Layla

What'll you do when you get lonely
And nobody's waiting by your side?
You've been running and hiding much too long.
You know it's just your foolish pride.

Layla, you've got me on my knees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.

Layla was not only famously performed by Eric Clapton, it was also written by him in 1970 – that's a long time ago now!

At the time, Clapton was with a band called Derek and the Dominoes (never became famous, I wonder why?). 

The lyrics are apparently from a Persian story of a tragic love affair between Layla and Majnun.  Lord Byron called it the Romeo & Juliet of the East. 

Layla's father wouldn't let them marry and got her to marry someone else.  She went into a decline and died and Majnun went off into the desert as a crazy man and wrote poetry about her.  All tragic.

The song wasn't very popular initially but later went on to be Clapton's signature song.

Here's a YouTube clip of it

Layla - Eric Clapton

Layla, you've got me on my knees.
Layla, I'm begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind

Amazingly enough the classic song Layla was not successful when it was first released – it was many years before the true merits of the track were realised.  One of its problems was that the track was 7 minutes long which was very very long indeed by the standards of the early 1970's.

Eric Clapton co-wrote the song with Jim Gordon.

Who will ever forget the unplugged version?

My top 25 (actually 43) favourite tracks of all time in alpha order

No doubt this list of favourite tracks says a lot about me inadvertently!  I started out thinking I would only list 25 but that proved much too hard.  The list does demonstrate how you can get stuck in a time warp with music.  I wish there was an easy way to find great new music – it must be out there surely?

(Everything I do) I do it for you – Bryan Adams

1972 – Josh Rouse

5.01am – Roger Waters

Ain’t No Cure for Love – Leonard Cohen

April Sun in Cuba – Dragon

Big Spender – Peggy Lee

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

Boogie Street – Leonard Cohen

Desperado - the Eagles

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – The Animals

Forgiveness – Christine McVie

Funeral for a Friend – Elton John

Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac

Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen

Home Again – Carole King

Honky Tonk Women – Rolling Stones

House of the Rising Sun – The Animals

I Got You Babe – Cher

I’ve Never Been to Me – Charlene

It Doesn’t Matter Any More – Buddy Holly

Keep Me In Your Heart – Warren Zevon

Lay Down Sally – Eric Clapton

Love Hurts – Gram Parsons w Emmy Lou Harris

Mustang Sally – The Commitments

Night and Day – Ella Fitzgerald

Nine Million Bicycles – Katie Melua

Northern Lights – Goldenhorse

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps – Doris Day

Postcards from Paraguay – Mark Knopfler

That Don’t Impress Me Much – Shania Twain

The End of the Innocence – Don Henley

The Gnu Song – Flanders & Swan

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – Gene Pitney

Those Three Days – Lucinda Williams

Trav’lin Light – Billie Holliday

Under the Boardwalk – the Drifters

Volare – Dean Martin

We Don’t Need Another Hero – Tina Turner

Why Worry – Dire Straits

Willie and Laura Mae Jones – Dusty Springfield

Words – The Bee Gees

Yesterday – The Beatles

You Can Leave Your Hat On – Joe Cocker

It would be great to get suggestions about what other tracks I should consider adding to this list.

Roger Waters – The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking

Ok ok, this is a bit eccentric.  But a friend who is now a Judge got me into it.  Nothing – well almost nothing – beats the title track played really loud.  I realise I didn’t include it in my earlier list… a mistake.  And the album cover will be appreciated by any red-blooded male. 

It dates from 1984.  Eric Clapton was a guitarist for the album.

Roger Waters of course was part of Pink Floyd.  He is thrice married and divorced and according to Wiki is now engaged again.  An optimist, obviously.