The classic 1967 album "Disraeli Gears" by the British rock band Cream featured "Tales of Brave Ulysses", a true psychedelic masterpiece. Based on Homer's Odyssey, the lyric and arrangement combine to form an incredible and original song.  The Disraeli Gears cover art was created by Martin Sharp, who wrote the "Tales of Brave Ulysses" lyrics.  



                                                      

Song Lyrics  

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever,
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun.

And the colors of the sea blind 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-lace lips.

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.

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers,
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter.

Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell,
And you know you cannot leave her for you touched the distant sands
With the tales of brave Ulysses: how his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing.

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers,
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter.

From Wikipedia

The lyrics were written by artist Martin Sharp, and the music was composed by Eric Clapton. Arranged by Robert Stigwood, the song is featured on Cream's album Disraeli Gears. Sharp had written the words on the back of a beer mat, which he gave to Clapton after a chance meeting. These lyrics were put to a melody inspired by Judy Collins' version of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and chords inspired by The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City". The music originated from bassist Jack Bruce's ability to match his vocals to the meter of the song to a riff, adding it with his vocals to what had previously been a poem but was then expanded by Clapton into a song.[1] The song is credited on the single to P. Brown, J. Bruce, and E. Clapton.[2] The day before writing the song, Clapton discovered the wah-wah pedal, which augmented the song.



Some live versions worth a listen


Live at the BBC version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tT1gVjDWos&index=1&list=FLR10m-ogDzQ2MrhyT5C3y1Q   

Great Live recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwJkY1KC9eM&index=3&list=FLR10m-ogDzQ2MrhyT5C3y1Q

Several updated variations of this line taken from a Carl Sandburg poem were popular in the 1960s but the most common was "Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?"

Typically framed as a way to express opposition to the Vietnam War this phrase was used as a slogan on posters and patches that were sold in Hippie shops in the late Sixties.

In October 1966 Charlotte E. Keyes wrote an article for McCall's titled "Suppose They Gave a War and No One Came" which helped to further popularize this phrase and in 1970 it was used as the title for a movie making it more ubiquitous than ever. 

Like much of the Sixties, this once-popular slogan has become somewhat of a relic of the past and we were excited to find one of these patches as part of a recent acquisition of Vietnam-Era Protest Patches and memorabilia.

We'll be making some of the pieces from this collection available for purchase very soon.

Some other Hippie Protest Pins are available for purchase via my eBay store.