'
Helpless Dancer' is Roger's 'theme' within the album. It's a dramatic (but lean) operatic-style aria featuring a double-tracked Roger over staccato piano chords, an acoustic guitar and little else. Under arranged, short and decidedly experimental in tone, this is the least Who-like song on the album.
In the story it's intended to show Jimmy's increasing political awareness, but in reality...Mods had absolutely no interest in politics, so it's sensibility is totally out of character. Mind you, that kind of logical argument never bothered Pete when it came to creating a song cycle!
The song ends with a short snatch from 'The Kids Are Alright'
"When a man is running from his boss
Who hold a gun that fires "cost"
And people die from being cold
Or left alone because they're old
And bombs are dropped on fighting cats
And children's dreams are run with rats
If you complain you disappear
Just like the lesbians and queers
No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face
And you get beaten up by blacks
Who though they worked still got the sack
And when your soul tells you to hide
Your very right to die denied
And in the battle on the streets
You fight computers and receipts
And when a man is trying to change
But only causes further pain
You realize that all along
Something in us going wrong...
You stop dancing."
'
Is It In My Head' was one of the earliest songs that Pete wrote for 'Quadrophenia'. It's a medium paced ballad which speeds up on the chorus, but the melody isn't as strong as other songs on the album
Within the story, it shows that Jimmy, although an ordinary kid, not only has a conscience, but he also has self doubt. He worries about his own part, and feels maybe his outlook is clouded by pessimism
"I see a man without a problem
I see a country always starved,
I hear the music of a heartbeat,
I walk, and people turn and laugh.
Is it in my head
Is it in my head
Is in my head here at the start?
Is it in my head
Is it in my head
Is it in my head, or in my heart?
I pick up phones and hear my history.
I dream of all the calls I miss.
I try to number those who love me,
And find exactly what the trouble is.
Is it in my head etc.
I feel I'm being followed,
My head is empty
Yet every word I say turns out a sentence.
Make love to a stranger
Just asking for directions
Turn from being help to being questions.
I see a man without a problem.