By Charles Brammall
Surely the lyric of this song on “The Endless Wire” album (one of their best) answers this question:
“Two Thousand Years”
“Two Thousand Years
Have I waited
To ask if I have loved you
To know if I have served you
To find if I’ve obeyed you
To know if I’ve betrayed you…
Then find I can’t be perfect
Not even a perfect snake
To know that we are hated
You suffer for my sake
And so I have a chance to love
As you intended
You really lived and died for me
Is the waiting really ended?
Two thousand years
Long, long years… I have waited”
Got to be about Christ right?
Maybe not.
Pete worships false christ Meher Baba.
Baba, who died in 1969, was an Indian spiritual master who claimed to be his age’s Avatar, or God in human form. He had hundreds of thousands of followers, mostly Indian, but also in North America, Europe, South America, and Australia.
However, Pete apparently believes in God. In a 2019 interview with “The Times” (London) he said that lead singer Roger Daltrey is an atheist: “I believe in God, he doesn’t.”
Pete is the band’s second lead vocalist, principal songwriter, and leader. The Who was one of the 60’s and 70’s most influential bands. One of my greatest regrets is never seeing them live.
Pete’s aggressive and famous “propeller” strumming style, his poetic songwriting techniques, and authorship (with the band) of two rock musicals, have earned him great critical acclaim.
The very recognisable lead singer’s voice one hears in many Who songs is not, contrary to popular belief, lead singer Roger Daltrey, but Pete.
“Bijou Drains” (AKA Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend) has for 10 years been the husband of pop singer Rachel Fuller. Rachel is (controversially) almost 30 years his junior.
Not only is Pete an unbeliever, but he’s bightingly and cleverly cynical about the hypocrisy of priests, bishops and popes (and his own), as seen in his 2006 song “Man in a Purple Dress”:
“How dare you wear robes and reside.
How dare you cover your head to hide
Your face from God.
How dare you smile from behind your beard
To hide the fact that your hearts are feared.
And wave your rod.
How dare you be the one to assess
Me in this godforsaken mess.
You, a man in a purple dress
A man in a purple dress.
When you place your frown
Between my God and prayer,
However grand your crown,
Or dignified your hair.
Men above men all prats
In your high hats.
“You priest, you mullah so high,
You pope, you wise rabbi.
You’re invisible to me,
Like vapor from the sea.
I lovingly mock you noble lords.
We all dress up to grand awards,
I do that as well.
I dare condemn your fashion sense.
At least you’re not astride the fence
That wouldn’t sell.
But I will deliver this address:
Your souls conditioned don’t impress.
You, a man in a purple dress
A man in a purple dress.”
The man in the dress represents spiritual hypocrisy, and the absurdity of religious leaders who hide behind elaborate garments and rituals, while lacking genuine faith or wisdom. The song critiques those who present themselves as authorities on morality and spirituality, but are, in Pete’s view, essentially just showmen putting on a performance.
The purple dress is not literally a mauve frock, but symbolises the theatricality and posturing that Townshend associates with certain religious figures. In Pete’s opinion, these people hide behind their attire and titles to mask their true flawed, egocentric and hypocritical nature.
In the song Pete challenges the authority and alleged “infallibility” of religious leaders, questioning their right to judge or guide others, when they themselves don’t live up to their own standards. Much like the gospels’ Pharisees.
The “purple dress” is a metaphor for all the outward trappings and rituals of religion that can obscure the core message of the Gospel, relationship with God, and dependence on Him.
Prayer:
Our gracious God and loving Heavenly Father,
Please reveal yourself to Pete, his wife Rachel, their kids Emma, Joseph and Aminta; Roger; and their drummer Keith Moon. Please help them to meet and love the Man who doesn’t wear a purple dress, but who has all genuine might, authority and majesty.
For the sake of Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen.
Gracious Heavenly Father,
Please help Pete and his family to no longer be hoodwink by false christs like Meher Baba. Help them to see Baba’s “purple dress” and have an appropriate cynicism towards it.
In the name of Jesus, the real Christ Messiah.
God our loving Father and Judge,
Thank you for Pete’s legitimate criticism of fake religious people. Thank You that it aligns with Jesus’ own scepticism towards those people. May Pete realise that Jesus agrees with him, and surrender to Him.
That Jesus’ name might be lifted to the highest place of glory in His universe,
Amen