It's Hard (song)
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"It's Hard" is a song written by Pete Townshend that featured on British rock band The Who's tenth album, '' It's Hard'', of which it was the title track. It was released as the third and final vinyl single from the album in 1983, backed with the
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 ...
written song "
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", but failed to chart, although it reached number 39 on the ''
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. This would become the last Who single of new material until "
Real Good Looking Boy "Real Good Looking Boy" is a song written by the guitarist of the British rock band The Who, Pete Townshend. It was originally released in 2004 on the compilation album ''Then and Now (The Who album), Then and Now'', and was one of two new songs ...
" in 2004, and the last album single by them until "Black Widow's Eyes", two years later.


Background

The lyrics to "It's Hard" were written long before the actual song. It was originally presented to the Who in 1981 for the Who's previous album, ''
Face Dances ''Face Dances'' is the ninth studio album by English rock band the Who. It was released in 1981 by Warner Bros. in the United States (it was the band's first release on that label) and on Polydor in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Who ...
'', in the form of a demo called "Popular", but the band's reaction was cool towards it, as the album was nearly finished at the time. The music of "Popular" was later re-written and the lyrics slightly altered and the song, as "It's Hard", was shown to the Who again and this time featured on the album. Pete Townshend said of the song: Townshend also said of the band's reaction to "Popular": The original demo of "Popular" is featured on the Pete Townshend solo compilation album '' Scoop'', which was released in 1983. The original mix featured an error in Townshend's opening guitar solo, which was fixed in the 1997 remix.


Lyrics and music

The lyrics of "It's Hard" describe how hard life can be. Steve Grantley and
Alan G. Parker Alan G. Parker is an Emmy-nominated British documentary film director best known for his films ''Who Killed Nancy?,'' ''Monty Python: Almost The Truth - The Lawyers Cut'' and ''It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper & Beyond.'' ...
comment that the song begins by sounding like the theme is the hardships by those who are not well off, "but it turns out to be a self-pitying, repetitive lament about the protagonist's own bad luck." Who biographer John Atkins also describes the lyrics as "self-pitying." Grantley and Parker say the song has "a certain rocking energy" but they consider the riff to be a ripoff of
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
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."


Critical reception

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'' called it "standard Who fare," saying that while Daltrey lists the reasons life is hard, Townsend's guitar interlude and harmony vocals "smooth out the rough goings." Atkins considers "It's Hard" to be "routine," unoriginal and lacking in inspiration, describing it as "predictable, bland
soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
with weak
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work. Atkins considered its forebear, "Popular," to be "equally insipid." Chris Charlesworth calls "It's Hard" a "cliché ridden effort" and particularly criticizes the song's lack of energy. Mike Segretto regards the song as "middling." Grantley and Parker regard it as one of the "highlights" of the ''It's Hard'' album, but criticize the riff being taken from Springsteen and that Townshend is now "simply moaning about how tough it is at the top" rather than, as he did previously, voicing the concerns of the "inarticulate young working class."


Live history

"It's Hard" was only performed live on the tour promoting the album in
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
. Lead singer Roger Daltrey played "It's Hard" on rhythm guitar when the Who performed it live, which was very unusual. It was played at every concert on the tour, and featured a short full-band jam at the end. The version from the tour's final show at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on 17 December is included as a bonus track on the 1997 rerelease of ''It's Hard''.


The Who albums and videos featuring "It's Hard"

In order of release: *'' It's Hard'' *'' The Who Rocks America'' *'' Live from Toronto''


Personnel

;The Who * Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, rhythm guitar in live performances * Pete Townshend – rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals *
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 ...
– bass guitar * Kenney Jones – drums ;Additional musicians *
Tim Gorman Tim Gorman is an American pianist, composer, arranger and record producer. Gorman studied music composition at the University of Portland in Oregon, under Philippe De La Mare, himself a former student of Nadia Boulanger. Biography Gorman graduat ...
– synthesiser


References

{{authority control The Who songs Songs written by Pete Townshend 1983 singles Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Warner Records singles Polydor Records singles 1982 songs Song recordings produced by Pete Townshend