Stephen Presents: Pete Townshend's Colbert Questionert

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Stephen Presents: Pete Townshend's Colbert Questionert

Podcast: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert
Date: March 24, 2026
Featured Guest: Pete Townshend
Host: Stephen Colbert

---

Episode Overview

This episode features a lively and revealing session of the famed "Colbert Questionnaire" with Pete Townshend, legendary guitarist and songwriter for The Who. Stephen Colbert leads the conversation, exploring Townshend’s personality, fears, beliefs, and memories through a series of quirky, profound, and humorous questions. Both the host and guest share personal anecdotes and insights, with plenty of laughs and thoughtful moments, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a rock legend.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reflections on Legacy and Setting (01:05–07:00)

• Colbert and his co-host open with a backstage chat about CBS’ Ed Sullivan Theater history, the WPA’s arts legacy, and how art was integrated into public work programs.
  • “People forget. They think WPA— they think of bridges... But they also did art.” (Stephen Colbert, 03:19)
• Colbert mentions taking video of the theater hallway as a personal memory for when he inevitably moves on.

2. Introduction to the Colbert Questionnaire (07:09–08:10)

• Stephen invites Pete Townshend to the Colbert Questionnaire and frames it as a “metaphysical, spiritual journey into the heart of a man.”
  • “I’d love to warn you that by the end of it, you will be fully known.” (Stephen, 07:27)
  • “I think I’m pretty fully known already.” (Pete, 07:58)

3. Highlights from the Questionnaire

Favorite Foods & Music (08:10–10:00)

• Best Sandwich: Pastrami on rye, with pickle and mustard—“They’re best in New York.” (Pete, 08:17–08:37)
• First Concert: Bill Haley and the Comets, 1958, an electrifying event—"They demolished the theater a week later... it was so rocking." (Pete, 08:39–08:56)

On Fear and Animals (09:04–09:39)

• Scariest Animal: Octopus, due to the tentacles and intelligence—“No one’s ever said octopus before.” (Stephen, 09:30)
• “I don’t mind eating them. Then I know I’m in charge.” (Pete, 09:39)

On Consciousness, Death, and Out-of-Body Experiences (10:17–15:51)

• What Happens When We Die:
  • “I think consciousness is what we are, not our bodies. Our brain is like a radio that connects us to our consciousness, which floats around and flows through us.” (Pete, 10:21)
  • Openness to reincarnation or heaven/hell, but prioritizes the continuity of consciousness.
• Out of Body Experience:
  • Pete recounts a wild LSD trip after Monterey Pop Festival (11:18–15:51), during which he “left his body” while on an airplane, seeing himself and his companions (including Keith Moon and Roger Daltrey) from above the plane:
    • “At that moment, I left my body. I went up above the airplane and I was flying with it through the sky. This is God’s honest truth, I swear.” (Pete, 13:17–13:38)
  • Pete describes random objects he imagines floating on the astral plane (buttons, socks, vapes).
  • A disembodied, “beautiful female voice” tells Pete, “It’s not your time... you have to go back,” which he interprets as potentially an angelic guide.

Movie and Pop Culture Musings (16:05–18:16)

• Favorite Action Movie: "Hulk," particularly Ang Lee’s version.
  • “Yeah, Hulk. With a grand green man in it.” (Pete, 16:35)
  • “But I’d also like to have a button that turned me into the Hulk...just to get me on the subway in one piece.” (Pete, 16:53)
  • Both riff on themes of transformation: “It’s transformation... transmogrification.” (17:05–17:12)
• Tolkien/Fantasy Discussion:
  • Pete is amused at Stephen’s deep Tolkien knowledge.
  • “No one remembers it the way I do. That was my Lonely Boy thing.” (Stephen, 17:55)

Literary Anecdotes (18:34–19:41)

• Townshend's time at Faber & Faber (T.S. Eliot’s publishing house):
  • Townshend recounts stories of being told how wild T.S. Eliot was by former colleagues' relatives.

Senses and Early Memories (19:22–21:44)

• Favorite Smell: Garlic, especially raw (Pete, 19:26)
• Least Favorite Smell: “Poo... of any variety” (Pete, 19:42)
• Earliest Memory: Vivid memory of being 13 months old on a beach, seeing horses—“That’s why I called my stories Horse’s Neck.” (Pete, 19:57–20:40)
• A lifelong unease around horses until recently: “Now I go and have conversations with these horses.” (Pete, 21:03)

Cats, Dogs, and Child Allergies (21:39–23:00)

• Preference: “Dogs, I’m afraid. I do like cats, too.”
• Childhood story: His mother’s love of cats and his own allergy—“She’d give me a cat to keep me company while I was recovering from my cold...it just made it worse.” (Pete, 21:47–22:23)

One Song for Life & The Nature of Consciousness (23:04–24:20)

• Only one song for life: “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson (Pete, 23:21)
• Colbert’s playful number guessing: “Six” (Pete, 23:37—he guesses the number he was thinking of, marveling at his own consciousness).

Spirituality and Angel Guides (24:11–26:02)

• Pete shares his belief in angels:
  • Recounts reading about asking angels for a sign, then having a fly land and sit on his nose, which he now regards as an omen—“Now whenever I’m in any kind of dodgy kind of state of mind... I need the fly.” (Pete, 24:53–26:02)

Five Words to Summarize the Future (26:02–26:33)

• Asked to describe the rest of his life in five words, Pete says:
  • “Make another record, you lazy.” (Pete, 26:21)
  • Colbert: “Congratulations, you are known.” (26:33)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On consciousness:
  • "Our brain is like a radio that connects us to our consciousness, which floats around and flows through us." (Pete, 10:39)
• Out-of-body anecdote:
  • "And at that moment, I left my body. I went up above the airplane and I was flying with it through the sky." (Pete, 13:28)
• On action movies and transformation:
  • "It’s transformation... transmogrification. That’s my favorite word." (Pete, 17:05–17:12)
• On childhood allergies:
  • "My mother would give me a cat... when I got snotty, my mother would bring me a cat, which just made it worse." (Pete, 21:47–22:23)
• On music:
  • "Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson." (23:21)
• On the future:
  • "Make another record, you lazy." (26:21)

---

Notable Timestamps

• 01:05–04:26: Ed Sullivan Theater history, WPA, and arts programs
• 08:10: Start of the Colbert Questionnaire
• 08:17: Best sandwich
• 08:39: First concert attended
• 09:04: Scariest animal
• 10:17: Thoughts on death and consciousness
• 11:18–15:51: Out-of-body experience on LSD
• 16:15–16:47: Favorite action movie—Hulk
• 19:22: Favorite and least favorite smells
• 19:57: Earliest memory
• 21:39–22:23: Cats, dogs, and allergies
• 23:21: One song for life
• 24:11–26:02: Spiritual guidance and the story of the fly
• 26:21: Five words for the future

---

Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is playful, warm, and introspective. Colbert’s mix of gentle ribbing and genuine curiosity brings out Pete Townshend’s humor, vulnerability, and philosophical side. Townshend is candid, unpretentious, and witty throughout, gamely sharing personal stories that range from the deeply spiritual to the absurd.

---

This summary captures the heart and humor of Pete Townshend’s appearance on The Late Show Pod Show, offering listeners everything they need to know about this entertaining and revealing conversation.

Transcript

[Home Depot Announcer]

Now at the Home Depot. Receive 12 months special financing and free basic installation on carpet projects with lifeproof. Lifeproof with pet proof technology. Home decorators collection and traffic Master carpets bring a new look to your floors or give them a durable surface that stands up to life's tough messes. Get 12 months special financing on installed carpet projects right now at the Home Depot. Offer valid March 12 through March 29, 2026. Exclusions and additional charges may apply for licenses. See homedepot.com LicenseNumbers this episode is brought

[State Farm Announcer]

to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, Becca, how are you?

[Podcast Co-host]

I'm doing great. How are you?

[Stephen Colbert]

Good. It's a solid Wednesday.

[Podcast Co-host]

Solid Wednesday here on the Late Show Pod show. We're recording some pods because we're gonna be on a break.

[Stephen Colbert]

But this pod we're recording right now is not for a Wednesday. This is for a Monday.

[Podcast Co-host]

This is for a Monday.

[Stephen Colbert]

Let's just keep our lanes clean.

[Podcast Co-host]

Just keep it rolling. Stephen, what were you just doing in the hallway? I want to tell the listeners.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, there is when you get off the elevator on the seventh floor here in the Ed Sullivan office building. When you come out, there's on the wall these three by three foot framed photos of everyone who has been a host on this stage. And it goes. I can't remember who the guy on the far left is. It's not Arthur Godfrey, though. Arthur Godfrey, I think might have been here. He's an older gentleman whose name I can't remember. And then it goes, Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, David Letterman, and then me as you go down the hallway. And I'm always just kind of like walking down that hallway and I thought, oh, oh, yeah, no, pretty soon I will not be seeing that hallway anymore. If I ever wanted to have a clean, verifiable image of what that is, I should just take a video of it. So I just videoed the hallways I walked down so I could have a memory of that.

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah. Unless you want to bring home the three by three Jackie Gleason portrait for me.

[Stephen Colbert]

I don't think Evie necessarily needs those down the hallway of the house. That would be pretty sad. But let me just see something real quick. Maybe I could zoom in here and see who this guy is. Okay, so that's. Oh, it's Edward Bose. Oh, Edward Bose, who is a host here. Probably CBS radio from 1936 to 1945. Because CBS took over this building in 1936 after it had been what's called the Manhattan Theater, which was a WPA Works Power Administration Theater, which is not free theater, but, like, very cheap theater for the people. Like, it was very sort of like New Deal theater, and it was like 25 cents for a ticket to a Broadway theater, 15 cents for a balcony, or something like that. And they did. It was Broadway. They did. The professional debut of Murder in The Cathedral by T.S. eliot took place in this theater and as part of the WPA system.

[Podcast Co-host]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

Isn't that great?

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah. I don't know much about the WPA connection with this theater, but that's awesome.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Well, people forget. They think wpa. They think of, like. Well, they made roads and the dams and bridges, the damn parks in South Dakota. Exactly, exactly. Which is great stuff. But they also did art. Like, the WPA was like, commissioned art. Go into your post office, and if your post office started in 1930, there's probably. Unless it's been completely revamped. But the old ones, you'll see WPA murals on the wall of post offices. It was a beautification. It was just a way to employ people, and they employed everybody, including artists, including actors and musicians and orchestras. It was any way to get anybody jobs. And so we forget there was a big arts component to the wpa.

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah. Really cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

Anyway, this theater survived because that existed. And then in 1936, it was taken over by CBS and it became CBS Studio 50. And it's still on the internal channels, the CBS system. It's Channel 50, because this is Studio 50 right down the street, Studio 54. It was CBS's Studio 54, and that's why it's called that before they sold it off. And it's a great old place.

[Podcast Co-host]

Great place. Great place. Happy to be here. Lucky to be hanging out with you, Stephen, all the time. We got a great podcast tonight. It's a questionnaire. I'm gonna make you guess it. It's one of my favorite questionnaires of all time. It's something I'll say.

[Stephen Colbert]

Give me one of, how do we do this? Do you give me one answer and I have to remember who it is?

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah, I'm gonna give you one answer.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Podcast Co-host]

Action movie.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Podcast Co-host]

The Hulk.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah. It's pretty recent. Was it Townsend?

[Podcast Co-host]

Yes, it was Pete Townsend. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like Ang Lee's Hulk.

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah. It was the most surprising action movie answer of all time. And I really, really cracked up when I was watching it.

[Stephen Colbert]

I remember Speak. Okay, so here we are. We had Townsend, who's a British. When Evie. That came out a long time ago. That came out when Evie turned 40 because for her 40th birthday, I took her to London because she loves. She's such an Anglophile, but we make it work somehow. And when I remember, we were over there and we were in, like, I don't know, Notting Hill or something we're going to. Or Kings Road or whatever, we're going to these antique markets.

[Podcast Co-host]

Nice.

[Stephen Colbert]

And in the midst of all this, it was just a toy store. Like a modern toy store in an old building. And everything in the toy store was Hulk that. I don't know who. Who.

[Pete Townshend]

Who.

[Stephen Colbert]

I think Sony owned it or something. I don't know who owned Hulk at the time, but they were so. Everything was Hulk. Like, there were giant fists. You could. Like, kids could have. They could have giant Hulk fists and blood everywhere. And it was about to come out, and. And I remember thinking, oh, I don't think they sold a lot of fists. Because the kids who went to go see this saw this very mature story of Nick Nolte being this tortured father figure who was just. I can't quite figure out why he and his son didn't have a good relationship. Never made any sense to me other than that. It was deeply mature, deeply tortured. And the Hulk got too big.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, he got too big.

[Stephen Colbert]

The pants were not believable.

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Jennifer Conley was good.

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah. But I loved Pete Townsend's questionnaire.

[Stephen Colbert]

He really talked about Pete Townsend.

[Podcast Co-host]

He opened himself completely up to you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, my God. It was. I mean, I'm a huge Townsend fan. I've wanted to talk to him forever.

[Podcast Co-host]

And was this the first time you guys talked?

[Stephen Colbert]

Never spoken to him before.

[Podcast Co-host]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the interview was good, which is a separate show. Interview was good, but this questionnaire, we get into out of body experiences. I almost had an out of body experience listening to Pete Townsend talk about his out of body experience. Yeah, it was wonderful.

[Podcast Co-host]

Wonderful. All right, Please enjoy. Here's Pete Townsend. Pete Townsend on the Late Show Pod Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

I am here with Pete Townsend. You know, Pete, we haven't known each other long, but I feel like we're close. I met you this afternoon, but I love talking with you. A big fan. For years. I've Listened to all of your music. I read Horse's Neck back in the day.

[Pete Townshend]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

But I still feel like I don't necessarily know you as well as I'd like to. And we here at the Late show have come up with something called the Colbert Questionnaire. And the Colbert Questionnaire, the People Know. The People Know it is designed to be a metaphysical, spiritual journey into the heart of a man. And I don't know if you've ever been on a spiritual journey before, but I wonder whether you would have the courage to take the Colbert Questionnaire. And I'd love to warn you that by the end of it, you will be fully known.

[Pete Townshend]

I think I'm pretty fully known already.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right, well, let's test that out. You ready to go?

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Pete Townsend. The Colbert questionnaire. Mr. Townsend, the first question. What is the best sandwich?

[Pete Townshend]

Pastrami on rye.

[Stephen Colbert]

With,

[Pete Townshend]

you know, with pickle.

[Stephen Colbert]

With pickle.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'll go with that one. Want a little mustard on that?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Gun. Done.

[Pete Townshend]

And I had one yesterday in New York.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like a good New York, like Katz's Deli kind of thing.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, they're best in New York.

[Stephen Colbert]

What was your first concert that you attended?

[Pete Townshend]

Bill Haley.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bill Haley and the Comets. Rock around the clock, 1958. Holy cow.

[Pete Townshend]

And we were in the right at the back of this old theater, and the benches at the back were moving up and down as the crowd went nuts.

[Podcast Co-host]

And.

[Pete Townshend]

And a week later, they demolished the theater. It could have come down. It was so rocking. They were so good.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is the scariest animal?

[Pete Townshend]

Wow. I don't like to think of any animal being scarce, but, you know, I'm not keen on octopus, even. But, you know what's interesting is I now hear they've got nine brains and they are very intelligent.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Pete Townshend]

And this guy made a documentary about octopuses in which they became bosom buddies, I think. Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Why do you think the fear of. No one's ever said octopus before.

[Pete Townshend]

We've done many of these. I think it's the tentacles. I don't mind eating them

[Stephen Colbert]

like 20,000 leagues under the Sea.

[Pete Townshend]

Then I know I'm in charge. You know,

[Stephen Colbert]

Apples or oranges?

[Pete Townshend]

Well, the apple reminds me of that legend of Adam and Eve. I think that's. But I love apples. I like oranges, too, but I prefer apples.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

[Pete Townshend]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

May I ask who?

[Pete Townshend]

Steven Berkoff. He's a playwright. Let me think of somebody better.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's fine. Stephen Berkoff's fine.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Pete Townshend]

You know he's an English playwright who. Who. Pretty punky kind of guy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you think happens when we die?

[Pete Townshend]

I don't think anything happens. I think. I think we. You know, I don't. I think consciousness is what we are, not our bodies. So I think consciousness probably goes on in some form or other. That's what I think. So in other words, when people talk about ghosts, they're not talking about real people that have lingered, they're talking about bodies that have ended up sort of somewhere in the ether. So I think consciousness is not just what continues when we die, but I think it's who we are. I think our brain is like a radio that connects us to our consciousness which floats around and flows through us. And that when we die, that consciousness moves on and maybe then there's a possibility of reincarnation or heaven and hell, whatever. I don't know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you ever had an out of body experience?

[Pete Townshend]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

What was that?

[Pete Townshend]

I was. I was after Monterey Pop Festival. Grateful Ted's chemist. Grateful Ted's chemist. Owsley gave me an STP trip. He said, take it home. But I decided to take it on the plane. It was the most. I'd only had two or three LSD trips and I kind of liked them, but I was a bit frightened of this stuff anyway. But anyway, I took this trip and I was with my young girlfriend and Keith Moane. She and I split it so we had half each. Keith Moon took the whole thing and sat there just kind of laughing for two or three hours. I was so screwed up by this trip. It was so grim. It was so horrible. The air hostess, as they were called then, air hostess had a little bit of a piggy face. She turned into a pig. And she was running up and down the corridor and. And in those, in those days, the music came through little pipes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Does anybody remember that?

[Podcast Co-host]

Yeah.

[Pete Townshend]

So it was little acoustic tubes. So you put these tubes in your ears. I could hear all the music from all the seats. Cause it was. The music came out of the seats. You'd plug the. And I looked round at Keith and he's just grinning. I looked round at my girlfriend and she was looking spectacularly pretty. But she was kind of unhappy too. We kept saying, I love you. And she kept, I love you too. I love you. It made no difference. And so I look round.

[Stephen Colbert]

Love wasn't gonna save you at this point.

[Pete Townshend]

So I look round. Love wouldn't open that door anyway. I look round at Roger Dawtry. I look round at Roger Dawtry. And he looks like a God. He's got this golden hair, you know, and beaming, smiling face, laughing at these drug addicts. He never did drugs. And at that moment, I left my body. I went up above the body of the airplane and I was flying with it through the sky. This is God's honest truth, I swear. And I was looking around and thinking, where am I? And I could see through the top of the plane and could see my girlfriend sitting there. And I was there and I was sort of unconscious. So my consciousness is above the airplane. This is why I was spouting all that stuff about consciousness. It's because I did this thing and I'm looking around and I'm thinking, what's up here? And wherever this is? And the plane's going through the clouds. And there was lots of stuff that we lose. You know, pens, pen lids, one sock. All up in the clouds these days, all up in the clouds, you're floating around. Buttons, buttons. There were lots of buttons up in the astral plane. There are a lot of buttons. And today, today, today it would be loads and loads of vapes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Pete Townshend]

Anyway.

[Stephen Colbert]

Or one earbud.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, one earbud. Yeah. And probably a few iPhones. Anyway, so I'm trying to work out what to do. But what was interesting was that the trip had stopped, you know, the psychedelic stuff had stopped. I felt completely normal. And I hear this voice, beautiful female voice, saying to me, pete, it's not your time. And I said, what do you mean it's not your time? You have to go back. And I said, I'm not going back in there. And she said, you've got to go back. You have to go back. You have no choice. You have to go back. I'll escort you back. And this voice escorted me back into my body. And by that time the trip had sort of reduced a little bit, so I was comfortable, but I left my body. I remember telling this story to Ricky Gervais the Comedian, and he went, well, that doesn't convince me of anything.

[Stephen Colbert]

Very open minded.

[Pete Townshend]

I wasn't trying to convince you. Here, have some of Owlsley's Grateful Dead stp and maybe that'll blow your head off. Any more.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, it's getting good. Do you have a favorite action movie?

[Pete Townshend]

Oh, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

What's your favorite action movie?

[Pete Townshend]

You know, I really like all of them. I like all of them. I like anything with action. What's my favorite? Hulk.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hulk?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah,

[Stephen Colbert]

the Ang Lee Hulk.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, Hulk. With a grand green man in it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, with a big green man in it. Whose pants get bigger but never rip? Yeah, that one. Really?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Okay.

[Pete Townshend]

It's kind of. Kind of.

[Stephen Colbert]

He's sad. He's sad.

[Pete Townshend]

Hulk. Yeah, he's sad. But I'd also like to have a button that turned me into the Hulk. You know, just. Just to get me on the subway in one piece.

[Stephen Colbert]

Rage out guy. Well, okay.

[Pete Townshend]

Transformation. That's what it is. It's transformation.

[Stephen Colbert]

It is.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Transmogrification.

[Pete Townshend]

Transmogrification. That's my favorite word.

[Stephen Colbert]

Transmogrification.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah. Not many people.

[Stephen Colbert]

What do I win?

[Pete Townshend]

Me. I'm here.

[Stephen Colbert]

You don't get many opportunities to use it. Okay.

[Pete Townshend]

Well, it's better than bloody Tolkien.

[Stephen Colbert]

You don't like Tolkien? Where did you get. Wait a second, wait a second. It's okay. I love P. Towns enough that it's okay. He just had Robert Plant on. I know.

[Pete Townshend]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Stephen Colbert]

You saw the interview with Plant.

[Pete Townshend]

It blew my mind. And it blew his, too. When you started to just recite Tolkien. Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Don't get me started all day.

[Pete Townshend]

It was impressive.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you ever read any Tolkien?

[Pete Townshend]

Of course I have. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you enjoy it at all?

[Pete Townshend]

I do, but I don't remember it. Not the way you do, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

No one remembers it the way I do. That was my Lonely Boy thing. My Lonely Boy was the Tolkien thing. And then I. When I. Then I left it. I mean, it's not about me, but let's talk about me, because I'm fascinating. And then when I was older, I rediscovered it, and then I got very serious about it, and I realized that there was a lot more depth to it. And he was really writing about life and death.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

He was talking about accepting the beauty of creation and not trying to dominate it with your own sub creation.

[Pete Townshend]

No, that's right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, I know it's right. Don't have to tell me I'm right about Tolkien. Pete Townsend. You were at Faber and Faber.

[Pete Townshend]

You had the.

[Stephen Colbert]

That T.S. eliot had, right?

[Pete Townshend]

I did, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's a great gig.

[Pete Townshend]

It is. Wow. It was, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you see my interview with Anthony Hopkins a couple weeks back? No, I didn't check it out. Not because of me. But he reads at the end of it. He reads the end of the Love Song of J Alpha Prufrock.

[Pete Townshend]

Oh, wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

He crushes it, as you can imagine.

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah. The thing about working at Faber and Faber, which was founded by the great poet T.S. eliot, was that all the old ladies that were associated with the company, when we had parties, they would all take me aside and they would say, you think you rock stars were crazy people. You should have seen Tom with Tom Elliot. Yeah?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Pete Townshend]

And I said, well, what do you mean? He was wild.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was he wild?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, that's what they said.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Do you have a favorite smell?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, I would say garlic.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ooh, like raw or cooked?

[Pete Townshend]

Both, but I really like raw garlic. Yeah. Wow. All right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Least favorite smell?

[Pete Townshend]

Poo

[Stephen Colbert]

of any variety?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, I'm not keen. Not keen particularly.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, you're one of those who doesn't like the smell of poo. Okay. Are those weirdos?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Earliest memory, sir?

[Pete Townshend]

Being on the beach. I was 13 months old. According to my mother, if this story is true. I told my mum this story and she said, it can't be right. Pete, you were only 13 months old. I was on a beach. I've written about this. I was on a beach in the care of somebody. I can even remember wearing a nappy. I was in the sand, and the sand was in my eyes and in my fingers. And these two horse riders rode up the beach. Young, beautiful, on horses, and came up in front and I'm thinking, oh, my God, it's my mom and dad. They've come to get me. And they waved and then they rode off. So that's why I called my short stories Horse's Neck. I've always had this, funnily enough, in the past. I've always had a fear of horses. I should finish my sentences. But most recently, I've moved into a new house in the country. And the woman next door breeds Highland ponies. And I realized that these animals are just so great, you know, they know me and I know them. And what's great now is I go and have conversations with these horses. Oh, stubborn. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

There was a beautiful white horse I saw on a dream stage. He had a snake the size of a sewer pipe living in his rib cage. And I felt like a pickled priest who was being flambaid. You got me a requisition, Blondie? She's just a girl.

[Pete Townshend]

She's a bomb. She's a bomb.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's your line.

[Pete Townshend]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's a good song. It's a pretty good song. You should listen to it sometime. Cats or dogs?

[Pete Townshend]

Dogs, I'm afraid. I do like cats, too. I've got a story about cats.

[Stephen Colbert]

You ever had a. You ever had an out of body cat?

[Pete Townshend]

No. No. No. But my mum, my mum loved cats. And so. And she was very, very keen on collecting, helping, stray cats. So I was a little kid and I was a Snotty little kid. I just was always snotty. And I played the mouth organ, which is not a good instrument to play when you're snotty, but I played it. And I would sit in bed, I'd be like six or seven, come back from my grandmother's and happy at home. And I would feel like I had a cold. And my mother would give me a cat. She'd give me a cat to keep me company while I was recovering from my cold. And When I was 12, I was one of the first kids in the UK to be tested for allergies, and it was cats. So when I got sick, when I got snotty, my mother would bring me a cat, which just made it worse, I would imagine. Yeah. Wow. So I prefer dogs.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, this is a toughie. This is one of the toughest questions we have here. You only get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it? And to be clear, you don't have to listen to it continually, but when you go to listen to music, this is the song or piece of music you get to listen to. What is it?

[Pete Townshend]

Tracks Of My Tears by Smokey. Smokey Robinson. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Quality. No notes. What number am I thinking of?

[Pete Townshend]

Six. No. Oh, come on.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not thinking of six. Why'd you say six? I'm just curious.

[Pete Townshend]

Six.

[Stephen Colbert]

Why'd you say six? I'm just curious.

[Pete Townshend]

It's a number that jumped into my head.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's the number you guessed?

[Pete Townshend]

That's a miracle, isn't it? And six just came into my head. I mean, that's just amazing.

[Stephen Colbert]

You guessed your own number. That's incredible.

[Pete Townshend]

It is.

[Stephen Colbert]

How did you know? You thought of that?

[Pete Townshend]

Okay. It's my consciousness. It's still here, attached to my body.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you feel a tether to your body when you were like. Was it like a golden tether to you?

[Pete Townshend]

No. No.

[Stephen Colbert]

Totally free.

[Pete Townshend]

No, totally free.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you happen to know who the voice was?

[Pete Townshend]

No, but I guess it was. You know, I have to confess, I believe in angels. I think angels are guides that we have that either we know about them or we don't. I read this book by an Irish woman who wrote about angels. She saw angels as a kid, and she said, if you want to find out who your angel is, just ask. Just say, you know. Please show me a sign.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like, ask out loud?

[Pete Townshend]

Yeah, ask out loud. So I said, you know, can you please? And I was sitting with my computer, I was reading her book on my computer, and this big fly came and landed on top of my computer and I kind of looked at it and I said, are you it? And I. And I looked at it and I thought. And I you know what happens when you go like that to a fly? They fly away. This one got on my finger and I brought it up and put it on my rather large nose. Plenty of landing space, and it sat there on my nose. So now whenever I'm in any kind of dodgy kind of state of mind, I look around and I'm kind of going, where's the fly? I need some advice. Do I buy the Ferrari or not? I need the fly. Anyway.

[Stephen Colbert]

Describe the rest of your life in five words.

[Pete Townshend]

Make another record, you lazy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Congratulations, you are known. Pete Townsend, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[State Farm Announcer]

The UPS Store is making, packing and shipping Easter gifts quicker than ever this year with UPS Air.

[Stephen Colbert]

How quick?

[State Farm Announcer]

Quicker than a walk around the park. Quicker than eating all the Easter candies. Quicker than finding a golden egg that you know is stuffed with cash. When you ship UPS Air at the UPS Store, your items arrive on time or your money back, guaranteed at no extra cost. Exclusively at the UPS Store US retail locations. Send Easter Joy on time at the UPS Store. Visit the upsstore.com air guarantee for full details. Terms and conditions apply. Pluto TV has thousands of free movies and TV shows.

[Pete Townshend]

You swear? If I'm lying, I'm dying. This is the mindset. Free. This is the mantra.

[Stephen Colbert]

Free.

[Pete Townshend]

This is the mindset Mindset.

[State Farm Announcer]

With movies like Titanic, Dreamgirls and Gladiator,

[Stephen Colbert]

why are you not entertained? And TV shows like Survivor, Splash, SpongeBob

[State Farm Announcer]

SquarePants, the Fairly Odd Parents and Ghosts, Pluto TV is always free.

[Stephen Colbert]

Huzzah.

[Pete Townshend]

Pluto TV stream now pay. Never.