Last week I finished Pete Townshend’s autobiography “Who I Am,” which was a long and entertaining read. While I was reading the book, I kept thinking how much great material there was for a Pete-themed drinking game (ironic, given a lot of the subject matter). For example,
Take a drink:
- Every time you come across the words “auto-destruction”, “Impressionism”, or “visaging”
- Any time Pete goes on a tangent about his childhood
- Whenever Roger wants to get The Who back together and Pete isn’t interested
- For every groupie that John has
- Whenever Keith does something ridiculous (“While I made progress with my search for meaning, Keith was causing havoc with a birthday cake, a car, a swimming pool, a lamp and a young fan’s bloody head”)
- Whenever Pete cheats on his wife but he has such nice things to say about the girl he cheated on her with that somehow it seems ok
- Every time you turn the page during the “Acknowledgements” section
Take two drinks:
- Every time Pete drinks Remy Martin
- Every time Pete “quits drinking”
- Any time you think for a second that you understand Lifehouse
- Any time Pete agrees to do something, then backs out, then agrees again
In all seriousness though, this was a great read. I’ve always wanted to get a glimpse into Pete’s head, since he’s such an unconventional rockstar, and this was probably the closest I’ll ever get.
I’ll leave you with a quote from the Coda:
Play to the gods, or – if you prefer – to a small basket full of stuffed toys, or sing into the mouth of a hot-water bottle, or turn the knobs on a chest of drawers and pretend to be 20,000 leagues under the sea.
It’s all the same thing. If in doubt, just play.
