"Tales Of Brave Ulysses"
You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.
And the colours of the sea bind your eyes 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,
For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white laced lips.
And you see a 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 tales of brave Ulysses, how his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing.
The tiny purple fishes run lauging through your fingers,
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter.
The lyrics were written by artist Martin Sharp, and the music was composed by Eric Clapton.
Arranged by Robert Stigwood, the song is featured on Cream's album Disraeli Gears. Sharp had written the words on the back of a beer mat, which he gave to Clapton after a chance meeting. These lyrics were put to a melody inspired by Judy Collins' version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and chords inspired by The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City". The music originated from bassist Jack Bruce's ability to match his vocals to the meter of the song to a riff, adding it with his vocals to what had previously been a poem but was then expanded by Clapton into a song. The song is credited on the single to P. Brown, J. Bruce, and E. Clapton. The day before writing the song, Clapton discovered the wah-wah pedal, which augmented the song. -- La WikPosted by gerardvanderleun at December 30, 2014 12:41 PM
Ah, Mr. Bruce... one of a kind!
Posted by: Steve Swinney at December 30, 2014 4:03 PMIndeed Steve. That voice sticks with ya all these years.
Posted by: pbird at December 30, 2014 5:34 PMFor my money, the standout track on that LP is "Dance the Night Away" -- Clapton's only Cream song with a 12-string guitar. His leads here almost *achieve orbit*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lteb--nvuyo
Skorpian I agree!
Listening to this just now, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QihWLLKGY
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