Bob Dylan is known for sharing his unfiltered thoughts on the other iconic musicians of his time, even if his opinions aren’t always particularly…generous. Just ask The Who’s Pete Townshend.
In his 2022 book The Philosophy of Modern Song, Dylan broke down The Who’s classic 1965 hit “My Generation,” reflecting on what Townshend might have been thinking when he wrote the tune.
“Like a lot of boomers, Pete seems to have a chip on his shoulder in this song,” Dylan wrote. “But he’s not totally confident, he’s somewhat back on his heels. There’s a certain defensiveness. He knows people put him down just because he gets around. Perhaps he feels like he will never measure up or he knows they resent his generation’s newly abundant leisure time.”
Dylan went on to point out that singer Roger Daltrey was ultimately the one tasked with spreading Townshend’s message.
“Pete can’t even point the finger himself, he depends on his mouthpiece, Roger, to hurl the invective,” Dylan wrote. “That fear is perhaps the most honest thing about the song. We all rail at the previous generation but somehow know it’s only a matter of time until we will become them ourselves.”
That’s not the only time Dylan seemingly expressed a less-than-positive opinion about Townshend’s work. In the BBC Four documentary The Who: The Story of Tommy, Townshend opened up about the time Dylan came to watch The Who perform on tour only to leave directly afterwards, saying, “I’ve got another appointment.”
What did Pete Townshend say about Bob Dylan?
Despite Dylan’s criticisms, Townshend has often expressed praise for the iconic folk rocker.
“Dylan definitely created a new style of writing,” Townshend told Rolling Stone in 2012. “Dylan was the one who I think got the message across to the Beatles, that you could write songs about subjects other than falling in love.”
“When I started to work on ‘My Generation,’ I started to work on a Mose Allison/Bob Dylan hybrid of a talking folk song y’know. ‘People try to put us down,'” Townshend continued, adding, “That’s a bit Mose and a bit Dylan. You can take any song of his and find something in it that’s pertinent to today.”
Related: Bob Dylan, 83, Sends Hilarious 80th Birthday Message to Fellow Rock Legend
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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