Pete Townshend Pens Original Song For THE AMERICANS, Airing Tonight

Tony Award-winning TOMMY composer/lyricist and rock icon Pete Townshend has penned an original song for use on hit FX espionage series THE AMERICANS and the tune is set to premiere on the show tonight.

Describing how the collaboration with composer Nathan Barr came about, Townshend says, "What I was struck by was that Nate composes on the cello, an instrument my partner and orchestrator Rachel uses, so I have listened to a lot of cello music and I have really fallen in love with it. We exchanged ideas and I was immediately struck by this very evocative piece he had written, very plaintive. I added some guitar, then came up with some lyrics."

Townshend also reveals of the collaboration, "It's almost like jazz. I'm responding to something he wrote, he's responding to something I write, almost like live music. I was surprised by the intimacy.You're so focused on what is essential - there are no breaks for cups of coffee - and what seems like it should be impersonal and cold is quite the opposite."

Additionally, adding insight into the WORLD of the series, Townshend relates, "I wanted to keep it very simple. Here's this couple whose whole life is about duty, duty without honor, duty without explanation. There are no accolades.They're not living a lie but doing things they find hard to do. Everybody has a part of their life that's difficult to explain. For me it's why the f*ck am I in the Who?"

Check out the original article on the matter here.