'
Sea And Sand' is another disjointed song with several different sections and tempo changes that all boil down to Jimmy deciding to sleep on the beach. There is a confusing false ending and during the final fade out, Roger echos some lines from The High Number's song 'I'm The Face'
For the remainder of the album, the setting changes from Jimmy's life in London to Jimmy's experiences in Brighton and due to this, the concept of water is ramped up to maximum!
"Here by the sea and sand
Nothing ever goes as planned
I just couldn't face going home
It was just a drag on my own
They finally threw me out
My mom got drunk on stout
My dad couldn't stand on two feet
As he lectured about morality
Now I guess the family's complete
With me hanging 'round on the street
Or here on the beach
The girl I love
Is a perfect dresser
Wears every fashion
Gets it to the tee
Heavens above
I've got to match her
She knows just how
She wants her man to be
Leave it to me
My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked
Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck
I ride a G.S. scooter with my hair cut neat
I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet
I see her dance
Across the ballroom
UV lights making stars shine
Of her smile
I am the face
She has to know me
I'm dressed up better than anyone
Within a mile
Oh, yeah
So how come the other tickets look much better?
Without a penny to spend they dress to the letter
How come the girls come on oh so cool
Yet when you meet 'em, every one's a fool?
Come sleep on the beach
Keep within my reach
I just want to die with you near
I'm feeling so high with you here
I'm wet and I'm cold
But thank God I ain't old
Why didn't I say what I mean?
I should have split home at fifteen
There's a story that the grass is so green
What did I see?
Where have I been?
Nothing is planned, by the sea and the sand
I'm the face if you want it, baby
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it , baby
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it, baby
If you want it, if you want it, if you want it, if you want it
If you want it, if you want it, it you want it, if you want it, ah the face"
Written early in 1970, '
Drowned', a tough blues-based rocker, is the oldest song on the album. It was initially written as an ode to Meher Baba, and Pete sang it facing his tomb on his first visit to India in January 1972
Pete:
"When the tragic hero of Quadrophenia] sings it, it is desperate and nihilistic. In fact, it's a love song, God's love being the ocean and our 'selves' being the drops of water that make it up. Meher Baba said, 'I am the Ocean of Love.' I want to drown in that ocean, the 'drop' will then be an ocean itself."
It's a song of redemption - A perfect metaphor for baptism, washing your old sins away and being cleansed with the blood of Christ, being renewed by the spirit and having your sins washed away
The band loved to play on stage for its relative simplicity when compared to the other songs on 'Quadrophenia'. For later Who tours, 'Drowned' would become
a solo acoustic guitar performance from Pete
"There are men high up there fishing
Haven't seen quite enough of the world
Ooh, I ain't seen a sign of my heroes
And I'm still diving down for pearls
Let me flow into the ocean
Let me get back to the sea
Let me be stormy and let me be calm
Let the tide in, and set me free
I'm flowing under bridges
Then flying through the sky
I'm traveling down cold metal
Just a tear in a baby's eye
Oh, let me flow into the ocean
Oh, let me get back to the sea
Let me be stormy and let me be calm
Let the tide in, and set me free
Set me free
I am not the actor
This can't be the scene
But I am in the water
As far as I can see
Oh, I'm remembering distant memories
Recalling other names
Rippling over canyons
And boiling in the train
Let me flow into the ocean
Let me get back to the sea
Let me be stormy and let me be calm
Let the tide in and set me free
Set me free
Set me free
I wanna drown
In cold water"