Lost love, Eric Clapton, and the moment he believed new chords had been invented
The thrill of discovering something new and unique is undeniably exciting, especially when it feels like no one else has encountered it before. It’s a moment worth sharing with the world, and Eric Clapton is no stranger to that feeling.
For someone as musically proficient as Clapton, the potential for discovery is always within reach. Often, inspiration finds this instrumental virtuoso when he actively seeks it, yet remains open to its arrival—like calling out to a long-lost relative through sheer intuition, standing still, and trusting that something magical will eventually drift ashore through the sheer force of will.
Sometimes, it’s circumstantial, impacted by the trauma or tragedy of losing someone. Other times, it’s rooted in longing, bitterness and suffering for an unattainable love rearing its head in the form of a Persian muse called ‘Layla’. And then there are the rare occasions, the ones when lightning strikes when you least expect it in moments of pure elation, where clarity and purpose never felt so sweet.
Clapton’s moment came one night when a tropical storm hit Antigua. As he peered over to the island of Montserrat, he began to dream up the beginnings of what would become ‘Broken Hearted’, suddenly faced with the terrifying yet extraordinary prospect of discovering something no one else ever had. “I thought I had discovered three new chords that man didn’t know about,” he told BBC Radio 1.
Whether it was the haziness evoked by the storm or the other-worldly aspect of looking out and observing the mysterious silhouette of Monserrat like a jilted lover, Clapton felt more connected to his musical fate than ever. However, when the blissful haze cleared, he was left with a sobering reality that many have to reckon with: the idea that said so-called “discovery” was just a fantasy siphoned to the exciting hope that it was anything but.
“They’re just ordinary chords,” he said, the discouragement of the words almost peering from the page in 3D. “I found [it] out when I tried to show them to someone – a keyboard player – and he told me what they were and that they were very normal,” he added. What made these chords feel so unusually unique wasn’t the fact they sounded new; they didn’t—it was just Clapton’s surroundings and the emotions he experienced at the time that veiled them in a certain feel, making it seem like anything he had ever heard before vanished beyond the distant darkness.
As he described it: “To my ear, they created an atmosphere, and I began to sing in the atmosphere that was already existing. And again, it was quite a specific set of circumstances I was talking about a lost love.” You can feel this atmosphere in the track itself. The echoing of the opening notes and the subtle ambience that lingers in the background transport you to the very moment Clapton first conceived the chords, as if you’re right there with him in that space of creative inspiration.
“When the wind blows down this hard, many a bond is broken,” he sings, the crestfallen edge in his voice reflecting the perfect storm that is losing someone you once thought was the one. “See the water lie on the ground from where the heavens opened,” he continues, the melancholic dreamlike quality aligning with the very feeling of losing grip of something you once thought was yours and only yours. Much like that feeling when you think you’ve found something no one else ever has.
