The song features Roger Daltrey sharing lead vocals with John Entwistle and Pete Townshend.

[3] Greg Littmann interprets the song as a possible reaction to alienation, as Jack allows "the cruelty of other people [to] slide off his back".

[4] Despite its chart success, Who biographer Greg Atkins describes the song as being the band's weakest single to that point.

[5] But Chris Charlesworth praised the "high harmonies, quirky subject matter" and "fat bass and drums that suspend belief".

[2] Charlesworth particularly praised Moon's drumming for carrying not just the beat, but also the melody itself, in what he calls "startlingly original fashion".

The most recent performances of the song were short (one-and-a-half-minute) versions at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, on 22 and 23 December 1999.