Layla

This song rarely makes it to the top of "all-time best" lists, which is a shame because, in my opinion, it absolutely deserves to be there. The track is considered one of the best love ballads in history. It was released as a single and on the album *Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs* in December 1970.

The titular “Layla” is model Pattie Boyd, who was married to George Harrison at the time the song was written. Harrison met her in 1966 on the set of the film “A Hard Day’s Night” (she was an extra in the train scene), and soon after, he formed a close friendship with Eric Clapton. The musicians collaborated on various musical projects—Clapton, among other things, recorded the guitar part for “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on The Beatles’ “White Album.” At the same time, Clapton fell hopelessly in love with Pattie and expressed his feelings by composing, among other songs, “Layla.”

Over time, Pattie and George’s relationship began to deteriorate, and the model parted ways with the former Beatle. In 1979, she married Clapton. This did not strain the friendship between the two—Harrison even played at their wedding. Clapton and Boyd remained married for the next ten years.

The lyrics, which serve as a sort of veiled declaration of love for Harrison’s then-wife, were based on the 12th-century Persian poem “Layla and Majnun.” The protagonist of the poem is a young man who, because of his impossible love for Layla, begins to be called a madman—that is, Majnun.