I’ve Got Your Love: A Grumpy, Tender Masterpiece

I have long been of the opinion that if an artistic masterpiece needs a boatload of context for any newcomer to appreciate it as a masterpiece, it is not a masterpiece.

I say this because I am going to provide an enormous amount of context for why I consider Roger Daltrey’s ‘I’ve Got Your Love‘ to be a masterpiece and my all-time favorite song. Yes, we’re taking a break from climate change. Consider this a fluffy warm-up before a relaunch of this newsletter. But I do think people need to hear this remarkable, tender song; performed by one of the grouchiest men in the history of rock music, only to accompanied on guitar by possibly the only man who is decidedly grouchier than he is. And, as an added bonus, they hate each other. Yet, it works. And it’s wonderful.

So, the song. It’s a cover of a Boz Scaggs song. Roger and his team (wisely) sped it up and chopped the guitar solo in the middle down to size, bringing it down to a comfortable three minutes and thirty seconds. Despite the precise timing, it doesn’t feel for a moment like the track was bashed into some semblance of shape in the editing room. I mean, it might have been, but it does feel like an authentic performance by a roomful of people, although it, like most songs nowadays, was recorded on opposite sides of an ocean and emailed to someone for assembly. But it doesn’t feel like it was.

So, Roger’s grouchiness. It’s well documented. He’s a supporter of Brexit, a fierce critic of the #MeToo movement, seemingly sympathetic to Donald Trump, compared the EU to the mafia in colourful language, tells crowds where to go when performing, has punched out several people, and fires people who disagree with him or criticize him. Quick sidebar: I always found the Harry Potter fans screaming into the abyss about the internal struggle of liking Harry Potter while being horrified by J.K. Rowling really cute. They must not read about the musicians they admire at all. And yet, Roger has beaten at least one person unconscious but is considered extremely well-behaved by rock star standards. Anyway, given everything Roger has said and done, and this is not an exhaustive list, the adoration and vulnerability he shows in ‘I’ve Got Your Love’ is stunning.

And, Roger’s singing. My father loathes Roger Daltrey and has compared his singing to a wailing banshee. I grant there’s a case to be made that he sounds really awful at times, I think he’s a remarkable singer in many ways. And here, not only does he deliver just a stunning performance on a technical level, but the affection and compassion he brings to the song shows a very deep understanding of the meaning within it. Roger doesn’t just sing songs, that’s what I admire about him, he (usually) digs deep into the song to understand it and relay the emotions and the story the song conveys. That’s his brilliance as a singer. He misses the odd note, but he rarely misses the meaning of a song he’s performing.

Now, one other bit of context is that Roger lost confidence in the album part way through it’s production. This is no secret, it’s in the album notes, and he credits Pete Townshend with encouraging him to finish the album, and offered to play guitar on it. Pete and Roger have been playing together for something like sixty years and Pete knows Roger very well. He understands how powerful Roger’s tenderness on the track is and brings a dazzling and romantic guitar solo on the track to bring the sheer beauty of the song’s emotion home. It’s a stunning combination where too miserable old men surprise each other with such tenderness and in so doing, bring out the best in each other. Roger’s vocals and Pete’s guitar are a match made in heaven. And the McCrary sisters on backing vocals are the icing on the cake.

Which brings me to another thing I admire about Roger Daltrey as a singer; he knows when to shut up. There are plenty of Who songs he doesn’t take lead vocal on. He stays nice and quiet during the band’s solos (unlike some people) and on this track, he takes a supporting role for the last minute of the song, and then just buggers off completely for the last 20 seconds and lets the remarkable McCrary sisters and Pete Townshend bring the track home. It’s lovely, it’s elegant, it’s a wonderful song. Now we all know why.

So, Alex, why did you just mansplain why this song is so wonderful when you opened your essay with why that’s such a stupid thing to have to do to appreciate something wonderful. Well, I think the song is an extraordinary work on it’s own terms, but I think the context makes it even better.