Badge

Ever wonder why this song is called Badge? Hell, for the longest time I could never find this song on a Cream album, because, who the hell would look for a song called Badge? According to Songfacts.com the title has nothing to do with the song. Eric Clapton saw George Harrison's notes for this song, and misread "Bridge" as "Badge." He thought that is what Harrison named the song, so they used it for the title.

And if the title were not strange enough, what about the lyrics?

Thinkin' 'bout the times you drove in my car.
Thinkin' that I might have drove you too far.
And I'm thinkin' 'bout the love that you laid on my table.
I told you not to wander 'round in the dark.
I told you 'bout the swans, that they live in the park.
Then I told you 'bout our kid: now he's married to Mabel.
Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down.
Don't you notice how the wheel goes 'round?
And you better pick yourself up from the ground
Before they bring the curtain down.
Yes, before they bring the curtain down.

Ah Ah Ah, yeh yeh yeh
Ah Ah Ah, yeh yeh yeh
Talkin' 'bout a girl that looks quite like you.
She didn't have the time to wait in the queue.
She cried away her life since she fell out the cradle

Clapton has said when Badge was released the British press began dissecting its meaning, going so far as to suggest that it was a brilliant piece of political satire, and allowing that a certain government scandal of the day was referenced by "the swans that... live in the park." Clapton, Harrison and Ringo thought this all very amusing as Clapton remembered someone simply writing down the gibberish emanating from Ringo's mouth one night when they were all loaded. Harrison and Clapton were picking out random tunes, began riffing off each other, and Ringo started a drunken rap.

Regardless, it's a hell of a great song.