A Quick One, While He's Away

This article is about the Who song. For the BoJack Horseman episode, see A Quick One, While He's Away (BoJack Horseman).

"A Quick One, While He's Away"
Song by the Who
from the album A Quick One
Released9 December 1966
RecordedEarly November 1966[1]
StudioIBC, Pye and Regent Sound (London)[1]
Genre
Length9:10 (album version) 9:41 (Thirty Years of Maximum R&B version)
LabelReaction
Songwriter(s)Pete Townshend
Producer(s)Kit Lambert

"A Quick One, While He's Away" is a 1966 song written by Pete Townshend and recorded by the Who for their second album A Quick One. The song also appears on the album BBC Sessions. In the performance on their Live at Leeds album Townshend calls the nine-minute "epic" track a "mini-opera" and introduces it as "Tommy's parents".

The song tell the story of an unnamed girl whose lover has been gone "for nearly a year". Her friends inform her that they "have a remedy"; the remedy comes in the form of Ivor the Engine Driver. When the lover returns, the girl confesses her infidelity, and she is ultimately forgiven.

  1. ^ a b Neill 2007, p. 140.
  2. ^ Segretto 2022, p. 112.
  3. ^ Kemp, Mark (2004). "The Who". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 871–873. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ Segretto 2014, chap. 15.
  5. ^ Goldsmith 2019, p. 243.
  6. ^ Larson, Jeremy D. (23 January 2015). "Karn Evil Cruise: Searching For the Heart of Prog Rock on The Ocean «". Radio.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  7. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "A Quick One, While He's Away by The Who - Track Info | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  8. ^ Sante, Luc (25 March 2018). "The Kinks: Something Else". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 May 2023.