Cream

Released: April 14, 2003

Songwriter: Eric Clapton Martin Sharp

Producer: Bill Bebb

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever
So you traveled on a steamer to the violence of the sun

And the colors of the sea blind your eye with trembling
Mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave
Ulysses:
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly
Singing
And the sparkling waves are calling you to touch the
White-lace lips

And you see your girl's brown body dancing through the
Turquoise
And her footprints make you follow where the sky loves the
Sea
And when your fingers find her, she drowns you in her body
Carving deep blue ripples in the tissues of your mind

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the
Winter

Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell
And you know you cannot leave her for you touched the
Distant sands
With the tales of brave Ulysses: how his naked ears were
Tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the
Winter

The members of this power trio, formed in the autumn of 1966, were all veterans of the blues revival. Guitarist Eric Clapton was the same prodigy who revealed himself with the Yardbirds, and who had contributed to the legendary recording of Bluesbreakers with John Mayall. Drummer Peter “Ginger” Baker, skilled at many forms of percussion, had already played, in 1960, with the Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and in 1962 with Alexis Korner and the Graham Bond Organisation. Scottish bassist Jack Bruce had traveled some of the same roads as Baker, before joining Manfred Mann. Bruce and Clapton had met each other in the Powerhouse, a short-lived lineup put together by John Mayall, that also included Steve Winwood at the keyboard. With Cream these three virtuosos simply brought to fruition the experience that they developed in the London clubs, bringing to the rock concert stage long, electric, high volume improvisations.

more tracks from the album

BBC Sessions

From the album

BBC Sessions (2003)

Cream popular songs

Tales of Brave Ulysses (BBC Sessions)Cream

Cream

BBC Sessions