Song of the day
Friday, March 14th, 2008I heard this song in the supermarket yesterday and I’m thinking that I’d love to do a version of it:
I think B played it to me in his flat the last time I was there; and I remarked that I vaguely knew - and liked - the tune, but had no idea it was by Clapton. Obviously it’s pretty clear on listening that it’s Clapton’s voice… But I guess it’s just one of those songs I’ve heard in the background, on the radio, and never paid any attention to.
‘Change The World’ won the Grammy for Record Of The Year in 1997, and it’s got such a lovely feel to it - not just in its gentle funk, but also in its sometimes bluesy, Paul Simon-esque chords (which, brilliantly, I’ve just found in BIAB format 
). The lyrics are pretty sweet, too:
“If I could reach the stars, I’d pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart so you could see the truth
That this love I have inside is everything it seems
But for now I find it’s only in my dreams
That I can change the world…”
In fact, I just Googled “eric clapton change the world lyrics” and clicked on a link to a lyrics site, where the words to the song are in the middle of the screen, and Google ads run down the right-hand side. One of the ads reads:
Want to change the world?
Your career in Jewish communal service begins at HUC-JIR
Do you suppose people really Google “change the world” because they want to actually change the world? Perhaps they do. Perhaps Googling “change the world” is up there with Googling any of the following:
“meaning of life”
“does god exist?”
“commiting murder”
- and other such small matters.
All I wanted was the lyrics to a song.
Which leads me to think that there must be all kinds of sites you could be misdirected to on Googling a song title. For example:
‘Take The A Train’ - Looking for New York subway timetables?
‘Fever’ - Get a diagnosis from a real doctor online now!
‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’ - Five-day weather forecasts for your area
- and that’s just touching the surface of the jazz canon. Ooh, this could be fun… More suggestions, please!
