Tales of Brave Ulysses
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| "Tales of Brave Ulysses" | ||
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| Single by Cream | ||
| from the album Disraeli Gears | ||
| Released | 3rd June 1967 (single) | |
| Format | Vinyl album | |
| Recorded | Atlantic Studios, New York | |
| Genre | Rock music | |
| Length | 2:49 (album) ([1]) | |
| Label | Polydor (album) | |
| Producer(s) | Felix Pappalardi | |
| Chart positions | ||
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Insert Later |
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| Cream singles chronology | ||
| Insert Later (1967) |
Strange Brew"/"Tales of Brave Ulysses" (1967) |
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"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song performed by the 1960s group Cream. It was written by Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp. The song is featured on Cream's album Disraeli Gears. The lyrics were written by Martin Sharp on the back of a beer mat, which he gave to Eric Clapton after a chance meeting. These lyrics were put to a series of chords inspired by The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City", and made to scan by Cream singer Jack Bruce.
The song also featured Eric Clapton's first use of the wah wah pedal.
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[edit] Song meaning
The lyrics are inspired by Homer's Odyssey, an account of the adventures undertaken by Ulysses. This can be seen in the song's reference to "naked ears ... tortured by the sirens sweetly singing," an event from Homer's epic.
[edit] Composition
The main guitar riff repeats throughout the song, interspersed with small solos:
D C B Bb
The composition of "Tales of Brave Ulysses" has been likened by some to "White Room", another Cream song, as well as to Bob Dylan's "It's Alright Ma" in terms of vocal pacing. It is also similar to "White Room" in that they are two of the very few occasions in his career with Cream, that Clapton used a wah-wah pedal for his guitar parts. The similarity to "White Room" is particularly apparent in live versions [2] of the song. Despite being one of their more popular songs, Cream did not play this in their 2005 reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall, though they did play it at their Madison Square Garden shows.
[edit] Trivia
The song is featured twice on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first of these episdodes is the sixth episode of season 3: Band Candy, the second of these is the episode 17 of season 5: Forever. In both instances it is played by the character Giles.
