Something in the Air

"Something in the Air" was written by Speedy Keen and is the twelfth and last track off of Thunderclap Newman's 1970 release...Hollywood Dream. The LP was the band's first and only album release. Keen is the lead vocalist in the song. The album was produced by The Who's guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, who was also responsible for the band's initial formation. "Something in the Air" was a UK No. 1 hit and is the song for which Thunderclap Newman is best known.The single also hit No. 25 on the Billboard 100 chart in the US.

In 1969, Townshend created the band to showcase songs written by the former Who chauffeur Speedy Keen. The band draws their name from their pianist Andy "Thunderclap" Newman. Townshend, using the alias "Bijou Drains" played bass guitar on their album. "Something in the Air" is a song that captures the rebellion and awakening of youth which emerged during the sixties and was designed against the backdrop of the Vietnam war. "Call out the instigators, Because there's something in the air" (the songs opening lines) is another way of saying awaken those who are responsible in initiating violence (politicians who decide on war, assassins who kill for their own agenda, or any other organization who stand for confrontation). That "something in the air" is tension or anger towards another party or country. "We've got to get together sooner or later,Because the revolution's here" is the peaceful bid of the song stating that people need to come together and unite (hopefully in peaceful protest) against the change going about. Unfortunately that "change" showed in our country as war and violence. "Lock up the streets and houses, Because there's something in the air" was the way the writer tries to express how to deal with this tension. He is telling us not to confront it head on and to "lock" it out. Although violent in its imagery, this lyrics of "Something in the Air" more accurately reflects events of the sixties...Vietnam, the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK...the protests found in anti-war groups like the Weather Underground, Dewey Canyon III, and the Black Panthers. This is one of the songs I think most of us believe epitomizes that era. This version of "Something in the Air" can be found on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 1994 release...Greatest Hits. In 2002, Speedy Keen died of heart failure. He was 56 years old.

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