“Anyone for Tennis” is a song by the British rock band Cream. The song was written by Eric Clapton and Martin Sharp and was released as a single in 1968. The song was written for the movie The Savage Seven and was Clapton’s second collaaboration with Sharp.
The song was recorded during the sessions for Cream’s third album, Wheels of Fire but released on the movie’s soundtrack instead. The single was backed with “Pressed Rat and Warthog”, it reached number 64 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in May 1968 and number 40 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1968.
Billboard described the single as an “unusual piece of folk-rock material with a clever dance arrangement.” Record World said that “Cream tell an intriguing fable in these grooves” and that its rhythms “have the sell sound.” Cash Box said that “surrealistic pictures are flashed one-after-another in a kaleidoscopic vision of today’s problems” and that the song “has a shock and near-protest appeal.”
Cream mimed the song during their promotional appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in May 1968 with a video middle section in which the band carry tennis rackets. The song is a satirical description of the world of the late 1960’s. The monk burning at the zoo is obviously a reference to the Buddhist monks who set themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam war.
Yellow Buddhist monk is burning brightly at the zoo
You can bring a bowl of rice and then a glass of water, too
Thích Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk, made a profound impact on history through his self-immolation protest on June 11, 1963, in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In a dramatic act of protest against the discriminatory policies of the South Vietnamese government, particularly those affecting Buddhists, Thích Quang Duc calmly seated himself in the lotus position at a busy intersection, doused himself in gasoline, and set himself ablaze.
The striking images captured by journalists and photographers present at the scene depicted his serene composure amidst the flames, turning his act into a powerful symbol of resistance and drawing global attention to the challenges faced by Buddhists in Vietnam. Thích Quang Duc’s sacrifice became an iconic moment in the struggle for religious freedom and human rights, contributing to increased awareness and sympathy for the Buddhist cause during a turbulent period in Vietnam’s history.
Personnel
- Eric Clapton – lead vocal, acoustic guitar, slide guitar
- Jack Bruce – bass guitar, recorder
- Ginger Baker – drums, percussion
- Felix Pappalardi – viola
And the Bentley-driving guru is putting up his price
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
“The Bentley Driving Guru” is Osho, who was also known as the Bhagwan Sree Rajneesh. Born on December 11, 1931, in central India, Osho attracted followers worldwide with his teachings on spirituality, meditation, and the integration of Eastern and Western philosophies. He was the popular leader of an idealistic spiritual community at the time, and it became public knowledge that he owned a fleet of Bentley automobiles, which many people found to reflect religious corruption.
It became public perception that he was cheating his followers out of their money so he could spend it on himself, and he was eventually deported from the US.
And the prophets in the boutiques give out messages of hope
With jingle bells and fairy tales and blind providing scopes
And you can tell that all they're saying underneath the pretty lights
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
The overall tone of the song is deeply cynical. “The prophets” give out “messages of hope with jingle bells and fairy tales and blinding colliding scopes”, which implies that even what the prophets of the day say is a lot of superficial stuff that means nothing, and in the end, they are “all the same underneath the pretty lies”. The whole world is chaotic, but no one has any kind of vision of truth or sincerity.
That’s what the line “Anyone for tennis, wouldn’t that be nice” implies. Everybody in the world seems to be focused on trivial nonsense and amusement, while the world plunges into darkness and “fate is setting up the chessboard while death rolls out the dice”. Civilization may be in its “fading years”, but the world will continue to go its selfish and superficial way, right to the end.
Twice upon a time in the valley of the tears
The auctioneer is bidding for a box of fading years
And the elephants are dancing on the graves of squealing mice
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
And the ice creams are all melting on the streets of bloody beer
While the beggars stain the pavements with fluorescent Christmas cheer
And the Bentley-driving guru is putting up his price
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
And the prophets in the boutiques give out messages of hope
With jingle bells and fairy tales and blind colliding scopes
And you can tell that all they're saying underneath the pretty lies
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
The yellow Buddhist monk is burning brightly at the zoo
You can bring a bowl of rice and then a glass of water, too
And Fate is setting up the chessboard while Death rolls out the dice
Anyone for tennis? Wouldn't that be nice?
Further Reading
Sources
- Cream – “Anyone for Tennis” (1968). Song information and lyrics. [Link: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/cream/anyone-for-tennis]
- Cream. (n.d.). Biography and Discography. [Link: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cream-mn0000121691]
- Hammer, R. (2013, June 10). The Buddhist Monk’s Protest That Inspired ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’. NPR. [https://www.npr.org/2013/06/10/190298860/the-buddhist-monks-protest-that-inspired-the-times-they-are-a-changin]
- Associated Press. (1963, June 11). Monk Protests Policies of Diem Regime. The New York Times. [https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/11/archives/monk-protests-policies-of-diem-regime.html]
- “The burning monk, 1963” https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-burning-monk-1963/
- “Rajneesh movement” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneesh_movement
- “The Glorious Rise & Scandalous Fall of ‘Sex Guru’ Osho” https://www.thequint.com/explainers/wild-wild-country-who-was-bhagwan-rajneesh-osho
