View source for I Can't Explain

{{short description|Original song written and composed by Pete Townshend}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = I Can't Explain
| cover      = I Can't Explain.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[the Who]]
| album      =
| B-side     = [[Bald Headed Woman#The Who version|Bald Headed Woman]]
| released   = 19 December 1964{{sfn|Neill|2007|p=62}}
| recorded   = Early November 1964{{sfn|Neill|2007|p=60}}
| studio     = [[Pye Studios|Pye]], London{{cn|date=April 2024}}
| genre      = *[[Power pop]]<ref>{{cite book|first1= Jeff |last1= Kitts |first2= Brad |last2= Tolinski |author-link2= Brad Tolinski |title= Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: From the Pages of Guitar World Magazine |isbn= 0-634-04619-5 |year= 2002 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg838EcECUwC&q=%22power+pop%22&pg=PT26 |page= 21 |publisher= Hal Leonard Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-whos-50-greatest-songs-81794/magic-bus-non-album-single-1968-23363/|title=The Who's 50 Greatest Songs|first1=David|last1=Browne|first2=David|last2=Frickle|first3=Jon|last3=Dolan|first4=Kory|last4=Grow|first5=Richard|last5=Gehr|first6=Andy|last6=Greene|first7=Will|last7=Hermes|first8=Angie|last8=Martoccio|date=30 June 2022|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=21 June 2025|quote=“I Can’t Explain” was a power-pop rocket of adrenaline riffs and raw clatter}}</ref>
*[[garage rock]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/who-songs/|title=Top 10 Who Songs|date=29 March 2013 }}</ref>
| length     = {{Duration|m=2|s=04}}
| label      = *[[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]] (UK)
*[[Decca Records|Decca]] (US)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/31725|title=45cat - The Who - I Can't Explain / Bald Headed Woman - Decca - USA - 31725}}</ref>
| writer     = [[Pete Townshend]]
| producer   = [[Shel Talmy]]
| prev_title = [[Zoot Suit (song)|Zoot Suit]]
| prev_year  = 1964
| next_title = [[Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere]]
| next_year  = 1965
| misc       = {{External music video|{{YouTube|h3h--K5928M|"I Can't Explain"}}}}
}}

"'''I Can't Explain'''" is a song by English rock band [[the Who]], written by [[Pete Townshend]] and produced by [[Shel Talmy]]. It was released as a single in the United States on 19 December 1964 by [[Decca Records|Decca]] and on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom by [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22I+Can%27t+Explain%22+%22The+Who%22+%22radio+%22December%22&pg=PA10|title=Billboard|date=12 December 1964|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=I Can't Explain|url=https://www.thewho.com/music/i-cant-explain/|access-date=15 January 2022|website=The Who}}</ref> It was the band's second single release and first under the Who name.

The song has been covered by other artists, including [[David Bowie]].

==Background==
"I Can't Explain" was the [[A-side and B-side|A-side]] of the group's first single as the Who; its predecessor, "Zoot Suit"/"I'm the Face," was released under the name the High Numbers. In the album's [[liner notes]], Townshend noted the song's similarity to the contemporaneous hit "[[All Day and All of the Night]]" by [[the Kinks]]: "It can't be beat for straightforward Kink copying. There is little to say about how I wrote this. It came out of the top of my head when I was 18 and a half." In a 1994 issue of [[Q (magazine)|''Q'' magazine]], [[Roger Daltrey]] echoed Townshend's comments regarding the Kinks' influence:

<blockquote>We already knew Pete could write songs, but it never seemed a necessity in those days to have your own stuff because there was this wealth of untapped music that we could get hold of from America. But then bands like the Kinks started to make it, and they were probably the biggest influence on us – they were certainly a huge influence on Pete, and he wrote 'I Can't Explain', not as a direct copy, but certainly it's very derivative of Kinks music.<ref name="Q feature">{{cite journal |author=Bauldie, John |title=Feature: ''B-Nnanngg!'' |journal=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |publisher=[[EMAP|EMAP Metro Ltd]] |issue=Q96, September 1994 |page=90 |author-link=John Bauldie}}</ref></blockquote>

In a May 1974 interview with ''[[Creem]]'', [[Jimmy Page]] recalled playing [[rhythm guitar]] on the song as a [[session guitarist]].<ref name="creem">{{cite magazine |first=Nick |last=Kent |title=CREEM—May 1974 |url=http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/LedZeppelin/PageMemoirs001.html |date=May 1974 |magazine=[[Creem|Creem Media, Inc]] |access-date=3 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026163454/http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/LedZeppelin/PageMemoirs001.html |archive-date=26 October 2009 }}</ref> This was confirmed by Townshend and producer [[Shel Talmy]].<ref name="talmy">{{cite web |first=Richie |last=Unterberger |title=SHEL TALMY |url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/talmy.html |publisher=[[Richie Unterberger]] |access-date=3 February 2010}}</ref> According to those working on the recordings, however, Page's contribution did not make the final cut.<ref name="RockHistory">{{cite book |title=Rock History: Recording Sessions in Rock |first=Neil |last=Albert |page=223 |chapter=I can't explain |publisher=Highland Publishing |location=UK}}</ref> "I was on 'I Can't Explain', just playing rhythm guitar in the background," he clarified in 2004. But the main riff, he confirmed, "was all Pete… He was roaring, man." Page also played on the B-side, "[[Bald Headed Woman#The Who version|Bald Headed Woman]]".<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Charles Shaar|last=Murray|author-link=Charles Shaar Murray|title=The Guv'nors|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|issue=129|date=August 2004|page=71}}</ref> However, in Daltrey's 2018 autobiography, ''Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story'' (pages 94 and 95), he gives his version of the recording session and states that Page was on [[lead guitar]]. Additionally, in an interview with Daltrey on ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]'' in 2013, Daltrey said, regarding Page, "He played lead guitar; he played the solo."{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}.

The Who have used "I Can't Explain" throughout many of their live performances, often as the opener. It remains a staple today.

In a 2015 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', Townshend referred to "I Can't Explain" as "a song, written by some 18-year-old kid, about the fact that he can't tell his girlfriend he loves her because he's taken too many [[Dexedrine]] tablets."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/whos-done-pete-townshends-ambivalent-farewell-20150507 |title=Who's Done? Pete Townshend's Ambivalent Farewell |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=7 May 2015 |access-date=9 May 2015 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012074216/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/whos-done-pete-townshends-ambivalent-farewell-20150507 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In his autobiography ''[[Who I Am (book)|Who I Am]]'', Townshend says he came up with the song after being told by managers [[Kit Lambert]] and [[Chris Stamp]] to write original tunes for his up-and-coming band. He locked himself up in his bedroom listening to [[Bob Dylan]], [[Charles Mingus]], [[John Lee Hooker]] and [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]], and tried to summarise the feelings caused by the music, with the idea that came up the most being "I can't explain". Thus came the first verse, a [[Meta (prefix)|meta]] approach where the lyrics are about songwriting itself. After being introduced to producer [[Shel Talmy]], Townshend listened to "[[You Really Got Me]]" trying to make the rest of "I Can't Explain" a love song similar to the Kinks, hoping to please Talmy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who I Am|year=2012|publisher=HarperCollins|author=Townshend, Pete|pages=71–2|isbn=978-0062127242}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
In 2012, ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' ranked the song number ten on their list of the 20 greatest The Who songs,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-songs/the-20-best-songs-by-the-who|title=The 20 Best Songs by The Who|first=Brian|last=Tremml|work=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]|date=7 November 2012|accessdate=20 March 2023}}</ref> and in 2022, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked the song number seven on their list of the 50 greatest The Who songs.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-whos-50-greatest-songs-81794/|title=The Who's 50 Greatest Songs|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=30 June 2022|accessdate=20 March 2023}}</ref> The song is ranked No. 9 on [[Pitchfork Media]]'s list of the "200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/?page=10|title=The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s|date=18 August 2006|website=[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> No. 59 on ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''{{'}}s list of the "100 Greatest Singles of All Time",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001133950/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=1 October 2005|title=Rocklist.net...Spin Magazine (USA) Lists...Page 2..|website=www.rocklistmusic.co.uk}}</ref> and No. 380 on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]" in 2010.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/the-who-i-cant-explain-54896/|title=I Can't Explain ranked 380th greatest song|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=11 December 2003|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref>

There was a misprinted label re-released in 1968 on the second colour band series label entitled "Can't Explain" but it was soon withdrawn and released with the correct title of the song as released on the first 1964 release, and other previous and future label releases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thewho.com/album/i-cant-explain/ |title=I Can't Explain |publisher=Thewho.com |date=29 April 2012 |access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>

==Chart performance==
On the [[UK Singles Chart]], "I Can't Explain" first appeared on 20 February 1965 at No. 45, and then reached its highest position on 17 April 1965 at No. 8. The song left the charts on 15 May at No. 29, having spent a total of 13 weeks there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/Eve%20Of%20Destruction |title=The Who – I Can't Explain |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref> The single was much less successful on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], reaching only No. 93.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=the-who-p5822/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}}|title=Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles > I Can't Explain|website=Allmusic |access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref>

==Charts==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1965)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name="AUS">{{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989 |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |access-date= 28 August 2014 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=21533&pages=}}</ref>
|align="center"|87
|-
{{singlechart|Flanders|41|artist=The Who|song=My Generation|access-date=28 August 2014}}
|-
|France ([[SNEP]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infodisc.fr/Bilan_W.php |title=InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste |publisher=InfoDisc |id=Select "The Who" from the artist drop-down menu |access-date=2 July 2013 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920064608/http://infodisc.fr/Bilan_W.php |archive-date=20 September 2013 }}</ref>
|align="center"|14
|-
{{singlechart|UK|8|date=19650415|access-date=2 July 2013}}
|-
|US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]<ref name="awards">{{cite web|title= The Who – Awards |publisher= [[AllMusic]] |access-date= 2 July 2013 |url= https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-who-mn0000577627/awards}}</ref>
|align="center"|93
|-
|US ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' Top 100<ref>{{cite magazine|title= CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending DECEMBER 18, 1965 |magazine= [[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]] |url= http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19651218.html |archive-date= 5 October 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121005023757/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19651218.html}}</ref>
|align="center"|57
|}

==Personnel==

;The Who 
*[[Roger Daltrey]] – lead vocals, tambourine
*[[Pete Townshend]] – lead 12-string guitar, backing vocals
*[[John Entwistle]] – bass, backing vocals
*[[Keith Moon]] – drums, backing vocals

;Additional personnel <ref>https://www.thewho.com/happy-50th-birthday-cant-explain/</ref>
*[[Jimmy Page]] - rhythm guitar
*[[The Ivy League (band)|The Ivy League]] – backing vocals, handclaps
*[[Perry Ford]] – piano

==Cover versions==
===Scorpions version===
{{Infobox song
| name       = I Can't Explain
| cover      =
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]]
| album      = [[Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads]]
| B-side     = Lovedrive
| released   = October 1989
| format     =
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Glam metal]]
| length     = 3:22
| label      = [[Polydor Records|Polydor]]
| writer     = Pete Townshend
| producer   = [[Bruce Fairbairn]]
| prev_title = [[Passion Rules the Game]]
| prev_year  = 1989
| next_title = Is There Anybody There? (Long Version)
| next_year  = 1989
}}

[[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] recorded their version of "I Can't Explain" for their 1989 compilation album ''[[Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads]]'' and the various artist compilation ''[[Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell]]'', the latter album featuring bands that performed at the [[Moscow Music Peace Festival]], an anti-drug and alcohol event, highlighting the related deaths of various famous musicians, such as the Who's [[Keith Moon]], who died of a drug overdose.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

The Scorpions version was released as single via [[Polydor Records]], and reached No. 5 on the [[Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart. They performed the song live during their 'Crazy World Tour'.{{Clarify|reason=1990-91 tour or 2017-20 tour?|date=August 2020}}

===Weekly charts===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1989)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|align="left"|Finland ([[Suomen virallinen lista]])<ref name="Book">{{cite book|first= Timo |last= Pennanen |year= 2006 |title= Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 |language= fi |edition= 1st |publisher= Tammi |isbn= 978-951-1-21053-5 |location= Helsinki}}</ref>
|align="center"|17
|-
{{single chart|Billboardmainstreamrock|5|artist=Scorpions|access-date=16 November 2018}}
|-
|}

===David Bowie version===
[[David Bowie]] recorded a version of the song for his seventh studio album ''[[Pin Ups]]'' in 1973, along with another Who song, "[[Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere]]."<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Leary |first=Chris |title=Rebel Rebel: All the Songs of David Bowie from '64 to '76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggTmBwAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=[[John Hunt Publishing|Zero Books]] |location=Winchester |isbn=978-1-78099-244-0 |page=chap. 7}}</ref>

===The Sweet version===
[[The Sweet]] - BBC session, 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/9952799-The-Sweet-At-The-Beeb|title=The Sweet – At The Beeb (CD) - Discogs|website=[[Discogs]] }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Neill |first1=Andrew |title=Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958–1978 |date=2007 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7535-1217-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/anywayanyhowanyw0000neil/ |url-access=registration}}
{{Refend}}

{{The Who singles}}
{{Scorpions}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1964 songs]]
[[Category:1964 singles]]
[[Category:1989 singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Pete Townshend]]
[[Category:The Who songs]]
[[Category:British garage rock songs]]
[[Category:Scorpions (band) songs]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Shel Talmy]]
[[Category:Decca Records singles]]
[[Category:Brunswick Records singles]]
[[Category:Polydor Records singles]]