"SWLABR" is a song recorded by the British rock band Cream in 1967. It first appeared on the album Disraeli Gears (1967). Later, the song was the B-side to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" single.[a]
The poet Pete Brown wrote the words and Cream's bassist Jack Bruce wrote the music. Bruce sings and plays bass guitar, with Eric Clapton on guitars and Ginger Baker on drums. The title is an initialism for "She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow".[2] Bruce later said the W stood for "was" rather than "walks".[3][4]
According to Brown's obituary in The Times, it was about a jilted lover "defacing pictures of his girlfriend, like painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa".[5]
^ abAlthough several music writers, including Bobby Owsinski, Riley Haas, Chris Welch and Bob Leszczak, note a release in January 1968 or in that year, the single entered the Cash BoxLooking Ahead chart on 30 December 1967. This precludes the possibility of its release the following month.[1]
Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography. New York, United States: Broadway Books. pp. g. 74. ISBN978-0-385-51851-2.
Hjort, Christopher (2007). Strange Brew: Eric Clapton & the British Blues Boom, 1965–1970. London, UK: Jawbone Press. pp. g. 29. ISBN978-1-906002-00-8.
Ertegün, Ahmet (2006). Classic Albums: Cream – Disraeli Gears (DVD). Eagle Rock Entertainment.
