Pete Townshend Doesn’t Care About Your Memories

…and it’s great. Pete Townshend gives the best interviews ever.

Yesterday that awful Subaru ad that uses “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” by the Pogues was on, which, Jesus, Shane MacGowan does not drive a Subaru, guys. Shane MacGowan wakes up in a ditch, spits one of his last three teeth in Subaru’s general direction, and then he spends the rest of the day rocking. He should probably seek treatment.

What does that have to do with Pete Townshend? Well, a few years back, Pete Townshend was getting whined at by people like me who hate hearing boss songs in lame car commercials, and he shut it DOWN:

Who fans will often think, “This is my song, it belongs to me, it reminds me of the first time that I kissed Susie, and you can’t sell it.” And the fact is that I can and I will and I have. I don’t give a fuck about the first time you kissed Susie. If they’ve arrived, if they’ve landed, if they’ve been received, then the message is there, if there’s a message to be received. I think the other thing is, though — and I’m not trying to sideswipe this, this is not the reason why I license these songs, it’s not the reason why I licensed “Bargain” to Nissan — it was an obviously shallow misreading of the song. It was so obvious that I felt anybody who loved the song would dismiss it out of hand. And the only argument that they could have about the whole thing was with me, and as long as I’m not ready to enter the argument, we don’t argue. Well, I’m not ready to argue about it. It’s my song. I do what the fuck I like with it.

He also likes to point out that “Quadrophenia” is vastly superior as an album to “Tommy,” which is also true, and more people should be informed of that.