White Room

Pete Brown's first idea for the song was a hippie girl and a title, Cinderella's Last Goodnight, which did not work. He turned instead to an eight-page poem about moving into a new apartment with white walls and bare furnishings, and cut it down to a few verses. Bruce wrote the music and sings it.

Recording began in London in July 1967 at the first sessions for the album, continued at Atlantic Studios in New York in October and December, and finished in February, April and June 1968. Bruce plays bass, Clapton overdubbed guitar through a wah-wah pedal for a talking effect, Baker plays drums and timpani, and Felix Pappalardi added viola. The chord progression is largely the same as that of Tales of Brave Ulysses. Bruce later said the opening in five-four time made the record company wary about its chances.

A shorter US single edit without the third verse was released in September 1968, and the British single in January 1969 used the full album version. Billboard called it a solid, driving rocker. Rolling Stone ranked it number 376 on its list of the 500 greatest songs. A live recording is on Live Cream Volume II (1972). Clapton opened his Live Aid set in 1985 with it, playing with Phil Collins, and Cream played it at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005. Covers include versions by Joel Grey, Apocalyptica, Helloween and, in 2021, Deep Purple.