Cream could have stayed in their blues-rock lane and pleased the purists. But the trio of Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, and Ginger Baker followed their artistic instincts into the realms of psychedelia, leading to the massive 1967 hit single “Sunshine of Your Love.”
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What is the song about? How did Cream develop the instrumental approach for the song? And what friend of the group came up with the lyrics? Let’s look back and shine a deserving light on “Sunshine of Your Love.”
A Turbulent Trio
What made Cream think it was a good idea to get together when two of the three members (Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker) made no secret of their dislike for each other? In the end, the two men, excited about the possibilities of playing with Eric Clapton—already a guitar legend by 1966 when Cream formed—decided the music’s potential outweighed the hostility.
Cream’s first album Fresh Cream largely stuck to a blues-rock format, with half the songs devoted to covers of classics. When the band came to New York in May 1967 to record their second album, they decided to make it more of an original affair. Nine of the 11 songs were new, composed in different combinations by members of the band and associates like producer Felix Pappalardi and lyricists Gail Collins, Martin Sharp, and Pete Brown.
With Pappalardi at the helm and Tom Down handling engineering duties, the trio cut the album in a span of simply five days. The music leapt away from simple blues to incorporate psychedelic colors and pop-song formats. In many ways the album, titled Disraeli Gears, formed the basis for the hard rock genre that would soon dominate the music scene. And “Sunshine of Your Love,” which was a true band effort, set the bar.
Creating “Sunshine”
“Sunshine of Your Love” rose up out of a bass line Jack Bruce created after attending a Jimi Hendrix concert. Originally, the band tried a typical rock backbeat behind it, but they felt it was missing something. That’s when it was suggested Baker try a more tribal approach on drums, putting the emphasis on what’s normally the downbeat in most songs. Suddenly, the song clicked.
Clapton came through with the chorus refrain, as well as the fluid solo that was meant to mimic the classic rock and roll song “Blue Moon.” The last piece were the lyrics, which came from Pete Brown. As the band put the song together, he looked out the window to see a rising sun, which led to the opening line: It’s getting near dawn. Bruce and Clapton traded off on the lead vocals to add a little something extra to the proceedings.
Cream knew it was onto something special when they completed the track, and it wasn’t very long before the public heard it and agreed. After their first album had been mostly a British sensation, “Sunshine of Your Love” turned the band into stateside stars as well, as the song hit No. 5 on the U.S. pop charts.
The Meaning Behind “Sunshine of Your Love”
Pete Brown’s lyrics for “Sunshine of Your Love” do a wonderful job of comparing the phenomenon of the sunrise with the glow bestowed by a special relationship. In fact, it’s hard to say if the narrator is even cognizant of the time of day, or if he’s basing his internal clock on whether he’s with his lover or not: I’m with you my love / The light’s shining through on you.
In any case, the dawn signals a reunion for the pair after some time apart: I’ll be with you darling soon / I’ll be with you when the stars start falling. When the chorus comes around and Baker’s beat shifts from its resolute march to a disjointed, anticipatory rumble, Clapton and Bruce combine on the refrain: I’ve been waiting so long / To be where I’m going / In the sunshine of your love.
Oddly enough, for all the rancor between Baker and Bruce, it was actually Clapton who sounded the death knell on Cream in 1969 when he decided that the psychedelic rock they were playing had reached a bit of a dead end. Or maybe he realized that having done “Sunshine of Your Love” and Disraeli Gears, the band had pretty much mastered the form.
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