35. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Who "I Can See For Miles"

"I Can See for Miles" was released as a single on the 14th October 1967. Written by Pete Townshend. From the Album "The Who Sell Out" and was the only single to be released from the album. It reached no 10 in the UK and no 9 in the US. Pete Townshend considers this the best song he ever wrote. He thought it would be a huge hit and was disappointed when it wasn't. Townshend's guitar was overdubbed in the studio. They rarely played this live because it was impossible to recreate the sound with one guitar. Townshend's played a one-note guitar solo on this song. According to an interview he conducted with his mate Richard Barnes for the book The Story of Tommy, Townshend did this because he "couldn't be bothered." He later admitted that he felt very intimidated at the arrival of Hendrix on the London scene during that time and that he couldn't ever compete in the guitar solo stakes. Despite all that it still remains a powerful song.

I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise
I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

If you think that I don't know about the little tricks you've played
And never see you when deliberately you put things in my way

Well, here's a poke at you
You're gonna choke on it too
You're gonna lose that smile
Beacuse all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

You took advantage of my trust in you when I was so far away
I saw you holding lots of other guys and now you've got the nerve to say

That you still want me
Well, that's as may be
But you gotta stand trial
Because all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise
I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
Oh yeah

The Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are mine to see on clear days
You thought that I would need a crystal ball to see right through the haze

Well, here's a poke at you
You're gonna choke on it too
You're gonna lose that smile
Beacuse all the while

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
and miles and miles and miles and miles

I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles
I can see for miles and miles

Some believe that this song is about being a clairvoyant "I can see for miles". The lyrics simply do not stand up to this. There are still others that see this as a song the Townsend wrote about his own wife. Because he was away on tour a lot he was telling her that despite being away he could still see what she was up to. This has issues with it as well as this is not humanly possible, how could he see what she was up to. Still other believe Townsend simply wrote this as carefully as could for commercial reasons. 

The lyrics do lend themselves to a "hiddenness" The relationship that is spoken about in the song is in trouble. the other person is perhaps cheating and thinking they can get away with it, the one singing is saying, I can see you. A bit like being found out from a distance. The unclear bit is how the person can see for miles. The song has hidden depths as well as a haunting chorus "I can see for miles and miles" The main theme of the song is about "seeing". It's a song about  "not hiding the truth". A song about "TRUTH" and "DECIT" A song of someone who could see the deceit and abandonment of the relationship from a distance.

The Bible Speaks much about the theme of "Truth". It speaks about it in a number of ways. "Truth as Revelation", "Truth and Error" TRUTH is one of the main themes. In John's Gospel it appears 39 times. In 1 John the word "Truth" appears 17 times. In 2 John and 3 John even though the are very small books and only take up a page in the Bible the word truth appears 5 times in each letter. For John "Truth" is a big thing. Now John the Apostle did not just imagine something to write about. He wrote because something in his day way disturbing to him

In John's day the Christian church was departing  and rejecting the truth and was plunging itself into error. John the Apostle was the one who could see for miles and he was so concerned that he wrote his gospel and 3 epistles and the book of Revelation as a response to what he could see.

For John people were not just departing a theory or a physiology but the church was leaving behind a relationship with the truth. For John the "Truth" was a person and that person was Jesus. John tries to appeal to the church to return to the one who is "Truth" He does this in a number of ways. In John's Gospel he gives the reason why he wrote it.

John 20:31 "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name"

John also recalls what Jesus says about the "Truth". The occasion is that Jesus is going to go an leave the disciples and return to his father and he says these words in response to a statement of Thomas. this passage is so much bout the Truth. The passage is also a encouragement not to depart from the truth.

John 14:6-7 "Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."…

John the Apostle lived into his 90's and was really concerned about the state of the church in his time. He could see for miles that the church had left a relationship with Jesus and had gone off to other things. In John's book of Revelation we get a flavour of that. John is telling a revelation of what he has seen and heard direct from the throne room of God. He speaks to the church in Ephesus as if it was jesus speaking directly to the church himself.

Revelation 2:4 "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."

John could see for miles and miles. More than that, Jesus could see for miles and miles. The church had abandoned the love they had with Jesus at first. When John writes  60 years have passed. The Who song seems to be about someone looking at a relationship gone wrong. What a tragedy and a loss. John could see the tragedy of people abandoning and departing the "Truth" that is Jesus and is found in Jesus.  Some times I catch my self getting a glimpse of the church in our day abandoning the truth that is found in Jesus, the good news that is found in Jesus. I find myself preaching and teaching in the church I'm pastor in, reminding the church about a relationship with Jesus. Teaching people about Jesus himself is what is needed to guard against departure for the truth.

May we never depart from the truth that is in Jesus. May we continue to love and serve God in our day. May we hold on to the truth of the Gospel. And if we do stray may there be someone like John the apostle who can see for miles and who is there to direct us back to a relationship with Jesus himself.