Good musicians know how to put their feelings into their songs. Anyone can make up silly words and pretend to mean them when they play, but the best songs come from real emotions—like capturing how you feel right then and turning it into music with a guitar. Rock and roll has rules about how wild it can get, and Eric Clapton thought some of his songs might have been too strong for most people to hear on the radio.
But Eric was the kind of guy who poured all his heart into his performances. When you watch him play during his best years, you can see him giving everything to the song. He’d take his sadness or anger and turn it into incredible blues guitar sounds that amazed everyone.
He wasn’t afraid to share his deepest feelings in his music either. When he started a band called Derek and the Dominoes, it was a secret way to tell Patti Boyd he loved her. Songs like “Layla” and “Bell Bottom Blues” are full of his heartache—you can hear it in every note he plays.
Still, singing about love is one thing, but singing about losing someone is much harder. Blues music is all about getting through tough times, but when Eric’s son Connor died in a terrible accident, it was too big to fix with just a song. He made an album called Pilgrim to help him deal with his pain.
Pilgrim isn’t just a bunch of songs like “Tears in Heaven,” which he wrote for Connor earlier. Instead, it’s about his feelings for other family members too. For example, “My Father’s Eyes” is a song that anyone who’s ever missed someone in their family can understand.
Eric said the first version of “My Father’s Eyes” was too mad and sounded whiny. He explained, “The lyrics were too angry and childish.” He didn’t want it to just be him complaining. He worked hard to change it into something people could feel with him, not just a grumpy song that wouldn’t connect with anyone.
Back when Eric started, his songs were simpler. Rewriting “My Father’s Eyes” was a big deal for him. Most people only get one chance to share their feelings like this. Eric had been listening to bands like The Band, who wrote deep songs, so he knew he had to make this one special to show what he really meant.
Anyone can write a song about being hurt or mad, but it’s better when it has meaning. In “My Father’s Eyes,” you don’t just hear Eric juggling his feelings. You hear a man who grew up without a dad, trying to find some calm and happiness now that he’s older.
