COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE: More than words: The dark side of the 'White Room

Have you ever loved a song to the point of ridiculousness but no matter how hard you try, you just can’t understand the lyrics? What was the artist thinking when writing your favorite tune? More Than Words, a weekly column, will help to delve a little deeper…

White Room - Cream (Wheels of Fire – 1968)

There has been much speculation about the meaning behind one ofCream’s most popular songs. Given the era – Vietnam, sex, drugs and of course, rock n’roll – fans have been left in the ‘dark’ when it comes to “White Room”.

The song, which was released in 1968 on the album Wheels of Fire, was written by Jack Bruceand poet, Pete Brown. Given the first two lines of the song; “In the white room with black curtains near the station. Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings,” it has been said that “White Room” is about a young man, waiting for the train to take him to meet his battalion before heading overseas to Vietnam.

However, popular theory aside, Pete Brown himself was quoted as saying, “It was a miracle it worked, considering it was me writing a monologue about a new flat.”

Read on...