"English Boy" is a song by

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 ...

, released as the first and only single from his 1993 album ''

Psychoderelict ''Psychoderelict'' is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus ''The Boy Who Heard Music'', first presented on The Who's album ...

''. The song is used to introduce the character Ray High, as well as journalist Ruth Streeting, host of ''Street on the Street''. Townshend has said the song is about "the emergence of the modern punk", and has been referred to as the focus point for the entire album. There are three versions of this song: * the first, lengthier version features dialog by Ruth Streeting over instrumental parts of the song. * the second was released as an edited, no dialog version, and appeared on both single releases in 1993 and on the Pete Townshend compilation albums ''coolwalkingsmoothtalkingstraightsmokingfirestoking'', ''Anthology'', and ''Gold''. * a

reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repea ...

, which ends the album and features a slightly different backing (including harmonica by

Peter Hope-Evans Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original album ...

and additional

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

) and dialog by Ray High, wrapping up the album and imploring "what happened to all that lovely

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

shit?"

B-sides

Two exclusive tracks were released on different single releases of "English Boy". * "Psycho Montage" is a compilation of dialogue related to the narrative. * "Electronic Wizardry" is an instrumental demo derived from the ''Lifehouse'' project.

Single release

In the UK, the song was released as a single in the following variations: * "English Boy" (non-dialog) / "English Boy" (dialog) (7" vinyl) * "English Boy" (dialog) / "Fake It" / "Psycho Montage" (CD single 1) * "English Boy" (non-dialog) / "Fake It" / "Flame" (

Simon Townshend Simon Townshend (; born 10 October 1960) is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members ...

demo) / "Early Morning Dreams" (Pete Townshend demo) (CD single 2)

References

{{authority control 1993 songs 1993 singles Pete Townshend songs Songs written by Pete Townshend Song recordings produced by Pete Townshend Atlantic Records singles