"Boris the Spider" is a song written by

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's bass guitarist,

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

. It appears as the second track of their 1966 album ''

A Quick One ''A Quick One'' is the second studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 9 December 1966. A version of the album with an altered track listing was released under the name ''Happy Jack'' on Decca Records in April 1967 in the Unite ...

''. This song is claimed to be Entwistle's first composition, and became a staple of live shows. This song, along with "

My Wife "My Wife" is a song by the British rock band the Who, written by bass guitarist John Entwistle. It was originally released in 1971 on ''Who's Next'' and later as the B-side of the single "Baba O'Riley" on 6 November 1971 in Europe by Polydor Re ...

", "Heaven and Hell" and " The Quiet One", were Entwistle's most popular songs to perform live. "The Quiet One" was written to replace this song and "My Wife", which Entwistle had become quite tired of singing. Though this song was popular, it was not released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in the US and the UK. In Japan, "Boris the Spider" was released as the B-side to "Whiskey Man" in 1967.

Background

"Boris the Spider" was written after Entwistle had been out drinking with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' bass guitarist,

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with "Boris the Spider". The song was written by Entwistle in six minutes and, according to Entwistle in a 1971 interview for ''

Crawdaddy The Crawdaddy Club was a music venue in Richmond, Surrey, England, which opened in 1963. The Rolling Stones were its house band in its first year and were followed by The Yardbirds. Several other notable British blues and rhythm and blues acts a ...

'', is considered a horror song. The chorus of "Boris the Spider" was sung in

basso profundo Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest Bass (voice type), bass voice type. While ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that is limited to ...

by Entwistle, mimicking a popular

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

character, Throat, from ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'', (which possibly helped give birth to the "

death growl A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

" which would be used heavily in death metal), with a

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. A ...

of "creepy crawly" sung in

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

. These discordant passages and the

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

of the theme made the song a stage favourite. According to

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

in his song-by-song review of ''

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy Meaty may refer to: * Meaty taste Umami ( from ja, 旨味 ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It has been described as savory and is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that ty ...

'' for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', it was

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's favourite Who song. To commemorate the launch of the BBC's Radio One in 1967, the Who created a brief jingle for the station featuring Entwistle singing "Radio One" to the central riff. This recording was eventually released on the 1995 and 2009 reissues of ''

The Who Sell Out ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (immediately after their cover of "

In the Hall of the Mountain King "In the Hall of the Mountain King" ( no, I Dovregubbens hall, , In the Dovre man's hall, link=no, italic=no) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 ...

"), and at the end of their '' BBC Sessions'' disc. They created similar jingles to the tune of "My Generation" and "Happy Jack" (available on ''BBC Sessions'' and ''Thirty Years of Maximum R&B'', respectively).

Personnel

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...

- backing vocals *

- lead vocals, bass *

- backing vocals, guitar *

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

- drums

Sequel

My Size "My Size" is a song by John Entwistle. The song is the first track on his debut solo album '' Smash Your Head Against the Wall'' and ends with the main riff from one of Entwistle's popular compositions, "Boris the Spider". "My Size" was released a ...

", the opening track of Entwistle's 1971 solo album ''

Smash Your Head Against the Wall ''Smash Your Head Against the Wall'' is the debut solo studio album by English rock musician John Entwistle, released in May 1971 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US. ''Smash Your Head Against the Wall'' was the first solo alb ...

'', is a sequel to "Boris the Spider." The closing riff of the song is the same as the one heard throughout "Boris the Spider." Regarding this, Entwistle stated: "I wrote it as a sequel to Boris the Spider for our manager. Our manager wanted me to put Boris the Spider on my album. So I wrote My Size and I wrote it in a sort of code so it sounds as if it were being sung about a woman. Then I stuck the ending on it as a clue. It wasn't a very good clue, I suppose."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boris the Spider The Who songs 1966 singles Fictional spiders Songs about spiders Songs written by John Entwistle Black comedy music Novelty songs Song recordings produced by Kit Lambert 1966 songs