2000 Great Songs #1410: And I Moved

Another example of the deep cuts being far more interesting to me than the singles. A bit of a sleeper on Pete Townshend's 1980 solo LP Empty Glass, "And I Moved" features one of rock's greatest guitars leaving his guitars behind, replaced with a delightful rolling piano figure provided by frequent collaborator John "Rabbit" Bundrick (who also played on the following year's Who LP Face Dances) and some keyboard flashes--though it's the bass lines, from session player Tony Butler (who joined Big Country shortly thereafter), which really snag your attention. But beyond the atypical musical aesthetic, it's lyrically adventurous, Pete's most unambiguously homoerotic song; while Townshend had frequently hinted at his questioning of his sexuality in various Who songs (not to mention on the album's "Rough Boys," for which "Moved" served as the b-side), this one leaves little guesswork about the narrator's passions.

Interestingly, Townshend apparently wrote it with the hopes of giving it to Bette Midler, but she declined.

Live 1994:
Cover by Mark Weigle:
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