Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.
I’m more of a fan of Clapton’s work with Cream and Derek & The Dominos. But that doesn’t take anything away from “Wonderful Tonight”. It belongs in the upper echelon of rock classics. It’s revered. It’s adored. It’s so well-known that maybe we take for granted what makes it so great in the first place. Maybe we’ve forgotten.
At a high school talent show my senior year, I was getting ready to perform a rendition of Depeche Mode’s “Somebody”. My friend provided a female take on lead vocals, and I was on piano. Before we went on, I normally would’ve been absolutely nervous and sweating bullets. But a trio before us was performing “Wonderful Tonight” and I was immediately sucked into the performance and my mind was put at ease. It seems so simple, but this is the wonderful power of “Wonderful Tonight”. How many songs do you know can do that? Clapton wrote an exceptionally simple song that draws you in and creates a moment in time for you, every single time you listen to it.
“And then I tell her, as I turn out the light, I say, ‘My darling, you are wonderful tonight’.”