Connection Tunnels
Madness
Poetry
Highlight Quotes
"He stands like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine.
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean."
"Tommy:
See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me!
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
How can he be saved?"
"Listening to you I get the music.
Gazing at you I get the heat
Following you I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet!
Right behind you I see the millions
On you I see the glory.
From you I get the opinions
From you I get the story.
"If I told you what it takes
to reach the highest high,
You'd laugh and say 'nothing's that simple'
But you've been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!
I'm free-I'm free
And freedom tastes of reality
I'm free-I'm free
And I'm waiting for you to follow me."
SPECIALIST AND ASSISTANT
No machine can give the kind of stimulation
Needed to remove his inner block.
Go to the mirror, boy!
Go to the mirror, boy!
MRS. WALKER
I often wonder what he is feeling.
Has he ever heard a word I've said?
MR. AND MRS. WALKER
Look at him in the mirror, dreaming.
What is happening in his head?
(Tommy sees his four and ten-year old selves in the mirror.)
THE TWO YOUNG TOMMYS
Listening to you, I get the music;
Gazing at you, I get the heat.
Following you, I climb the mountain.
I get excitement at your feet!
THE THREE TOMMYS
Right behind you, I see the millions;
On you, I see the glory.
From you, I get opinions;
From you, I get the story.
MR. AND MRS. WALKER
What is happening in his head?
Oooh, I wish I knew...
I wish I knew.
-----Pete Townshend
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Highlight
Tommy is an excellent example of the distinctions between inside and
outside. While lost "in a quiet vibration land" this
deaf, dumb and blind child manages to see himself in a mirror. But he is unable to respond to anything else. Through
his infinite contact with himself
he becomes a fully-realized person while still cut off from society as a whole.
Once his mother breaks the mirror he sets out on a journey as a new messiah, attempting to lead others down the
same path to enlightenment. (The movie
sucked, though. Listen to the music.
Deeper
Follow Ups
I think that one of the keys to understanding "Tommy"
is that you can see your own reflection in a pinball.
The ball becomes a metaphor for the self as it is
bounced around from bumpers to pins and back. Our control of
the fate of the ball/self is limited to the flippers
and small movements that we can induce in the machine
as long as we don't "tilt" or "drain."
Connection to Spirtuality and Zen:
The "gatha" of Shen-hsiu:
The body is the Bhodi-tree.
The mind is like a mirror bright;
Take heed to keep it always clean
And let not dust collect upon it.
The reply of Hui-neng:
there is no Bhodi-tree,
Nor stand of mirror bright.
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?
In a sense, Zen transceds the inner/outer distinction
of mind and world. Phenomenon do not exist "out there"
neither do they exist "inside the mind" They exist as
they are, without discrimination. The "breaking of
the mirror" is enlightenment. When we stop to reflect
on our selves and see the world "as it is" then we can
say "I'm Free and I'm waiting for you to follow me."
Whether or not we wish to become Messiahs is a matter
of choice (see Richard Bach's "Illusions"). --From Follow Up played by Basho
A poem by Andy
added as a follow up to Tommy -- R.C. C.- G.M. Game One.
The Mirror
just look at the mirror
you see yourself
but then look deeper
look at your inner self
swim through your thoughts
gape at your imagination
wonder at the infinite fields of your mind
stare out over the endless horizon
feel the wonderfulness of your dreams
be blinded by your souls powerful light
gaze at your minds throne
stare at the unlimited, blue sky
feel the warm sun of your self
then come back to the mirror
and look at your face again
and then be marveled by the difference of your face and mind
one others see
and one only you can see
-- Andy
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