Which The Who single was banned by the BBC in 1967 for its suggestive lyrics?

The Who single banned by the BBC in 1967 for its suggestive lyrics was “Pictures of Lily.”

Written by Pete Townshend, the song tells the story of a sleepless boy whose father gives him pictures of an attractive woman. The images help him sleep, and he develops a fantasy around Lily before learning that she died in 1929. The innocent-sounding narrative contains a clear reference to adolescent sexual awakening, which made the song controversial to conservative broadcasters of the period.

Townshend later described the song more directly as being about masturbation, although the word never appears in the lyrics. He gave different accounts of Lily's inspiration, mentioning both a vaudeville postcard depicting Lily Bayliss and the music-hall star Lillie Langtry, who died in 1929.

The record was released in the United Kingdom on 21 April 1967, with “Doctor, Doctor” as its B-side. Despite the BBC controversy, it became a major British hit, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart. The song is also notable because Townshend used the term “power pop” to describe it in a 1967 interview.