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The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Substitute" by the artist "Who, The"

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The lyrics of the song "Substitute" by The Who are full of sarcasm and bitterness. The lyrical hero feels like a fake, a substitute for someone or something else in the eyes of another person.

He lists all his attributes that this person admires and immediately exposes them as fake. Leather boots, tall stature, youth - all this turns out to be unreal, just an attempt to meet someone's expectations. The phrase "you complicate the simplest things" emphasizes that the hero does not want to play these games, he is tired of pretending.

The hero sees through the lies and falsehood in the relationship with this person, comparing him to a "waterproof raincoat" that hides the true essence. Being himself a product of an artificial environment ("born with a plastic spoon in his mouth"), he acutely feels the falsity around him.

The culmination of the song is the line "Substitute you for them". The lyrical hero realizes that he is just a substitute for someone else. This brings him pain and devastation. The final words about him "substituting his mother" sound desperate and doomed.

The whole song is imbued with the theme of alienation and loneliness in a world where everything is built on lies and the substitution of concepts.

You think we look pretty good together

You think my shoes are made of leather

But I'm a substitute for another guy

I look pretty tall but my heels are high

The simple things you see are all complicated

I look pretty young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah

Substitute your lies for fact

I can see right through your plastic mac

I look all white, but my dad was black

My fine looking suit is really made out of sack

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth

The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south

And now you dare to look me in the eye

Those crocodile tears are what you cry

It's a genuine problem, you won't try

To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

Substitute me for him

Substitute my coke for gin

Substitute you for my mum

At least I'll get my washing done

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