As I watched the Super Bowl half-time show I considered whether or not Roger Daltrey and The Who weren’t singing to people all over the United States and asking them an extremely important question: Who are you?
Now I’m not a big Who fan. (I’m also not a football fan, but my son and husband were watching and I was working on my computer nearby.) As I listened to the medley of Who songs and watched the great light show (I did appreciate that…), I thought, “Could it be that Peter Townshend, the band’s songwriter, wrote lyrics that we really should pay attention to today? (Did anyone really pay attention to them when he first wrote them?)
Most of us rarely consider who we are…or who we are becoming. However, we really should. To reach our full human potential we must stop occasionally and evaluate where we are along the path to becoming who we truly want to become.
Of course, it’s important simply to get a handle on who you are and the roles you play–and to decide if that is who you want to be. Mother. Breadwinner. Artist. Dancer. Writer. Father. Poor person. Rich person. Someone alone. ย If it isn’t who you want to be, who do you want to be?
To know who you wan to be, you must know who you are.
Today, let The Who’s singing of one of their most famous songs (or at least part of it) during the Super Bowl half-time show remind you to ask yourself, “Who am I? As a person, who am I…really?” You might be surprised at your answer.
Nina,
I’m glad to see someone I follow write about the lyrics of this band. The line that left me in tears was not “Who are you?” but “Meet the new boss//Same as the old boss,” complete with the epochal scream, which declared the end of the ’60s – and their utter failure to change the ugly power-structure that self-sustains. The question, “Who are you?” in the same medley, asks me, “Who are you, Ronald, in the New World Order? What is your role in letting the old boss put on a mask and bill himself as something new?” When I answer this question, maybe I can change.
I hope you can find the answer. Thanks for reading my blog and commenting. I really appreciate it.