ERIC CLAPTON - CHANGE THE WORD

CHANGE THE WORLD

ERIC CLAPTON

SONGWRITER: TOMMY SIMS; WAYNE KIRKPATRICK & GORDON KENNEDY

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: PHENOMENON

LABEL: REPRISE RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1996

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE(born 30 March 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time".He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.

After playing in a number of different local bands, Clapton joined the Yardbirds in 1963, replacing founding guitarist Top Topham. Dissatisfied with the change of the Yardbirds sound from blues rock to a more radio-friendly pop rock sound, Clapton left the Yardbirds in 1965 to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with whom he played on one album. After leaving Mayall in 1966, Clapton formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop". After Cream broke up, he formed blues rock band Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech, recording one album and performing on one tour before they broke up, leading Clapton to embark on a solo career in 1970. Alongside his solo career, he also performed with Delaney & Bonnie and Derek and the Dominos, with whom he recorded "Layla", one of his signature songs. He continued to record a number of successful solo albums and songs over the next several decades, including a 1974 cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" (which helped reggae reach a mass market.), the country-infused Slowhand album (1977) and the pop rock of 1986's August. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which appeared on his Unplugged album, and in 1996 he had another top-40 hit with the R&B crossover "Change The World", and in 1998 released the Grammy award-winning "My Father's Eyes". Since 1999, he has recorded a number of traditional blues and blues rock albums and hosted the periodic Crossroads Guitar Festival. His most recent studio album is 2018's Happy Xmas.

Clapton has been the recipient of 18 Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He has received four Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In his solo career, Clapton has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

"Change the World" is a song written by Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy, and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the best-known version of which was recorded by the English singer Eric Clapton for the soundtrack of the 1996 film Phenomenon. The track was produced by the R&B record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

The Clapton release, recorded for Reprise and Warner Bros. Records, reached the Top 40 list in twenty countries and topped the charts in Canada, as well as Billboard magazine's Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts in the United States. The single won eight awards, including three Grammy Awards at the 39th annual ceremony in 1997.

If I could reach the stars

I'd pull one down for you

Shine it on my heart

So you could see the truth

That this love I have inside

Is everything it seems

But for now I find

It's only in my dreams

That I can change the world

I would be the sunlight in your universe

You would think my love was really something good

Baby, if I could change the world

If I could be king

Even for a day

I'd take you as my queen

I'd have it no other way

And our love would rule

This kingdom we have made

Till then I'll be a fool

Wishin' for the day

That I can change the world

I would be the sunlight in your universe

You would think my love was really something good

Baby, if I could change the world

Baby, if I could change the world

That I can change the world

I would be the sunlight in your universe

You would think my love was really something good

Baby, if I could change the world

Baby, if I could change the world

Baby, if I could change the world.