Every Mother's Son Lyrics
Tomorrow is my friend, my one and only friend
We travel on together searching for the end
Although I'm getting tired I've got to travel on
Can you please help, my god? Can you please help, my god?
Can you please help, my god? I think it's only fair
Together we will go and see what waits for us
A backdoor to the universe that opens doors
Seems like someone who has gone through the ringer of life reaching out for spiritual guidance of a higher order. Powerful vocals and spacey keyboards set a kind of ethereal tone for what has always been one of my favorite Traffic songs from their best album, JBMD. KInd of surprised no other comments on this.
Simply one of the greatest rock songs ever written. I don't know what it's about; weariness of constant travel and hard work, I guess (Winwood had been working his ass off for years recording and touring with Spencer Davis, Traffic (first incarnation), and Blind Faith when he recorded this). JBMD was originally intended to be a Winwood solo album and instead became a Traffic reunion (Winwood, Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi) reunion album. Winwood played most of the instruments and did most of the vocals, with the other two doing some vocals, Wood playing flute and sax (and occasional keyboards) and Capaldi playing drums. But on this song alone, Winwood played the brooding Hammond B3 (one of the greatest Hammond solos on a rock record), the plangent lead guitar, the bass, and the piano, as well as doing the vocals. Just an incredible song from an incredible album by an incredible group. In Winwood's frequent present-day (2010: the two just collaborated on the third Crossroads Blues Festival in the past four years in the suburbs of Chicago) collaborations with Eric Clapton, Clapton is recognized as the superstar- and I don't disagree that Clapton is one of the greatest blues and rock guitarists who ever lived- but Winwood, the keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist, with the bluesiest white man's voice this side of Eric Burdon, and composer/arranger, is the greater all-around musician.
This song is brilliant; the brooding Hammond organ, the piercing guitar lead (both played by Winwood, who also played piano and bass on the track and did the vocal). Capaldi contributed by playing the drums and (probably) writing the lyrics, but the rest is all Winwood.