Pete Townshend's most famous song as a solo artist, "Let My Love Open The Door" really connected with many listeners on a spiritual level, but soon after it was released, Townshend dismissed it as "just a ditty" in a Rolling Stone interview, saying he preferred another song from his Empty Glass album, "A Little is Enough," which was released as the next single and went to #72.
Townshend later found a connection to the song and joined the ranks of those who love it. In a 2025 appearance on Stephen Colbert's show, he cited it among his Top 5 songs, with the other four all being tracks from his band The Who.
Pete Townshend has been a follower of the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba (1894-1969) since 1968, and "Let My Love Open The Door" appears to be a devotional love song to his religious guru. However, in the liner notes of Townshend's
Gold (Remaster) CD, he refers to the song as "Jesus sings," so there's no evidence he wrote it for Baba. Some of Townshend's songs with The Who he has ascribed to Meher Baba, including "
See Me, Feel Me" and "
Baba O'Riley."
The "love will set you free" message in this song is something Pete Townshend aspired to in his spiritual life, but wasn't able to sustain as he turned to drugs and alcohol around this time.
When The Who drummer Keith Moon died in 1978, the band carried on, but with loads of tension. Townshend felt it acutely, as his whole life was tied up in the band, including his friendships and his finances. His creative output stayed strong - The Who released albums in 1981 and 1982, and he put out solo albums in 1980 and 1982 - but he nearly killed himself with his vices.
After two stays in rehab, Townshend got clean in 1982 and was able to reflect on this time. He realized he was pushing his guru, Meher Baba, out of his life as a defense mechanism because he couldn't deal with his issues.
Among the films to use this song are Look Who's Talking (1989), Mr. Deeds (2002), Along Came Polly (2004) and Netflix's The Adam Project (2022). A different version was recorded for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), and it's also the end credits song for Jersey Girl (2004).
The song plays a prominent role in the 2007 movie Dan In Real Life, where Steve Carell and Dane Cook sing it to Cook's girlfriend, whom Carell has deep feelings for.
Two of the musicians on this track, the bass player Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki, formed the Scottish rock quartet Big Country in 1981.
Townshend released a slower version of this song in 1996 that he called the "E. Cola mix," which he remixed with Jack Hues of Wang Chung along with Chris Hughes and Tim Oliver. This version was used in the 1997 film Grosse Pointe Blank and appeared on the soundtrack. In 2017, this version of the song was used in the "So Swayze It's Crazy" episode of The Goldbergs, and also in a Walmart commercial titled "Christmas Like a Rock Star," where families open the door to find items delivered by the store.
"Let My Love Open The Door" reached #9 in the US to become Pete Townshend's only solo American Top 10 hit, but surprisingly, it charted as high as any Who song released in America - "
I Can See For Miles" also hit #9.
Townshend was still a member of The Who when he released the song in 1980. In 1982 he left the band, then he returned in 1989.
According to the 1985 Pete Townshend "My Generation" radio special, Townshend's manager hated this track and felt it should be left off the album because it didn't sound like a Pete Townshend song. Weeks after the release, Pete's manager called to apologize when the song became the first hit single from Empty Glass.
Two different versions of the song were used on the season opener of Showtime's Californication on April 13, 2014. A re-mix from Los Angeles producer Philip Stier opened the show and Townshend's 1980 original version closed the episode.
Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia covered this on her 2014 album Male. "Without sounding corny, this one connects to my heart," she told Entertainment Weekly.
The Christian rock-pop band Audio Adrenaline remade this song on their 1999 Underdog album. In their case the "my love" was referring to God's love.
The Who performed the song for the first time since 1989 during their stripped-back acoustic concert at the Royal Albert Hall on March 25, 2022 in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. "Well, this next song is definitely not a Who hit," Townshend told the crowd. "It's a Pete hit."
