Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues rock band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (November 1970). Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.
The song was inspired by the classical poet of Persian literature, Nizami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun, a copy of which Ian Dallas had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her. In his autobiography, Clapton states, "Ian Dallas told me the tale of Layla and Manjun [sic], a romantic Persian love story in which a young man, Manjun [sic], falls passionately in love with the beautiful Layla, but is forbidden by her father to marry her and goes crazy with desire." The song was further inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison of The Beatles.
Layla (disambiguation)
"Layla" is a song by Derek and the Dominos
Layla may also refer to:
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Layla (town)
Layla (Arabic: لیلى) is a town in central Saudi Arabia. It is the principal town of the Al-Aflaj oasis in Riyadh Region, some 330 km south of the capital, Riyadh. It is believed to have been named after Layla of Bani 'Amir, a 7th-century woman from the local tribe of Bani 'Amir who was immortalized in the poetry of her lover Qays ibn Al-Mulawwah. The romance of Qays and Layla is perhaps the most famous romance of Arabic literature, and was chronicled by Persian poet Nizami in Layla wal Majnun ("Layla and the Madman"). Several tribes have governed the town across two millennia, including tribes of Kaab ibn 'Amir, then 'Uqayl ibn 'Amir. The population of the town and its surrounding villages and hamlets is nearly 76,000, largely consisting of recently settled Bedouins from the Dawasir tribe. Layla neighbors a lake of the same name.
