return to main page


heart to hang onto
the punk meets the godfather

Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder
Live in Chicago, June 14, 1997


On October 14, 1996, I got to fulfill one of my life-long dreams when I saw the Who perform Quadrophenia in its entirety at the Tacoma Dome, up here in the Pacific Northwest.

I found out a few days before the show that *Hovercraft*, of all people, were opening! Okay, okay. I'm a big Hovercraft fan and go see them all the time and actually prefer Dave Krusen's drumming to Eddie's, and was happy when people stopped going to see them just in the hopes of seeing EV. But even I couldn't rule out the coincidence factor here.

Getting on line at 6am for tickets had its rewards, in the way of 8th row aisle seats, right in front of John Entwistle. I got up to buy tshirts and ran smack into Kim Warnick of the Fastbacks, making her way backstage. I laughed really hard, while at the same time thinking, well, how much more proof do you need?! Not that it mattered, either; I was enough of a nervous, excited wreck knowing I was about to see Quad live.

The only time it really crossed my mind was when Billy Idol came out as the Punk and the Bellboy; I kept thinking, it'd be fuckin' hysterical if the next time the character went onstage, someone else (you know who) took his place. Or for the encore. No dice. Oh well. The show was awesome and I could have cared less.

Saturday morning that same week I got on a plane to go to San Jose for the Bridge School shows. Luckily, I decided NOT to go get coffee after Haydn's set, because we were graced with an amazing surprise performance by none other than Mr. Peter Townshend. Nope, no sign of Ed. And during the encore, I noticed specifically how Eddie stayed on the other side of the stage from Pete.

During the *long* walk back to the car, I mentioned to my companion (quite the PJ historian himself) how odd I thought it all was. You would think that he'd love to do a song or so with Pete. He responded by saying, "Well, Eddie once said something about not wanting to get too close to your idols." Of course. It's one of the key themes of Quadrophenia, one I tend to agree with, and wouldn't expect anything less than from the third biggest Quadrophenia devotee I know. (Sorry, Ed, but me and a friend of mine are even wackier than you are in this regard...)

In June, Five Horizons started getting mail from people wondering if Eddie was going to be in Chicago for Pete's solo show at the House of Blues and/or the Bulls game. Now, not that we're minding his schedule for him or anything, but Jean's theory was that after the Tibet shows, Eddie would surely stop in Chicago on his way home to Seattle to see the games. And most certainly would drop by the show -- what Townshend fan would pass up this chance?!

Imagine our surprise when we found out not only did Ed show up, but took Pete as his guest to one of the games, and actually PERFORMED onstage with Pete! The show was absolutely incredible, judging by the setlist, with Pete performing an almost perfect selection of Who and solo material.

Eddie joined Pete on three songs: the beautiful "Heart To Hang Onto," "Tattoo" (which some of you may be familiar with from one of the dj segments during Self-Pollution Radio), and the song every frat boy yells for at a Who concert, "Magic Bus", which the two actually manage to make listenable! (Then again, big surprise -- Eddie did "Squeezebox" at the Daltrey Sings Townshend shows and made it an enjoyable experience....) [Oh, and Pete also performs "Save It For Later," and explains how he happened to start performing the song, in case you were wondering where PJ got the idea from. =) ]

the punk meets the godfather

"Heart To Hang Onto," August's Song X, is from the excellent Townshend solo album Rough Mix, which he recorded with the late Faces bassist, Ronnie Lane. This version song is made even more poignant with Pete's dedication of the song to Ronnie, who passed away about a week before, on June 4, after a long and highly-publicized battle with multiple sclerosis.

"You'll be pleased to know I've got a guest tonight," Pete begins. "He's ... Mr. Eddie Vedder," he says, as the crowd erupts. "You might know ... you may know that I made an album with a guy called Ronnie Lane, he used to play with the Faces [applause] and he passed away last week, the beginning of last week... we're dedicating this song -- to Ronnie Lane! This is a song from an album I did with Ronnie called Rough Mix, and this is a song that I wrote called "Heart To Hang Onto."
Pete begins, with the verse that Ronnie sings on the album:

"Johnny boy he's always propping up the bar
He sees life crystallized through his jar
Says he's only lives for beer
But his whole life is just a cry of fear

Then, Eddie joins, singing Pete's verse. It's tentative, almost nervous, and if you don't get goosebumps you're not human ...

"Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a soul that's tailored new
Give me a heart to hang onto
A heart to hang onto

Then Eddie continues, taking Ronnie's verse:

"O Sally seems to get bigger everyday
She evens out in a contented way
A finger on the pulse of every guy
But deep in the night you can hear her cry

And Pete trades off, taking the chorus:

"Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a life that's tailored new
Give me a heart to hang onto.
A heart to hang onto

Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a soul that's tailored true
Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a heart to hang onto

Eddie again:

"Danny, he's gonna save for a new guitar
He's gonna learn to play it but he won't get far
He thinks it's an easy going high
But his whole life is just another try

Pete:

Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a suit that's tailored true
Give me a heart to hang onto.
A heart to hang onto
For this verse, Pete, Eddie and Jon Carin, Pete's backing band, all join in. Eddie seems to take the "to hang onto" refrain:

"Give me a heart to hang onto
Give me a life that's tailored new
Give me a heart to hang onto.
Give me a heart to hang onto.
Give me a heart to hang onto.
Give me a heart to hang onto...

Give me a heart to hang onto.
I need a heart to hang onto.
I need a heart to hang onto.
I need a heart to hang onto.

The song is one of the highlights of the Rough Mix album, and live (a rare performance), it's even more powerful, relying quite rightly on Pete's guitar, as opposed to the intricate synth work that's on the album cut. Eddie's voice fits perfectly in the song, and is in our opinion one of his finest vocal performances ever. And while I wasn't there, it sure sounds to me like he's singing the words by heart.

I know we were. :)

Revision: Since this version of "Heart to Hang Onto" was released on the Pete Townshend Live album, and Five Horizons has a policy about not hosting official releases that can be purchased, we've removed this soundfile and suggest you purchase this wonderful album.


Photo courtesy Rolling Stone

Copyright © 2004 Five Horizons