Eric Clapton - Turn Up Down -1980- - Unreleased... Online

“I climbed the mountain just to fall back down, You wore the cross so you could wear the crown. I’ve got a Les Paul and a broken frown, You’ve got a ticket to the other side of town.”

Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. The drums cut. The bass dropped out. Only Clapton remained, his guitar now feeding back a single, high, lonely harmonic. Eric Clapton - Turn Up Down -1980- - Unreleased...

A click. The tape ran silent for three seconds. Then, the sound of a glass being set down heavily on a wooden table. A long, slow exhale. “I climbed the mountain just to fall back

She rewound the tape, popped it out of the player, and placed it back in its box. She marked the folder: Do Not Digitize. Archival Only. The bass dropped out

"Turn Up" was the Clapton of the stage, the guitar god, the blues purist who could still summon the fire of John Mayall. "Turn Down" was the recluse in his Surrey mansion, drowning in the silence, wondering if the music had ever meant anything at all.

The lyrics were a mess of bitterness and resignation. It was 1980. The year Another Ticket was released—polished, professional, a little tired. This was the opposite. This was the sound of a man who had just turned forty, clean from heroin for a year, staring at the wreckage of his own choices. The song wasn't about a lover. It was about the two versions of himself.