OLD LOVE
ERIC
CLAPTON
SONGWRITER: ERIC PATRICK CLAPTON & ROBERT WILLIAM CRAY
WHERE:
LIVE IN HYDE PARK 1997
COUNTRY: U.
K.
ALBUM: JOURNEYMAN
LABEL: DUCK
GENRE: BLUES
ROCK
YEAR: 1989
Blues Singer Robert Cray was
a co-writer of this song. He also played a guitar solo on it.
This song is about the end of the relationship between
Eric Clapton and Pattie Boyd, who were married for nine years. She
told the Guardian newspaper in December 2008, "The end of a relationship
is a sad enough thing, but to then have Eric writing about it as well. It makes me more sad, I think,
because I can't answer back."
Journeyman is the eleventh
solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Heralded as a return to form for Clapton,
who had struggled with alcohol addiction and had recently found sobriety, the
album has a 1980s electronic sound, but it also includes blues songs like
"Before You Accuse Me", "Running on Faith", and "Hard
Times." "Bad Love" was released as a single, reaching the No. 1
position on the Album Rock Chart, and being awarded a Grammy Award for Best
Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990. "Pretending" had also reached
the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart the previous year, remaining at the
top for five weeks ("Bad Love" had only stayed for three weeks).
While the album was only a
moderate commercial success at the time, reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200
chart, it went on to become his first solo studio album to go double platinum. Clapton
has stated that Journeyman is one of his favourite albums.
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 magazine'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.
I can feel your body
When I'm lying in bed
There's too much confusion
Going around through my head
And it makes me so angry
To know that the flame still burns
Why can't I get over?
When will I ever learn?
[Chorus:]
Old love, leave me alone
Old love, go on home
I can see your face
But I know that it's not real
It's just an illusion
Caused by how I used to feel
And it makes me so angry
To know that the flame will always burn
I'll never get over
I know now that I'll never learn
[Chorus].