Pete Townshend
Flame (Demo)
RAY:
Dear Rosalind, thanks for the new tape. You did my song very well. But, be careful. Celebrities believe their actions affect the behaviour of their fans. It is a conceit the press reinforce. They suggest they entrust their precious readers into the hands of the performer. But it's really the performer who entrusts his audience to the press. You must serve the press as well as the audience. For me, a journalist called Ruth Streeting has become a symbol for the press and the establishment. They can't accept that a shit like me has value. I've always needed to make a crowd look away from the beautiful toward me. The more distasteful Ruth Streeting finds that need, the more driven I am to perform especially for her. Her disgust is the most powerful motivator of the artist in me. And as this is the last time I'm writing to you, I can tell you now something that I hardly believe has happened. I have fallen in love with her
You shone a light for me to follow
Knowing I would
You graced me with a precious gift
That no one else could
Touched by your presence I surrender, oh yeah
You gave me a lead and I was a follower
A quest to succeed, I am a discoverer
Oh flame, you set me on fire
Nothing can take me any higher
I'm fueled on emotion
And full of desire
Flame, show me the way