"The Real Me" is a song written by Pete Townshend on The Who's second full-scale rock opera, Quadrophenia in 1973. This is the second track on the album, although it is the first with lyrics. It concerns a boy named Jimmy, a young English Mod with four distinct personalities. The song describes how he angrily deals with several individuals to identify "the real me". The song was released as a single (backed with I'm One) in the United States and Canada in 1974. Townshend has always referred to it as "Can You See the Real Me", rather than the more accepted abbreviated title.