Eric Clapton Quotes & Sayings

When you're onstage with an electric band going through a massive P.A. system, it's very artificial. You can't really hear your own voice as it comes out of your mouth. — Eric Clapton

Our love will rule in this kingdom we have made. — Eric Clapton

Leave bands, go back to obscurity if I choose to, without a great sense of loss of security because it's all been based on the fact that I did it on my own or was doing, enjoying doing it on my own in the first place. — Eric Clapton

I never set myself too high a goal. It was always tone and feeling, for me. — Eric Clapton

I don't have half the nerves there that I have anywhere else. — Eric Clapton

I couldn't believe how good Jimi Hendrix was It was a really difficult thing for me to deal with, but I just had to surrender and say, 'This is fantastic.' — Eric Clapton

When I was in Nashville, Tennessee in 1970 with Derek and the Dominoes, I went into this shop and they had a rack of Strats and Teles - all going for $100.00 each. I bought a handfull and made Blackie out of the body from one, the neck from another, and so on — Eric Clapton

There's a desire in me to express something - to match what I hear in my head. — Eric Clapton

Lately I've been running on faith. — Eric Clapton

Watching him, I understood for the first time how you could really live music, how you could listen to it completely and make it come alive, so that it was part of your life. — Eric Clapton

In my lowest moments, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink any more if I was dead. — Eric Clapton

My definition of Blues is that it's a musical form which is very disciplined and structured coupled with a state of mind, and you can have either of those things but it's the two together that make it what it is. And you need to be a student for one, and a human being for the other, but those things alone don't do it. — Eric Clapton

It's very dependent on your state of mind. And your emotional state as well. And a lot of it comes pouring out, you don't really have that much control with it. — Eric Clapton

The only planning I do is about a minute before I play. I desperately try to think of something that will be effective, but I never sit down and work it out note for note. — Eric Clapton

I've got the god given talent or the god given opportunity better put, to let that out in a harmless way you know, and I don't know what it does to you, I don't really know. — Eric Clapton

The music scene as I look at it today is a little different from when I was growing up. The percentages are roughly the same - 95 percent rubbish, 5 percent pure. — Eric Clapton

It's been very important throughout my career that I've met all the guys I've copied, because at each stage they've said, 'Don't play like me, play like you.' — Eric Clapton

The toughest thing about being a celebrity, I suppose, is being polite when I don't want to be. — Eric Clapton

Risk is trying to control something you are powerless over. — Eric Clapton

Although they can do it all the time, you know, they're far better than me, on a musically, on a theoretical music level. You know, they're out of my league. — Eric Clapton

I've always wanted the sound of Muddy Waters' early records - only louder — Eric Clapton

I mean, it didn't matter to me that there were people, it didn't matter that I was shy Just the sound was so captivating that it helped me to get rid of those inhibitions. — Eric Clapton

For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall. — Eric Clapton

I can't play long solos anymore without boring myself. — Eric Clapton

Yeah, it is, because it's a real discovery of your inner resources, you know. That's what my character is all about and what my playing is all about. But to get up there and just go inside and draw out something that makes you feel good first and foremost. — Eric Clapton

I tried when I was 13, when my grandparents gave me an acoustic guitar, and I tried for a year. It hurt so much to play. I mean, the fingertips hurt so much, I gave up. — Eric Clapton

I wish I could write easily. I'm one of those guys who's visited by the muse when things are dire. — Eric Clapton

Music survives everything, and like God, it is always present. It needs no help, and suffers no hindrance. — Eric Clapton

I remember hearing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and not really knowing anything about the geography or the culture of the music. But for some reason it did something to me - it resonated. — Eric Clapton

You were at school and you were pimply and no one wanted to know you. You get into a group and you've got thousands of chicks there. — Eric Clapton

Oh yeah, I mean, it wasn't a very good guitar, most good guitars have got thrust rods in the necks that you can adjust or that'll keep them in shape, you know keep them straight. This one just, well it turned into a bow and arrow after a couple of months. — Eric Clapton

My identity shifted when I got into # recovery . That's who I am now, and it actually gives me greater pleasure to have that identity than to be a musician or anything else, because it keeps me in a manageable size. When I'm down on the ground with my disease-which I'm happy to have-it gets me in tune. It gives me a spiritual anchor. Don't ask me to explain. — Eric Clapton

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven
Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven
I'll find my way, through night and day
Cause I know I just can't stay
Here in heaven — Eric Clapton

Loose ladies on the road will drive you crazy, every no, becomes a maybe. — Eric Clapton

I often enjoy singing in an acoustic setting more than an amplified one. — Eric Clapton

I feel wonderful because I see the love light in your eyes, and the wonder of it all is you just don't realize how much I love you. — Eric Clapton

An obsession is where something will not leave your mind. — Eric Clapton

'My Father's Eyes' is very personal. I realized that the closest I ever came to looking in my father's eyes was when I looked into my son's eyes. — Eric Clapton

It sounds strange for me to be saying this, but I've come around to the idea that sex really is for procreation. — Eric Clapton

The first one was quite cheap, but that was expensive for us. For my folks to buy on the Never Never. It was quite, you know, a rare object to have and I gained quite a lot of status by having this. — Eric Clapton

Yeah, I wanted to know where they got it from, what it was all about, you know, and it seemed to strike something in me that was you know rearing it's head and I still don't know what that is. — Eric Clapton

They found our hero in the gutter with a diamond ring and a gun. — Eric Clapton

Only ask and you will get what you are needing, the rest is up to you. — Eric Clapton

From the beginning, I knew intuitively that if nothing else, music was safe, and that nobody could tell me anything about it. Music didn't need a middleman, whereas all the other things in school needed some kind of explanation. — Eric Clapton

Whatever your standing in life, the most important thing is behaving in ways that help other people. It's the same with music. I am a servant of the music ... and if I get caught up in ego, I'll lose everything .. it'll burn and that's a guarantee ... — Eric Clapton

It is painful to relive things that have caused emotional crises or whatever and find ways to express that musically. — Eric Clapton

When all the original blues guys are gone, you start to realize that someone has to tend to the tradition. I recognize that I have some responsibility to keep the music alive, and it's a pretty honorable position to be in. — Eric Clapton

A British pressing with a compilation of the best stuff really, I mean actually not only that but, these were all kind of semi hits for the people on it in America. — Eric Clapton

I am and always will be a blues guitarist — Eric Clapton

It's taken me to be an older guy, an old man, to have an old man's voice. Because I only liked old men's voices. As a kid, I didn't like pip-squeaked singers. — Eric Clapton

I always respected that B.B. sees music in a very open, free way. — Eric Clapton

When I look for what I'm going to listen to I go backwards. I'm always going the other way you see. Most people are trying to figure out 'how do I get in the fast lane going that way?'. I'm going in the other direction. I wanna find the oldest thing to do. — Eric Clapton

The thing about pessimism is that in most cases it's nothing more than a front behind which a body can hide its most sweetful yet painful hopes. please forgive mine. — Eric Clapton

I'd love to knock an audience cold with one note, but what do you do for the rest of the evening? — Eric Clapton

But the guitar, when you think about it, is the most versatile, really. I mean you can pick it up and take it with you wherever you go. — Eric Clapton

For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality had always proven to be music. — Eric Clapton

The point of being at home is to be with my family as much as possible. — Eric Clapton

Yeah, and I went straight into a fantasy world. Just stepped straight into the abyss. You know, I was gone and kids used to walk past my front room, cause I lived on the green. — Eric Clapton

All I am certain of right now is that I don't want to go anywhere, and that's not bad for someone who always used to run. — Eric Clapton

[ Unplugged ] was also the cheapest to produce and required the least amount of preparation and work. But if you want to know what it actually cost me, go to Ripley and visit the grave of my son. — Eric Clapton

I have always been resistant to doctrine, and any spirituality I had experienced thus far in my life had been much more abstract and not aligned with any recognized religion. For me, the most trustworthy vehicle for spirituality had always proven to be music. It cannot be manipulated, or politicized, and when it is, that becomes immediately obvious. — Eric Clapton

The blues are what I've turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life. — Eric Clapton

I don't know if I believe in luck. I think I'm very fortunate. — Eric Clapton

This moment in time, on this tour, you know, I'm discovering a lot of new things. And to be 45 and doing that, it's a mixture of pleasure and pain, I can assure you. — Eric Clapton

Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it's the last time. — Eric Clapton

In terms of scale or stature, I believe that if Robert Johnson was reincarnated, he is probably BB King. Maybe it would be worth investigating the appropriate dates to see if this is even a remote possibility. — Eric Clapton

I have no problem with religion, and I grew up with a strong curiosity about spiritual matters, but my searching took me away from church and community worship to the internal journey. Before my recovery began, I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. — Eric Clapton

Music will always find its way to us, with or without business, politics, religion, or any other bullshit attached. — Eric Clapton

Early in my childhood, when I was about six or seven, I began to get the feeling that there was something different about me. — Eric Clapton

I know there will be no more tears in heaven. — Eric Clapton

All along this path I tread, my heart betrays my weary head, with nothing but my love to save, from the cradle to the grave ... — Eric Clapton

At first the music almost repelled me, it was so intense, and this man made no attempt to sugarcoat what he was trying to say, or play. It was hard-core, more than anything I had ever heard. After a few listenings I realized that, on some level, I had found the master, and that following this man's example would be my life's work. — Eric Clapton

My dedication to my music has driven everyone away. I've had girlfriends, but I always end up on my own. I don't particularly like it, but I don't see a way 'round it. — Eric Clapton

I like solitude. I like the anomalous life. I like a quiet life. — Eric Clapton

I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him. — Eric Clapton

So there I was in Hollywood, thinking I was doing good. — Eric Clapton

I grew up playing in clubs - that's my spiritual stomping ground. — Eric Clapton

Plant your love and let it grow. — Eric Clapton

I mean, the sound of an amplified guitar in a room full of people was so hypnotic and addictive to me, that I could cross any kind of border to get on there. — Eric Clapton

I admire Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather, but they might blow me away quite easily if we were to jam together. — Eric Clapton

I feel a real need to observe a level of propriety in what I'm handing out. Instead of me just venting or spilling my guts, I've got to consider how it's going to affect people. How it's going to affect me, as well. Because it's like a cycle. — Eric Clapton

In playing, I suppose my greatest gift was to express the way I felt or the willingness to express myself. — Eric Clapton

And I don't like having my picture taken. I'm almost like an old African in that sense. I think it steals a bit of the soul. — Eric Clapton

Very much like that, and very much a loner, do you know and I didn't fit really into sport or all kind of group activities as a kid, I couldn't find a niche. And music was not really part of the kind of village curriculum it would, you know. — Eric Clapton

If you hand me a guitar, I'll play the blues. That's the place I automatically go. — Eric Clapton

It was a mystery to me, how the tuning was, or the style seemed to come out of nowhere, it obviously had roots in America going way back, there was nothing like it for me I'd ever seen before. — Eric Clapton

I used to do crazy things that people would bail me out of, and I'm just grateful that I survived. But the music got very lost; I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. I was more into just having a good time, and I think it showed. — Eric Clapton

There are people these days who can do things on the guitar which are beyond my reach. There's one guy who plays with Queen who can do things I would dream of doing. I sincerely mean that. — Eric Clapton

I just managed to convince my grandmother that it was a worth while that was something to do, you know, and when I did finally get the guitar, it didn't seem that difficult to me, to be able to make a good noise out of it. — Eric Clapton

My driving philosophy about making music is that you can reduce it all down to one note if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity. — Eric Clapton

Music became a healer for me. — Eric Clapton

Given the choice between accomplishing something and just lying around, I'd rather lie around. No contest. — Eric Clapton

The Yardbirds came in to the Crawdaddy Club a week after the Stones finished their Sunday night residency. They had done it for almost a year, I think, and then we did it for a year. It was better when they were playing there because when they went they took half the crowd with them and it took us quite a while to build up our own following. — Eric Clapton

I listened to King Oliver and I listened to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp ... I listened to everything I could that came from that place that they call the blues but, in formality, isn't necessarily the blues. — Eric Clapton

They looked great, you know the drawings of the guys playing looked great and bits of string around their necks. So it didn't seem to be that difficult a thing to do, or that inaccessible. — Eric Clapton

I remember when I thought of singing as the bit that went between the guitar playing - something I couldn't wait to get out of the way. Singing was originally like a chore that I didn't really enjoy. — Eric Clapton

Having lovers and friends is all good and fine But I don't like yours and you don't like mine. — Eric Clapton

My original interests and intentions in guitar playing were primarily created on quality of tone, for instance, the way the instrument could be made to echo or simulate the human voice. — Eric Clapton

Give me a guitar and I'll play; give me a stage and I'll perform; give me an auditorium and I'll fill it. — Eric Clapton

Like a fool, I fell in love with you, Turned my whole world upside down — Eric Clapton