Lead singer of UK band The Who, Roger Daltrey, says their single released in 1971 carries a stark warning to modern youth who spend too much time on social media.
The song, 'Baba O'Riley', appeared on the LP 'Who's Next' which went to No. 1 in the UK. The title refers to the band's guitarist Pete Townshend's two leading philosophical and musical inspirations: Maher Baba and Terry Riley.
Townshend said the song was about "the absolute desolation of teenagers at Woodstock, where audience members were strung out on acid, and 20 people had brain damage. The irony was that some listeners took the song to be a teenage celebration: 'Teenage Wasteland, yes! We're all wasted!'"
Roger Daltrey said in a recent interview that “‘Teenage Wasteland’ speaks to generation after generation. The bridge – ‘Don’t cry / Don’t raise your eye / It’s only teenage wasteland’ – if that doesn’t say more about the new generation, I don’t know what does.”
"The main advice I give youngsters is to be very aware of what you are getting into on social media. Because life is not looking down at screens, it is looking up. We are heading for catastrophe with the addiction that is going on in the younger generation. Your life will disappear if you are not careful. You are being controlled, and that is terrible."
Save those screen-time-arguments for another day. Try a new tactic - drill 'Baba O'riley' lyrics into your kids' memories.
