Substitute Lyrics

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
I'm a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I'm just backdated, yeah

[Verse 4]
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east
And the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It's a genuine problem, you won't try
To work it out at all, just pass it by, pass it by

[Chorus 3]
(Substitute) Me for him
(Substitute) My coke for gin
(Substitute) You for my mum
(Substitute) At least I'll get my washing done

[Chorus 4/Outro]
(Substitute) Your lies for fact
(Substitute) I see right through your plastic mac
(Substitute) I look all White, but my dad was Black
(Substitute) My fine-looking suit is really made out of sack

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

The Who’s 1966 single, reaching #5 in the British charts. Pete Townshend was inspired by Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks of My Tears (live)”, particularly the line, “Although she may be cute/She’s just a substitute”, and wanted “to celebrate the word with a song all its own.”

It appeared on the 1971 album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy, which was a compilation of the previous Who’s singles.

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