We're Going Wrong: New Twist on an Old Cream Classic

Sons of Cream, Newton Theater, August 16, 2024

Cream was one of the distinctive supergroups of the 60s. "We're Going Wrong" is a song that appeared on Disraeli Gears, their second album. From the time I first heard it I'd always interpreted it as a breakup song, about a person in a relationship that was going bad. The song's chorus is easily interpreted this way. "I found out today we're going wrong, we're going wrong."

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This past Friday evening my brother and I went to see Sons of Cream in Newton, New Jersey. It was an upbeat energetic concert featuring the sons of Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, along with a nephew of  Eric Clapton performing music from the Cream catalog, one of these being "We're Going Wrong."

The song is a departure from the more blues-rock driven sound that characterized much of Cream's work. The lyrics are sparse, and the instrumentation captures a sense of introspective despair that resonates on a deeper emotional level with those who engage it. Here are the lyrics, followed by the new insight I gained in Newton.

We're Going Wrong

Please open your eyes.
Try to realize.

I found out today we're going wrong,
We're going wrong.

Please open your mind.
See what you can find.

I found out today we're going wrong,
We're going wrong.

We're going wrong.
We're going wrong.
We're going wrong.

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Newton NJ, August 16

Let's start with the music.

Musically, the song is built around a slow, brooding rhythm that complements the somber tone of the lyrics with a minimalist arrangement. Ginger Baker's drumming has the vibe of a swirling tidewater undercurrent, shifting from subtle haunting rhythms to intense crescendos that rise and recede again, mirroring the atmospheric emotions. Juxtaposed against the restrained guitar and basswork, the music generates tension which is followed by release like a receding tide. At various moments Clapton's guitar embellishes the interplay of the three artists so as to produce a sense of melancholy and unease, a perfect accompaniment for the lyrics.

 

The Lyrics  

Until this weekend I'd always interpreted "We're Going Wrong" as a break-up song, one in which one person in the relationship has had a realization which he or she is attempting to convey to the other person, a disturbing recognition of an unsettling truth.  

But what if it's something different, something internal, a flash of understanding about oneself?

If we separate the verses from the chorus, you get this message: "Please open your eyes," and "Please open your mind."

Who is talking to whom? From this angle, it could easily be a self-talk script. When wedded to the music we feel a sense of urgency and desperation, as if the speaker is pleading with oneself to wake up to an unsettling truth. The repeated phrase "We're going wrong" suggests a recognition that something has happened, though the specifics are left ambiguous. It's a vagueness that allows the song to take on multiple interpretations.

The simplicity of the lyrics emphasizes the emotional weight of the message. The use of direct appeals—"Please open your eyes" and "Please open your mind"—suggests that there is denial taking place.  

Philosophically there's a sense in which we're witnessing--hearing, seeing, feeling--an existential crisis. It may be an impending individual crack-up, a crumbling relationship, or even a societal collapse. As we engage the song all these possibilities open up to us.

 

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Additional Details*
Pete Brown was the lyricist for all the songs on Disraeli Gears except this one, which was penned by Jack Bruce. Bruce's falsetto vocals and crooning-like singing were accompanied with a slow bass line and Eric Clapton's bluesy/psychedelic guitar melody. Ginger Baker used Timpani drum mallets rather than standard drumsticks on this song (as does Kofi Baker in his Sons of Cream shows). The 6/8 time signature also gave the song a distinct and irregular sound. however Baker’s drumming is often frenetic and fast paced, making it completely at odds with the rest of the instruments.

Here is the song.

Here's an alternate version from the BBC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSjQ8aUWCrc

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As You Said by Cream, in response to the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman

February 2014

Let's go down to where it's clean
To see the time that might have been.
The tides have carried off the beach.
As you said,
The sun is out of reach.
~Jack Bruce, Pete Brown

The passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman earlier this week brought to the forefront once again the dilemma of how to respond to people of exceptional talent, their subsequent fame, and their character disorders. It challenges us because all too often we look up to people who have the same feet of clay that we do. They are not gods. They are flawed. How do we separate their failures as role models from the exceptional gifts they have?

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The song As You Said by Cream bassist Jack Bruce and poet Pete Brown is from one of the great rock and roll double albums of all time, Wheels of Fire. It's psychedelic, surreal art is an attempt to convey the heady times and the remarkable music that Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker performed on stages both sides of the Atlantic. Clapton was practically still a kid when he linked in with Bruce and Baker, two very seasoned musicians with a volatile relationship.

The music they produced was remarkably sophisticated. Each of the men was a virtuoso. And the songs were poetry in motion, lyric content often hearkening back to historical literary roots. For example, the first stanza of As You Said ends with what is likely a reference to Icarus, who flew too near to the sun. The song is an exquisitely crafted lament, and perhaps serves as a warning about stretching too far or attempting to fly to high. Tales of Brave Ulysses from their Disraeli Gears album is explicitly rooted in Homer's Odyssey.

The album itself draws its title from Ezekiel's vision of wheels within wheels:

13-14 The four creatures looked like a blazing fire, or like fiery torches. Tongues of fire shot back and forth between the creatures, and out of the fire, bolts of lightning. The creatures flashed back and forth like strikes of lightning.

15-16 As I watched the four creatures, I saw something that looked like a wheel on the ground beside each of the four-faced creatures. This is what the wheels looked like: They were identical wheels, sparkling like diamonds in the sun. It looked like they were wheels within wheels, like a gyroscope.*

The chief feature of the double album that so set it apart was the manner in which the first two sides were produced in the studio while the second two sides were recorded live at the Fillmore in March 1968. I have often felt that Side A on this second vinyl is one of the best live rock recordings of all time. The interplay between Clapton and Bruce is unmatched for virtuosity and power as they tackle those blues classics Crossroads and Spoonful. The improvisational breakouts and breathtaking bounty of sound simply soars through the senses.

The personal conflicts between Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were something to which the average teen like myself was oblivious. And maybe its this naive obliviousness that enables us to place these mortals on pedestals and treat them like gods.

Much has been written about Clapton as a god, but the real Clapton was a troubled, self-destructive man for a very long time as he wrestled with his own personal demons and pain. Fortunately, he came out the other side, clear-headed, clean and sober. He was rescued by love.

The same cannot as yet be said for Mr. Baker. A documentary has been been produced on Britain's most gifted drummer, aptly titled Beware of Mr. Baker. It's a gripping portrait of a self-centered, dysfunctional human being. As this Guardian interview shows, the great drummer is anything but a role model. Those who loved him were those whom he hurt most.

Which brings us back to Mr. Hoffman. Are we asking too much to expect our heroes to also be role models as well?  How do we respond when our heroes break the law, hurt others or self-destruct? The reality is, we live in a broken world. Disillusionments will be our lot time and again if we forget this truth.

*Ezekiel 1:13-16, The Message