This song’s lyrics were not written by Cream, but by a guy named Martin Sharp. Clapton matched it to the music from a song he was already working on.
The lyrics refer to Ulysses, whose real name was Odysseus, in the original Greek stories. He’s famous mainly because classical Greek writer Homer wro...
[Intro]
You thought the leaden winter
Would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer
To the violence of the sun
[Verse 1]
And the colours of the sea
Bind 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 kiss their white laced lips
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
Tiny purple fishes
Run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you
To the hard land of the winter
[Verse 3]
Her name is Aphrodite
And she rides a crimson shell
And 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
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Tiny purple fishes
Run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you
To the hard land of the winter
[Instrumental Outro]
[Guitar Solo]
Tales of Brave Ulysses was written by Eric Clapton & Martin Sharp.
Tales of Brave Ulysses was produced by Felix Pappalardi.
Cream released Tales of Brave Ulysses on Mon Jun 05 1967.