"It's in the Way That You Use It" is a song which was written by the English rock musician Eric Clapton in collaboration with The Band's guitarist and composer Robbie Robertson. The song was recorded and performed by Eric Clapton, who released the track under licence of Warner Bros. Records as the second of four singles from his 1986 studio album ''

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

'' in March 1987. The song, which is used as the theme tune to the

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

film ''

The Color of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film was created from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. Th ...

'', was produced by Eric Clapton himself with the help of Tom Dowd, who acted as the assistant producer. The release sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.

Composition

The song was specially written as part of the

film soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the movie ''The Color of Money'', which was directed by

and starred Paul Newman and

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

as pool sharks. The recording first appeared as part of the film soundtrack, before it was released as a single or on Eric Clapton's 1986 studio album release. The British rock musician wrote "It's in the Way That You Use It" with Robbie Robertson, whose work with The Band in the 1960s encouraged Eric Clapton to get away from the long, heavy solos he was playing with

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

. Robertson was in charge of the music for ''The Color of Money'', but because he was not finished with his first solo album, his record company would not let him sing on any of the songs. He got around it by contributing instrumental songs to the soundtrack. The original song title was "The Gift".

Release

"It's in the Way That You Use It" was released as an official single in late 1986 for the following territories: Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. For the rest of the world, mainly including

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, especially

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the United Kingdom, the single was released in March 1987. The single was released on both 7" and 12" formats. The single was also released in Japan. The track features Eric Clapton playing

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

and singing lead vocals with a band consisting of

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

as a

background vocalist Background may refer to: Performing arts and stagecraft * Background actor * Background artist * Background light * Background music * Background story * Background vocals * ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode Record ...

Henry Spinetti Enrico Antonio Giorgio Spinetti (born 31 March 1951) is a Welsh session drummer whose playing has featured on many prominent rock and pop albums. Career Spinetti was born in Cwm, near Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Wales. His first band, aged about ...

on drums, Richard Cottle playing the synthesizer and

Laurence Cottle Laurence Cottle (born 16 December 1961) is a Welsh bass guitarist and composer. Career His solo recordings have been mostly in jazz and jazz fusion. He was a member of the fusion quartet The Fents and appeared on their second album, ''The Ot ...

playing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Reception

'' Cash Box'' said that it "contains a blistering volley of

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

genius." '' Billboard'' called it a "neatly executed rocker

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

strongly recalls his mid-'70s."

Chart performance

The single release did not chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, although it sold a total of 183,291 copies in the United States. However, "It's in the Way That You Use It" reached position two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1986 and eventually positioned itself at the top of the charts one year after. In total, the song spent fifteen weeks on the chart, which is compiled by the ''Billboard'' magazine. In Canada, the song did not enter the national single charts either, selling 1,493 copies in total. In the United Kingdom, the single released peaked at number 77 on the official charts, selling a total of 34,294 copies over all. The song stayed four weeks on the chart, compiled by the Official Charts Company in Britain. In Australia, the single charted at its highest position, ranking at position 24. In total, the single sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

featuring Eric Clapton performing the song in front of blue lights, alongside clips from ''The Color of Money'' was released to accompany the single release.

In popular culture

The song is featured in The Color Of Money directed by Martin Scorsese. The song was briefly featured in season 6 episode 2 ("Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care") of ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

''. The song was also featured in the season 4 episode of ''

Rick and Morty {{Infobox television , image = Rick and Morty title card (cropped).png , alt = , caption = , genre = {{Plainlist, * Animated sitcom * Adult animation * Science fiction * Black comedy * ...

'' "

The Vat of Acid Episode "The Vat of Acid Episode" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the Adult Swim animated television series ''Rick and Morty''. Created by Dan Harmon, written by Jeff Loveness and Albro Lundy, and directed by Jacob Hair, the episode was br ...

." Both shows were created by

Dan Harmon Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast '' Harmontow ...

. It was also featured in season 3 episode 1 ("Chapter 14") of Eastbound and Down.

Personnel

* Eric Clapton – guitar, lead vocals *

– keyboards, backing vocals * Richard Cottle – synthesizer *

– bass guitar *

– drums

Charts

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles Eric Clapton songs Songs written by Eric Clapton Songs written by Robbie Robertson Warner Records singles Songs written for films