Drowned (song)

"Drowned" is a song written by Pete Townshend, the guitarist for The Who, for their sixth album, Quadrophenia.

Lyrics and music

The oldest song featuring on Quadrophenia ("Joker James", though hailing from the Tommy era, did not feature on the album), "Drowned" was initially written as an ode to Meher Baba in early 1970. Townshend sang it facing the tomb of Meher Baba on his first visit to India in January 1972.

In Quadrophenia, "Drowned" tells of how Jimmy contemplates drowning himself in the water. At the end, seagulls, crowd noises and waves can be heard, along with Pete Townshend walking along singing the sixth verse of "Sea and Sand". The piano part was borrowed from the song "Hitchcock Railway" by Joe Cocker. The section of music coming directly before the third verse was later slightly reworked and used in the song "5.15".

Recording

In an amazing coincidence, the studio that "Drowned" was recorded in was flooded just after the song was recorded.

Live performances

"Drowned" is one of the most performed songs by the Who from Quadrophenia, being played throughout their tours, and because it required no backing tapes, it was often performed as a full band jam. Though Roger Daltrey sings on the album cut and the original Quadrophenia tours, Pete Townshend took up lead vocals after the death of Keith Moon and Daltrey played harmonica. From the 1996-97 tours to 2012, it was played as an acoustic-guitar-only solo performance by Townshend. The 2012-2013 Quadrophenia and More tour featured a full band arrangement of "Drowned" with Townshend on lead vocals.

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century as a defence against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBD) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats." Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.

Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, the advent of the guided missile allowed destroyers to take on the surface combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation.

List of Marvel Comics characters: D

Daddy Longlegs

Daddy Longlegs first appeared in Spider-Woman #47 (December 1982), and was created by Mark Gruenwald. Ramsey Kole is a dancer of short stature who steals and drinks some experimental chemicals that Bill Foster was working on, and grows to a height of 15 feet with extremely long arms and legs. Spider-Woman intervenes when he attacks the audience at a theatre, and after she defeats him, he is taken away by the Locksmith along with a number of other superhumans. Daddy Longlegs is later restored to normal by Dr. Karl Malus, who used samples from Kole to purify the Pym Particles.

Daemos

Daemos is one of the Inheritors and the eldest son of Solus, and brother to Verna, Jennix, Morlun, Karn, Brix and Bora. Like the rest of the Inheritors, Daemos has the ability to drain the life force from other beings through physical contact. Depending on the power of the individual he drains, Daemos' powers and vitality can increase substantially. Daemos also has superhuman strength, speed, reflexes and durability. Daemos is physically larger than his siblings.

Destroyer (Thor)

The Destroyer is a fictional object appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Destroyer is usually depicted as an opponent to Thor. It is a suit of Asgardian armor, animated by magic, which first appears in Journey into Mystery #118 (Jul. 1965) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the Destroyer is featured in over four decades of Marvel continuity and other Marvel-endorsed products such as animated television series, live-action films, video games, and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards. Due to trademark issues, at least one toy version of this character is marketed as Marvel's Destroyer.

Fictional history