What is it about pop music that you think provides such fertile ground for long-form storytelling?
It works for me in input mode; in other words it helps me focus and generate fresh approaches to old ideas. I’m not sure it always works in output mode, when it lands in front of you as pop music. Usually a pop song is like a child’s fairy story — it is something small and light that might well carry a very adult and serious idea. I often like the idea of a pop song that has a single function as a part of a wider brief. How did the fact that this was a Who project affect your songwriting process? I have never written for the Who — I’ve just written. What happened here, after many years of waiting, albeit hopefully, was that suddenly I had a collection of songs I felt would indeed work as a Who album. Once that decision was made, to collect these particular songs for a Who project, I presented them to Roger — now the only person I have to involve at an early stage — and he began his business of rubber-stamping certain songs, or asking for minor changes, or making editorial comments.
