•
Rating:
The private life of Eric Clapton, in terms of popularity, has always traveled on the same path as his artistic life, becoming an inevitable consequence of it. From the (im)possible infatuation with Pattie Boyd (the wife of George Harrison) to the excesses with smoke, alcohol, and cocaine, a life forever on a thin line of balance where courage and the desire to win contrasted with fragility and insecurity.
In the mid-1980s (even though we were still in the presence of the alcohol-drug combination), Clapton laid the foundations for a revival, which would find completeness in the following decade. In 1984, with the departure of Roger Waters from the Pink Floyd, Clapton lent his hands to the service of his colleague on the decent "The Pros and the Cons of the Hitch Hiking", for which he would also perform some live dates. In May 1985, he would suspend his TV appearance on The Late Night with Dave Letterman, during which he unexpectedly presented the famous "White Room", which he had not performed for about 30 years. With his presence at what will be remembered as the media event of the decade, Live Aid, the guitarist from Surrey, along with his band and the versatile Phil Collins, delivered a nearly 18-minute performance in which he also played "She's Waiting" taken precisely from the previous "Behind The Sun", of which the Genesis drummer was co-producer alongside Ted Templeman (Van Halen, Montrose, and The Doobie Brothers above all) and Lenny Waronker (The Doobie Brothers and Paul Simon, among others.
"August" (the tenth personal seal regarding his solo career) continues along that line of adaptation to a certain musical modernity started with his previous work, leaving it to Collins (also present in the control room) to strike the skins, highlighting a Clapton with a broad spectrum, capable of expressing himself naturally through perhaps easily accessible tracks ("Run" and "Behind The Mask"), but also others where feeling and intensity try to prevail ("Walk Away" and "Bad Influence"). And even though synthesizers are gaining ground without being inappropriately intrusive ("Hold On" and "Grand Illusion"), some songs also live off the reflected glory of the past, through infallible (but how unexpected?) brushstrokes capable of giving vibrancy to the colors of a sublime canvas, weaving mostly outrageously radio-friendly songs ("Take A Chance" or "Miss You"), providing an intuitive yet exquisite rhythmic taste ("Hung Up On Your Love" and "Tearing Us Apart" with Tina Turner).
The album dedicated to his unfortunate son Connor (born precisely on August 21, 1986, and who passed away at the age of 5 after falling from the 49th floor of a skyscraper...) is a mournful work in which the innovative musician admired alongside Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker certainly does not take precedence, but rather a Clapton more intent on showing the softer side of his music through which he expresses a highly personal way of making blues and rhythm and blues coexist (with less naturalness, allow me...) even playing the significant guest card (Gary Brooker of Procol Harum and the lioness of rock above all). Let's be clear, we are in front of an album that sees the consolidation of a pop vein capable of artfully marrying a contemporary sound, but letting an artist who is tired come through, disappointing those lovers of that musical revolution of which he was a creator, and who were hoping to rediscover that magic that had started to hover again with "Money And Cigarettes" just a few years earlier.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 Walk Away (03:51)
by Marcy Levy and Richard Feldman
You leave a trail of tears wherever you go.
One of us will hold you, the other one won't.
But I could never share your love or leave it behind.
Break his heart, not mine.
Do you remember tender moments we shared?
How could this true affection vanish into thin air?
He's not worth the trouble, baby; he's just a waste of your time.
Oh, break his heart, not mine.
Don't you walk away,
You know you're gonna miss me.
Don't you walk away, walk away.
You're gonna miss me,
You're gonna miss my love.
So don't you walk away,
Don't you walk away, walk away.
Don't you walk away, walk away.
So I'll be waiting in the backroom, baby, when you kiss him goodbye.
Oh, break his heart not mine, but...
Chorus
Don't you walk away, walk away.
Oh don't you walk away.
I know you're gonna miss my love.
Don't you walk away, walk away.
Don't you walk away.
You're gonna miss my love.
Don't you walk away, walk away.
07 Take a Chance (04:52)
by Eric Clapton, Greg Phillinganes and Nathan East
If I don't take a chance,
If I don't make a move,
If I don't go looking for new romance,
How will I ever find my groove?
If I don't play around,
How am I gonna have my fun?
If I tried to settle down,
Would I be fooling anyone?
I'm out on a limb above a sea of bliss;
I don't know why I feel this way.
I only know I love it.
And I feel so free today.
You know I feel so free today.
That's right, I feel so free, no matter where I go,
But I feel so free today.
If I don't make mistakes,
If I don't play the fool,
If I have to worry 'bout the heart I break,
How am I ever gonna learn the rules?
I'm looking for danger inside the sweetest smile;
I don't know why I feel this way.
I only know I love it.
Chorus
Chorus
09 Miss You (05:05)
by Eric Clapton, Greg Phillinganes and Bobby Columby
Don't change your mind,
I ain't got the time to sit and wonder.
I'm doing fine.
If you decide to leave, I won't go under.
You know I've come this far without you;
It won't be too hard to be alone.
I've got choices all around me,
So I won't be spending too much time at home.
Girl, I'm gonna miss you.
I'm gonna miss you, baby.
I can't forgive you,
Instead I'm gonna miss you, baby.
No, don't say a word.
I already heard that you don't love me.
In your state of mind,
I don't need to hear your side of the story.
Your friends all said we had a future
And I don't think I really want to know.
My friends keep telling me to lose you
And how glad they'll be when you decide to go.
Chorus
I broke my back to make you happy.
Sometime, somehow, someone's got to care.
If you think you're better off without me,
Just remember, it's a dirty world out there.
Chorus
I'm gonna miss the ground you walk on,
Gonna miss the air you breathe.
I'm just not quite happy, baby,
'bout your crazy plans to leave.
10 Holy Mother (04:54)
Holy Mother, where are you?
Tonight I feel broken in two.
I've seen the stars fall from the sky.
Holy mother, can't keep from crying.
Oh I need your help this time,
Get me through this lonely night.
Tell me please which way to turn
To find myself again.
Holy mother, hear my prayer,
Somehow I know you're still there.
Send me please some peace of mind;
Take away this pain.
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait any longer.
I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait for you.
Holy mother, hear my cry,
I've cursed your name a thousand times.
I've felt the anger running through my soul;
All I need is a hand to hold.
Oh I feel the end has come,
No longer my legs will run.
You know I would rather be
In your arms tonight.
When my hands no longer play,
My voice is still, I fade away.
Holy mother, then I'll be
Lying in, safe within your arms.
11 Behind the Mask (04:46)
by Chris Mosdell, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Michael Jackson
All along, had to talk about it,
Like a two-edged sword, he touched you and it stabs me.
All along, knew you were a phony girl,
Sit behind the mask where you control your world.
Yesterday he had you in his arms;
When I'm holding you, I feel his bitter charms.
I can't judge what you do to me.
Camoflage the truth, indulge your fantasy.
Who do you love? Is it me now, is it him babe? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me babe, is it him now? I don't know.
There is nothing in your eyes; that's the way you cry.
All is grand, all is bright. You're just studying my mind.
There is nothing in your eyes; that's the way you cry.
All is grand, all is bright. You're just studying my mind.
Was I invited to your masquerade?
Well the party's over so now take off your face.
You say you love, but it's hard to see
When you're in his arms, throwing rocks at me.
Chorus
I walk around suffering in my doom.
When I come to you, you're sitting in your room.
The truth is news, I have longed to trace.
So take off the mask so I can see your face.
Who do you love? Is it me baby, is it him now? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me babe, is it him baby? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me babe, is it him now? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me now, is it him baby? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me baby, is it him now? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me baby, is it him now? I don't know.
Who do you love? Is it me baby, is it him? I want to know.
Who do you love?
12 Grand Illusion (06:22)
I saw you in a dream, it hit me like a bright light
Flashing on a screen, visions of my whole life.
I used to chase the moment of desire
Back to when my young heart burned like a fire.
It was just a, nothing but a grand illusion.
Heart was quicker than the eye.
Nothing but a grand illusion,
Legend in my own mind.
I held you in my arms till the other side of midnight.
Kept you in my mind, you got me through some long nights.
Standing on the threshold of desire,
Caught between the madness and the fire.
It was just a, nothing but a grand illusion.
Heart was quicker than the eye.
Nothing but a grand illusion,
Legend in my own mind.
It was all a grand illusion.
Hand was quicker than the eye.
Nothing but a grand illusion,
Legends in our own minds.
I used to chase the moments of desire
Back to when my young heart burned like a fire.
It was just a, nothing but a, it was all a grand illusion.
Nothing but a grand illusion.
It was all a grand illusion,
Legend in my own mind.
It was just a grand illusion.
Nothing but a grand illusion.
It was just a grand illusion,
Legends in our own minds.
Loading comments slowly
