The song also featured Eric Clapton's first use of the wah wah pedal (released a day before Hendrix's first wah wah single, "Burning of the Midnight Lamp"). This is one of the first recorded uses of the wah-wah pedal in rock music.
Tales of Brave Ulysses
Cream Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer
To the violence of the sun
And the colors of the sea
Blind your eyes with trembling mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches
With tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing
For the sparkling waves are calling you
To touch their white laced lips
And you see a girl?s brown body
Dancing through the turquoise
And her footprints make you follow
Where the sky loves the sea
And when your fingers find her
She drowns you in her body
Carving deep blue ripples
In the tissues of your mind
The tiny purple fishes
Run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you
To the hard land of the winter
Her name is Aphrodite
And she rides a crimson shell
You know you cannot leave her
For you touched the distant sands
With tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing
Yeah
The tiny purple fishes
Run laughing through your fingers
You want to take her with you
To the hard land of the winter
The opening line of “Tales of Brave Ulysses” by Cream sets the tone for a psychedelic journey through the metaphorical images of sea voyages and making love to mermaids. Directed towards an individual who had thought the “leaden winter” would bring them down forever, the song emphasizes the power of visualizing the world with positive and vibrant colors, achieving a greater sense of freedom and spiritual awakening. This is further illustrated by the presence of a goddess-like figure, who is both a source of desire and an inspiration for adventure. As the song progresses, we see the singer, consumed by desire for this mysterious brown-skinned girl or Aphrodite riding on a crimson shell, relinquish himself to the alluring power of nature and forget the constraints of the material world.
The lyrics of "Tales of Brave Ulysses" are filled with metaphorical imagery and allusions to Greek mythology, the singer's journey mirroring that of Homer's hero Ulysses in the Odyssey. The song also evokes a sense of nostalgia for a free-spirited lifestyle, where the beauty of the natural world can inspire and uplift the human spirit. The use of the color blue, both in the water and sky, suggest the vastness of the universe and the infinite possibilities that exist beyond the human realm.
Line by Line Meaning
You thought the leaden winter
You believed that the gloomy winter season
Would bring you down forever
Would lead to your downfall perpetually
But you rode upon a steamer
Yet, you navigated the sea on a boat
To the violence of the sun
Towards the intensity of the sunlight
And the colors of the sea
The shades of blue and green of the ocean
Blind your eyes with trembling mermaids
Causing you to shut your eyes from shaking sirens
And you touch the distant beaches
You explore far-off coasts
With tales of brave Ulysses
Narrating the courageous account of Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
How his undressed ears suffered greatly
By the sirens sweetly singing
Due to the harmonious songs of the sirens
For the sparkling waves are calling you
Since the waves that sparkle beckon you
To touch their white laced lips
To caress their smooth, frothy crests
And you see a girl?s brown body
You perceive a woman with tanned flesh
Dancing through the turquoise
Gracefully moving in the blue-green waters
And her footprints make you follow
Her tracks provoke you to trail after her
Where the sky loves the sea
To where the blue heavens meet the water
And when your fingers find her
And once you finally catch her
She drowns you in her body
Her physique engulfs you completely
Carving deep blue ripples
Forming indigo waves
In the tissues of your mind
In the fibers of your very being
The tiny purple fishes
The diminutive violet fish
Run laughing through your fingers
Flit gleefully past your grasp
And you want to take her with you
You yearn to bring her alongside you
To the hard land of the winter
To the unforgiving wintry terrain
Her name is Aphrodite
Her given title is Aphrodite
And she rides a crimson shell
And she travels upon a red seashell
You know you cannot leave her
You are convinced that you cannot forgo her
For you touched the distant sands
For you reached out to the faraway beaches
With tales of brave Ulysses
Having recounted the story of the dauntless Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured
How his bare ears faced agony
By the sirens sweetly singing
From the mellifluous melodies of the sirens
Yeah
Indeed
The tiny purple fishes
The minuscule violet fish
Run laughing through your fingers
Dart playfully among your digits
You want to take her with you
You desire to take her along
To the hard land of the winter
To the frozen, harsh land of winter
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eric Patrick Clapton, Martin Sharp
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@aprendizdebrujo100
For me, the best song of Cream. I'm sorry for Sunshine of your Love. Tales of Brave Ulysses is the perfect combination between great music, and Deep psychedelic poetry.
@lucapasseroni6371
much better than sunshine !
@alexiadylon6142
Great song, but I love We're Going Wrong, such brilliance.
@Anthus.
Gustavo De la Camara Montes I couldn't agree more. This is the best song Cream ever did. For me it's because it never got the radio play that songs like "White Room" or "Sunshine of Your Love" got through the years so I'm not burned out on it. Plus it is truly a kick ass song.
@GeoffEustice
1rst Heavy Metal Song....IMO...The greatest band ever...
@tigerarmyrule
Tales of Brave Ulysses is the perfect 3 minute rock song. The guitar is gorgeous, the song is perfect.
@matthewburgar2626
The lyrics are just so darn clever. Super trippy and so psychedelic.
@jeffparsons3188
Pete Brown I believe
@patrickhorvath2684
@@jeffparsons3188
Homer too.
Excerpts from "The Oddesey"
@LindaMerchant-bq2hp
Greek mythology meets 60s psychedelic