1985 · Behind the Songs
The eighties hit that put Slowhand back where he belongs.
By the mid-1980s, Eric Clapton was a legend in need of a hit. The laid-back triumphs of the 1970s were behind him, and rock radio had moved on to bigger hair and bigger drums. “Forever Man,” from Behind the Sun (1985), was his answer: a driving, radio-ready rocker that returned him to the airwaves.
Written by Jerry Lynn Williams, the song is built for momentum — a chugging riff, a soaring chorus, and Clapton’s guitar cutting through with renewed bite. Behind the Sun was cut with an all-star cast of producers, including Phil Collins and Ted Templeman, and “Forever Man” was its standout: polished but not soft, commercial but not compromised.
The single became a genuine hit, giving Clapton his biggest rock radio success in years and proving that Slowhand could thrive in the MTV era without abandoning his identity. It set up the late-1980s run — August (1986), the Crossroads box set (1988) — that carried him into his second act as a beloved elder statesman.
“Forever Man” endures as the sound of a survivor adapting: the bluesman learning the language of the eighties and speaking it fluently.
What to listen for: the drive. Notice how the song pushes forward from the first bar, and how Clapton’s guitar — sharper and more aggressive than on his 1970s records — rides the groove. Listen for the eighties sheen in the production, and for the way Clapton makes it his own without losing the blues underneath.