A few years back I heard wisps of this week's tune while watching a (not particularly interesting) documentary about racist/conspiracy theorist nutjob Eric Clapton (tell us how you really feel, emaycee!), and I knew I recognized the song but had no idea who had done it. Thanks to a quick internet search, I discovered it was an album-oriented rock staple on FM stations back in the day...which is most likely where I knew it from....
Blind Faith formed in 1969 when Clapton (Jukebox CLXXV as a member of Derek and the Dominoes) and Steve Winwood (Jukebox CCCLXXXIV) decided they wanted to do some playing together. Agents/promoters quickly seized on the pairing of the famous duo and an album was rush released and a three-month tour was undertaken. At which point Clapton decided it was considerably more effort than he wanted to expend, and the band was no more. There were apparently few hard feelings as Clapton and Winwood have joined forces in concert on a few occasions in the intervening years. Both men would go on to have quite a bit of solo success, and their one-off musical endeavor is considered a classic.
Fun Fact: The album cover of their lone LP featured a prepubescent topless girl...which caused quite the stir in America and the cover was changed to a generic photo of the band. It would eventually be released with the original artwork some years later. God only knows the fuss such an album cover would cause today....
"Can't Find My Way Home" was featured on the band's only LP, the oh, so creatively entitled Blind Faith. The song was not released as a single (except for some odd ass reason in the Netherlands--so many cool Dutch kids!), while the album would hit #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K.
From the song's eerie instrumental opening to Winwood's otherworldly falsetto vocals, "Can't Find My Way Home" is a masterclass in just how far the envelope can be pushed in pop music. Clapton's guitar has echoes of raga and Ginger Baker's jungle drums both give you the feeling that you're lost, walking down the streets in some exotic locale like Algiers or Budapest. It's been surmised that the song is about either trying to kick a drug habit or the search for God, but either way the band captured the feeling in a stunning fashion. Three minutes and seventeen seconds of brilliance.
Lyric Sheet: "Come down off your throne and leave your body alone/Somebody must change/You are the reason I've been waiting so long/Somebody holds the key..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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