“Bargain” by The Who

"Bargain" comes off Who's Next, the Who's fifth album, released in August 1971, and on the surface it's a love song, the kind where the singer would hand over everything he has and still call it a steal. The twist is who he's singing to: Pete Townshend wrote it under the influence of the Indian mystic Meher Baba, and the object of all that devotion is God, the song a prayer about losing your ego to find something bigger.

Glyn Johns recorded and mixed it, and the band hits it with everything: Townshend's synthesizer and organ shimmering against his slashing guitar, Keith Moon's drums tumbling everywhere, John Entwistle's bass rumbling underneath, and Roger Daltrey belting the lead while Townshend takes a turn at the mic. Critics have long singled out its power, and Townshend has named it his favorite song on the album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.