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"Face Dances, Pt. 2" is single written and composed by Pete Townshend, most famously known as the guitarist for the Who. The song appears on Townshend's 1982 solo album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
| "Face Dances, Pt. 2" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Pete Townshend | ||||
| from the album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes | ||||
| B-side | "Man Watching" (non-album track) | |||
| Released | July 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Genre | New wave[1] | |||
| Length | 3:24 | |||
| Label | Atco Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
| Producer(s) | Pete Townshend | |||
| Pete Townshend UK singles chronology | ||||
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| Pete Townshend US singles chronology | ||||
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Background
editPete Townshend said that the song, in addition to the other songs on All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, was about his personal experiences of alienation from both his wife and band members from the Who that he experienced during the early 1980s.
["Face Dances, Pt. 2" is] the anthem of the soul in solitary confinement. It's a feeling like [a] feeling in jail. The face that I sing about is my own. I wrote the lyrics while I was looking in a mirror![2]
Although it shares a title with it, "Face Dances Pt. 2" was not released on Townshend's band The Who's album Face Dances. In the liner notes for Face Dances, it is claimed that the song was written after the release of the Who album, but authors Steve Grantley and Alan Parker claim in their book, The Who By Numbers: The Story Of The Who Through Their Music, that the song was cut from the album.[3][4]
Billboard suggested that the "eccentric time shifts and circular melodic scheme" would reduce its appeal to pop music radio stations.[5]
Music video
editA companion video for All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes was also released, featuring "Face Dances, Pt. 2" as one of the concept videos. In some parts of the video, the covers for both the album and "Face Dances, Pt. 2" single sleeves are mimicked while Townshend lip-syncs to the song.[2]
This video has been out of print for years, even though Townshend put the videos of this song and others from the album up on his website in 2000, which were then subsequently uploaded to other video websites on the Internet.
Chart
edit| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 | 105 |
| US Billboard Top Tracks | 15 |
References
edit- ^ "Pete Townshend: Truancy: The Very Best of Pete Townshend". PopMatters. 7 July 2015.
- ^ a b ""Face Dances, Pt. 2" video and interview". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
- ^ Cady, Brian. "'Face Dances' Liner Notes". thewho.net. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014.
- ^ Grantley, Steve; Parker, Alan. The Who by Numbers: The Story of The Who Through Their Music. Helter Skelter. p. 196.
- ^ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. 7 August 1982. p. 65. Retrieved 29 January 2023.