The one song Eric Clapton said defined his life: “The anthem of my life”
There’s a good chance that any musician would get tired of playing their signature song over the years. Robert Plant has practically washed his hands of playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and while someone like Liam Gallagher knows how to give the people what they want, it’s clear that ‘Wonderwall’ isn’t exactly his favourite song whenever it comes up on the setlist. But for Eric Clapton, any song with a decent blues lick is worth keeping around for years to come.
Then again, Clapton might have a more refreshing take on tunes that he didn’t have a hand in creating. It’s easy for anyone to be critical of their writing or wonder why millions of people listen to their songs like they will suddenly unlock the meaning of life, but outside of truly touching moments on songs like ‘Tears in Heaven’, ‘Slowhand’ is more likely to pay lip service to those who inspired him to pick up a guitar.
Because that’s what the blues has always been about. As much as people like the idea of making their masterpieces, the blues is a musical tradition more than a genre of music, and looking at the way that Clapton plays his tunes, it’s clear that he wants to carry on the legacy of those who came before him but digging deep into his soul and pulling out some emotion that no one would have thought could come out of a tune that was decades old.
If he couldn’t do some of the songs completely straight, the next best thing would be to twist them slightly when working with Cream. A song like ‘Strange Brew’ had all of the makings of the classic blues tune ‘Lawdy Mama’, but by bringing in some new lyrics that fit in with the psychedelic aesthetic of the times, the song is virtually unrecognisable from the original. But even someone as well-versed in blues as Clapton never dared change a single note of ‘Crossroads’.
From day one, Robert Johnson created the epitome of what a blues guitar riff was supposed to sound like with this one song, and despite Clapton admitting to being out of time on the version people hear, there’s a certain reckless abandon that comes with Cream’s version that you can’t find anywhere else. But when Clapton plays it today, it’s much more than a piece of his musical history.
He had grown into the ultimate bluesman, and he felt that ‘Crossroads’ defined everything he was supposed to be, saying, “It was the song that had all the ingredients in one song, and then it became kind of the anthem of my life in terms of ‘where do I go now?’. Coming up to decision-making periods in my life like what I was going to do with my career, ‘Crossroads’ seemed to be a very typical dilemma that I would always be in.”
Even if it set the standard for where Clapton would go personally, it’s not like he was looking to play that tune forever. 401 Ocean Boulevard is completely different from that kind of music, but even when he was making tunes on Unplugged, he would still find time to remind everyone of why he got to the top of the musical pile in the first place by breaking out tunes like ‘Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out’.
Clapton didn’t need to sell his soul to the devil in the same way that Johnson did at the hallowed crossroads in the South, but he didn’t need to to interpret this tune. Everyone has gone through those difficult situations throughout their lives, and as long as people are making those fateful decisions in their lives, people will relate to Johnson’s words about wondering which path to go down.
