Behind Blue Eyes, the Who

Well, a bit of a pre-amble for you. I remember sitting in the Hard Rock Café in Barcelona with my wife Kathryn, and a couple of songs came on the screens that had a lot of impact – one was Hurt by Johnny Cash, the other was Limp Bizkit's cover of the Who's Behind Blue Eyes. It wasn't really a song I was very familiar with at the time, but I rushed out and bought the Who's greatest hits, and have loved it ever since.

This is probably the hardest song I have tried to do a mini lesson on, so apologies if this is a bit long winded, but I hope the explanation I have given to things makes sense to you and gets you playing this song, which is a classic.

Disclaimer – this version does NOT include the manic bridge section.

Ok first things first. I tried this fingerpicked, and with a plectrum (pick). To be honest, I probably prefer it fingerpicked, try it both ways and see what you prefer. If you decide to fingerpick it, you'll have to be comfortable strumming with your fingers as well, for the chorus part.

AND PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS VERY MUCH HOW I PLAY IT, NOT HOW THE WHO PLAY IT – BUT THE LISTENER PROBABLY WON'T NOTICE…!!!!!

Chords (don't be put off!!!)
Em 022000
Esus4 022200 (Form a normal Em then add pinky on G string fret 2)
Asus2 x02200
G6 320030
G 320003 or 320033 its up to you
D xx0232
Dsus2 xx0230
Dsus4 xx0233
Cadd9 x30030
Cadd9* x32033
C x032010
Bm x24432 OR XX4432 to avoid the barre chord

The intro.
The intro consists of a picked Esus4 chord, this then goes straight into the Em for the first verse. I usually play this Esus4 section through 4 times before launching into the verse section. Here's a tab of the intro:

Esus4
e---------------0----¦
B--T---------0---0---¦
G--A-----2----2---2--¦
D--B----2------2-----¦
A------2-------------¦
E-----0--------------¦

No need to do anything fancy here – just hold onto your chord shape and make sure the strings all ring nice and cleanly. I am not going to recommend which fingers you use for which string – at times I find myself playing the first four notes all with my thumb and the end part all with my fingers, find something that works for you, and that you can repeat. It goes without saying that if you are struggling with this, slow down! Its better to get this right, then slowly speed up, than rush it and play it wrong. Don't even try to move onto the rest of the song until you have got this sorted.

Ok let's assume you've got that . Move onto the verse….

The chord progression is like this
Em / G6 / Dsus2 / Dsus2 / Cadd9 / Cadd9 / Asus2 / Asus2

Let's tackle the Em / G6 / Dsus2 / Dsus2 section first. Get this right and the rest of it is a breeze!
Em G6 Dsus2
e-----0----¦-----0----¦-----0----¦-----0----¦
B------0---¦------3---¦---3--3-3-¦---3--3-3-¦
G----0--0--¦----0--0--¦--2-2--2--¦--2-2--2--¦
D---2----2-¦---0----0-¦-0--------¦-0--------¦
A--2-------¦--2-------¦----------¦----------¦
E-0--------¦-3--------¦----------¦----------¦

So start of with very simple arpeggios on the Em and G6 – play the notes nice and evenly one and two and three and four and…..then change to Dsus2 (note your ring finger is already in place from the G6 on the third fret of the B string, so just add a finger on the G string 2nd fret to get to Dsus2). The picking on the Dsus2 isn't complicated, just play it through slowly to get the hang of it. The timing is the same here, one and two and three and four and….note that you hold the Dsus2 for two bars.

Moving on to the Cadd9 / Asus2 section
Cadd9 Asus2
e------0----¦------0----¦------------¦-0--------¦
B----3--3-3-¦----3--3-3-¦-0-----0----¦-0--------¦
G-----------¦-----------¦-2-----2----¦-2--------¦
D---2-2--2--¦---2-2--2--¦-2-----2----¦-2--------¦
A-3---------¦-3---------¦-0-----0----¦-0--------¦
E-----------¦-----------¦----3-------¦---------¦

Ok here's where some of you will struggle – the picking on the Cadd9 isn't the most basic. But seeing as I like to have “cheat” answers to all things guitar related, in all honesty you can substitute the following for the Cadd9 / Asus2 section if you like
Cadd9 Asus2
e-----0----¦-----0----¦-0-S------¦----------¦
B------3-3-¦------3-3-¦-0-T------¦----------¦
G---0---0--¦---0---0--¦-2-R------¦----------¦
D--2-2-----¦--2-2-----¦-2-U------¦----------¦
A-3--------¦-3--------¦-0-M------¦----------¦
E----------¦----------¦----------¦----------¦

This will keep the original picking going quite nicely for the Cadd9 – on the Asus2 just give it a big downstrum and let ir ring out for 2 bars (this is where you are singing “behind blue eyes” so it gives it a bit of punch.)

Ok so now would be a good time to review where we are in the song. As far as I can tell we have covered this –
Play intro
(Esus4 – repeat 4 bars)

So that's a whole verse sorted! So all we need to do is have a look at the chorus and we're pretty much finished. Here it is –
Cadd9* D G G
But my dre---ams they aren't as empty
Cadd9* D E(riff)
As my conscience seems to be
Bm Bm Cadd9* Cadd9*
I have hours, only lonely
D D Asus2 Asus2
My love is vengeance That's never free

The chorus is strummed on the beat of 1, 3 and 4 so for the C, D G part it looks like this –
Cadd9 D G
e-3----3--3--¦-2----2--2--¦-3----3--3-¦-3----3--3-¦
B-3----3--3--¦-3----3--3--¦-0----0--0-¦-0----0--0-¦
G-0----0--0--¦-2----2--2--¦-0----0--0-¦-0----0--0-¦
D-2----2--2--¦-0----0--0--¦-0----0--0-¦-0----0--0-¦
A-3----3--3--¦------------¦-2----2--2-¦-2----2--2-¦
E------------¦------------¦-3----3--3-¦-3----3--3-¦
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

then we're into the C D E (riff) section. Start off exactly the same for the C and the D. On the E however, the reason I have put “riff” is that you have to throw in a quick Esus4 followed by an E5 played up the neck - something like this
Cadd9* D E sus4 E5 E5 sus4 E
e-3----3--3--¦-2----2--2--¦-0--000-00-0¦-0--00--0--0-¦
B-3----3--3--¦-3----3--3--¦-0--000-00-0¦-0--00--0--0-¦
G-0----0--0--¦-2----2--2--¦-1--111-22-9¦-9/-22--1--1-¦
D-2----2--2--¦-0----0--0--¦-2--222-22-9¦-9/-22--2--2-¦
A-3----3--3--¦------------¦-2--222-2--7¦-7/-2---2--2-¦
E------------¦------------¦-0--000-0--0¦-0--0---0--0-¦
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 D DUD DUD D DU D D

So once you're on E add your pinky to 2nd fret G string for Esus4, then slide your middle and ring fingers down to fret 9 quickly, use your index to grab the A string &th fret if you can, then slide back again, to Esus4, then pinky off for E, bingo!

Ok again you might struggle with this. If you do, just get to the E and keep your strumming going as before, just put your pinky on the G string 2nd fret for a couple of beats between bars – you will get the feel for what sounds ok and what doesn't. At the end of the day if you can play the rest of the song but not this E part – find something that fits! Don't just think you can't play the song because of one part!!
Ok the end of the chorus now -
Bm Bm Cadd9* Cadd9*
I have hours, only lonely
D D Asus2 Asus2
My love is vengeance That's never free

Just keep your strumming going. Of course, as you learnt the song more, you can elaborate on the basic model, but a simple strum here is all that's required.

The ending. A decent enough ending can be had by a nice slow downstrum on the Asus2.
BEHIND BLUE EYES - LIMP BIZKIT / The WHO
Play intro
(Esus4 – repeat 4 bars)

Hope you enjoy this great song as much as I do.

All the best

Matt