Pinball Wizard

As sung by Pete Townshend during Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman's Ball":



(here are some of the lyrics - Pete Townshend didn't sing one of the verses and sang the last verse twice, I don't know if this was on purpose - I think I read somewhere that he was very nervous during this performance)

He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean
He plays by intuition
The digit counters fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

He's a pinball wizard
There's got to be a twist
A pinball wizard
He's got such a supple wrist

He ain't got no distractions
Can't hear those buzzers and bells
Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets a replay
Never tilts at all
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball

It's one of my favourite songs. I first heard this movie version when I was 13, when I saw The Secret Policemen's Ball. I didn't know the song or who Pete Townshend was or who The Who were ("who The Who were", hehehe). But I was quite taken by the strange and beautiful lyrics and performance. It's a great story: someone who doesn't have access to most of the usual ways of sensing the external world has found their own, extraordinary, way. It's usually sung in a more rocking or melodic way (when sung by The Who or Elton John), but this, acoustic guitar-slightly melancholic-Pete Townshend version, is my favourite.