Eric Clapton and Lenny Kravitz – All Along the Watchtower

ByEditor

Eric Clapton and Lenny Kravitz – All Along the Watchtower – Live at the White House, 1999.

Eric Clapton was not trying to copy Jimi Hendrix. He was honoring Hendrix by putting his own interpretation of the song. It’s a mistake to draw a comparison between them. Both are exceptional talents, but completely different.

Great drumming by Cindy Blackman Santana (wife of Carlos, I believe). Clapton’s interpretation, while different from Jimi’s, is great and Lenny Kravitz has earned my respect for echoing both Hendrix and Dylan (the composer of this song) at the same time.

Lyrics:
There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief

Business men, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody offered his word
Hey, hey

No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin’ falsely now
The hour’s getting late, hey

Hey

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Well, uh, outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl, hey

All along the watchtower
All along the watchtower