In 1967, Pete Townshend discovered the teachings of Meher Baba, the Indian spiritual master who had a following of hundreds of thousands of people. Townshend identified with the leader, who seemed to express views that aligned with his own of the cosmos. Baba taught that the goal of all beings was to awaken to the consciousness of their own divinity and to realize the absolute oneness of God. In 1925, Baba began a period of silence until his death in 1969. He communicated with an alphabet board and hand signals and taught that God alone exists, and each soul is God passing through imagination in order to realize its own divinity. Baba introduced the phrase, “Don’t worry, be happy.”
After the success of The Who’s Tommy, Townshend began working on a science fiction rock opera called Lifehouse. In it, the looming threat of pollution threatens to block the sun’s light, forcing future humans to wear virtual reality spacesuits while plugging into “the grid.” The autocratic government discovers they can control people with pseudo experiences. This allowed for a decrease in pollution while also controlling the masses. As music was banned, some escaped the spacesuits and fled north. Music could be made in the old-fashioned way. The plan was to reintroduce music back into the grid, melding every inhabitant into a singular mind or single being. The venue was called Lifehouse. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Bargain” by The Who.
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I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I had
To find you, I’d suffer anything and be glad
I’d pay any price just to get you
I’d work all my life, and I will
To win you, I’d stand naked, stoned, and stabbed
Meher Baba
Townshend abandoned Lifehouse but included some of its songs on the album Who’s Next. The first recording session was at Mick Jagger’s house before the band relocated to Olympic Studios in London, where they began working on “Bargain.” Townshend returned to the Lifehouse concept through the years. The story inspired certain songs on Who Are You. In 2000, Townshend released a 6-CD box set called Lifehouse Chronicles.
In the intro to “Bargain” at the Oceanic Concerts, released in 2001, Townsend said, “I’d like to start with a song which is about the God-man’s love—the master’s love. It’s the most precious thing that you can find, but somehow, although it takes you a lifetime or a number of lifetimes to find, it’s still, strangely enough, the easiest thing, the cheapest thing, the simplest thing to find, just as long as you know how, and I called it a bargain.”
I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had
I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you, I’m gonna run and never stop
Glyn Johns
Recording engineer Glyn Johns worked on Who’s Next. His career began in 1959 when he worked on a recording session with skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan. He went on to work with The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Small Faces, Humble Pie, The Easybeats, Joe Cocker, The Move, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. Townshend praised him in The Who by Numbers: The Story of The Who Through Their Music, “Glyn Johns was a real genius at recording acoustic guitars. He got a fantastic sound for everybody he worked with. It’s still his best thing.”
I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you, I’m gonna drown an unsung man
I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had
Joe Walsh
Johns established the acoustic sound of “Bargain,” but the electric guitar side was courtesy of Joe Walsh. In 1970, the James Gang opened up for The Who in Pittsburgh. Townshend took a shine to the band and asked if they would open The Who’s upcoming European tour. In 1975, James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh told Rolling Stone magazine, “Pete’s a very melodic player, and so am I. He told me that he appreciated my playing. I was flattered beyond belief because I didn’t think I was that good. … We got along so well that I gave him the fat orange Gretsch guitar he used on Who’s Next and Clapton’s Rainbow Concert.”
I sit looking ’round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I’m worth nothing without you
In life, one and one don’t make two
One and one make one
And I’m looking for that free ride to me
I’m looking for you
Full Circle
In the early ’80s, Townshend turned away from Baba’s teachings. After getting sober in 1982, he told Creem magazine, “For a while, I pushed him out of my life because I couldn’t live within those principles. But in a way, I did it almost deliberately, and now I’ve come back in a full circle.”
I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you, I’m gonna run and never stop
I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you, I’m gonna drown an unsung man
I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had
A Love Song
“Bargain” is a love song. It’s just not a story of a man and a woman but an ode to Meher Baba. The idea of giving up all material goods and achieving spiritual enlightenment is the true bargain. Townshend said, “The song is simply about losing one’s ego as a devotee of Meher Baba. I constantly try to lose myself and find him. I’m not very successful, I’m afraid, but this song expresses how much of a bargain it would be to lose everything in order to be at one with God.”
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