Maybe later. Right now, more specifically, let's talk about Cream.
Now, if you weren't listening to The Beatles in the late 60's... well, you might have been listening to The Rolling Stones. Or The Monkees. But maybe you were listening to Cream. And that maybe was enough to make "White Room" a Top Ten hit, along with "Sunshine of Your Love", and make Cream one of the most influential blues bands of all time. But what made them so great? Well, there's only one way to find out. There's actually probably multiple ways, but let's go with analyzing "White Room".
The song starts off, quite literally, with a bang. Of the drums, that is. And this odd instrumentation that I can't put a finger on, but really doesn't sit well with me. Then, on to the first verse:
In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Black-roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
All right, so we start off with a decently-set setting. Dreary. So much so even the starlings don't feel like singing.
Silver horses run down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawn-light smiles on you leaving, my contentment.
Um... okay. I have no idea what the whole "silver horses" thing is about, but it sounds like the guy singing's happy that this other person is leaving. So we've got a plot now. All right.
I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.
Okay, hold on a second. If the sun never shines, how can there be shadows in the first place? I get that we're still going for the dreary mood here, but context within the natural world is important too. Of course, shadows are also running from themselves, so who am I to judge what's normal here.
You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.
So now you're unhappy that she is leaving? Pick one!
And soon enough, that creepy ahing and oohing comes back, as we head into the third verse. This one seems to detail a reunion with this woman, but again, mixed emotions.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
Honestly, it's just confusing more than anything, especially when it switches so often. Overall, if I had to look at this song and determine what made Cream so great, I'd have to go with the guitar licks, because there's not much more about this song that I liked. Without the guitar, this song would have been painfully dreary, and sometimes it still is. I can take creepy songs, but the combination of the dreary mood, the confusing lyrics, and the lack of any energy barring the guitar makes this a bit of a miss for me. Sorry Cream fans, but I'll stick with my Beatles.
That was one song! One song!
Agree? Disagree? Comment below!
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