How the Queen Mother and a Towing Company Inspired The Who’s “My Generation”

Rock ‘n’ roll inherently maintains a healthy distrust of authority and the overarching “establishment” of society—that is, the ultra-rich and powerful who indirectly control virtually all aspects of everyday life for the unwealthy and disenfranchised. This control is often invisible and systemic. But every so often, an individual grievance will befall some unlucky plebeian and rile up their anger even further, as was the case for Pete Townshend while he was writing “My Generation”.

Upon its late 1965 release, “My Generation” became a career-defining anthem for The Who. The song perfectly captured the defiance and rebellion that imbued virtually all aspects of the band, from the songs they sang to the volume at which they played to the ferocity with which they would destroy their instruments on stage. For fans of The Who, “My Generation” served as their own personal ethos, a rallying cry against older generations who never understood their younger cohorts.

Interestingly, one of the motivating factors behind Townshend writing this anthemic track was something as seemingly minor—but nevertheless frustrating—as a parking infraction.

How a Parking Infraction Inspired The Who’s “My Generation”

According to Mark Ian Wilkerson’s Amazing Journey: The Life Of Pete Townshend, The Who guitarist moved into Chesham Place, a neighborhood situated between Clarence House and Buckingham Palace, in 1964. Townshend made the move at the behest of his manager, who believed that moving Townshend to a posher area might help boost his professional status. In a way, it did, but not as a benefit of the neighborhood. If anything, it was a consequence of living there.

“I had this Packard hearse parked outside my house,” Townshend recalled. “One day, I came back, and it was gone. It turned out that [the Queen Mother] had it moved, because her husband had been buried in a similar vehicle, and it reminded her of him. When I went to collect it, they wanted two hundred and fifty quid. I’d only paid thirty for it in the first place.”

“Even though I was young and smashing guitars, I still loved the Queen Mother,” Townshend once recalled, per Wilkerson’s biography. “F**king stopped, though.”

This unfair treatment by the establishment pushed Townshend to pen “My Generation”, which became a signature song for The Who. It peaked at No. 2 in their native United Kingdom and broke into the Top 10 elsewhere around the world. In the States, it achieved relatively modest success, topping out at No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100. Still, it helped lay the groundwork for the band’s future as one of the biggest rock bands in the world, the United States included.

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns