 February 2000). The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963–1998. McFarland. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-7864-4097-9.
4. The Who: The Ultimate Collection, page 12
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Who" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
7. "The Who – Baba O'Riley" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
8. "The Who – Baba O'Riley" (in French). Les classement single.
9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
10. "Italian single certifications – The Who – Baba O'Riley" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 19 June 2020. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Baba O'Riley" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
11. "British single certifications – Who – Baba O'Riley". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 June 2020.