Tag: Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton – Promises

This is my contribution to Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Promise/Vow/Oath.

From his 1978 album, Backless. The song peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart on January 19, 1979.

From rbhsjukebox

This song was written by Richard Feldman and Roger Linn. It features a wonderful harmony vocal from long-time Clapton collaborator (and frequent co-writer) Marcy Levy. She is perhaps better known as Marcella Detroit, the name she assumed as half of the short-lived but massively successful duo Shakespears Sister. Clapton’s vocal is nicely delivered, with just the right bitterness for the lyrics, and Levy’s accompaniment bolsters it perfectly.

Ironically titled, Promises is about broken oaths and the end of a relationship. It’s well-constructed, a perfect three-minute pop song, handled smoothly by a seasoned performer and his sympathetic band.

One other note, Roger Linn invented the first drum machine.

Promises

I don’t care if you never come home
I don’t mind if you just keep on rowin’ away on a distant sea
‘Cause I don’t love you and you don’t love me
You cause a commotion when you come to town
You give ’em a smile and they melt
And your lovers and friends is all good and fine
But I don’t like yours and you don’t like mine
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
I don’t care what you do at night
Oh, I don’t care how you get you delites
We’ll leave it alone and just let it be
I don’t love you and you don’t love me
I got a problem, can you relate
I got a woman callin’ love hate
We made a vow we’d always be friends
How could we know that promises end
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
I tried to love for years upon years
You refuse to take me for real
It’s time you saw what I want you to see
I’d still love you if you’d just love me
I got a problem, can you relate
I got a woman callin’ love hate
We made a vow we’d always be friends
How could we know that promises end
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la la
Wohoo, la la la la la la la

Eric Clapton – The Core

From his 1977 album Slowhand the song never charted. Marcy Levy’s voice mixes beautifully with Clapton’s.

From songfacts.

Clapton wrote this based on a repeating guitar riff he came up with.
The original title was “The Riff,” followed by “Burning Hot Core,” and finally “The Core.”
Marcy Levy, one of Clapton’s backup singers, helped him write this. She also helped him with “Lay Down Sally.”
A rare Clapton song with horns. Mel Collins, who has also recorded with King Crimson and The Rolling Stones, played the sax. It was the first time Clapton used horns since his first solo album.

 

The Core

Every morning when I wake, a feeling soon begins to overtake me.
Ringing in my ears resounds through my brain; it finally surrounds me.
There is fire, there is life, there is passion, fever and fury.
There is love and there is hate, there is longing, anger and worry.
Oh, I have a flame; feel it touch my heart.
And down at my core is the hottest part.
I can burn without fuel.
If it should become too cold, I know I can endure the frostbite.
Oh, a blanket then I’ll wrap around me; I keep myself so close to my side.
No one then can cause me harm, just as the river runs into the sea.
Cause every day, your fire alarm is deafening the silence all around me.
Oh, I have a flame; feel it touch my heart.
And down at my core is the hottest part.
I can burn without fuel.
It is burning.
It is burning.
You can trust me; we can laugh. Together we can share our sorrow.
I will give you secrets too, an attitude that you may borrow.
Gypsy woman said to me, “One thing you must bear in your mind:
You are young and you are free, but damned if you’re deceased in your own lifetime.”
Oh, you have a flame; feel it in your heart.
And down at the core is the hottest part.
We can burn without fuel.
It is burning.
It is burning.
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Eric Patrick Clapton / Marcy Levy