Among the most iconic figures of the 1960s is Pattie Boyd. She became instantly recognisable as an actor and model, but she really rose to fame as Eric Clapton’s and George Harrison’s supermuse. It must be difficult to pick a favourite because there are so many anthems written about her or honouring her love.
Boyd said in an interview with Taylor Swift for Harpers Bazaar, “I find the concept of being a muse understandable when you think of all the great painters, poets, and photographers who usually have had one or two.” Boyd added, “The artist absorbs an element from their muse that has nothing to do with words, just the purity of their essence.”
Boyd’s essence must have been strong and endlessly inspiring. The men in her life wrote not just her love songs, but also some of the most well-known love songs ever. “Something” was written by Harrison as a tribute to his wife, and Frank Sinatra called it “the greatest love song of the past 50 years.”
However, Boyd’s favourite song, or the song she thinks is the best, written in her honour, reveals the whole turbulent love triangle she was entangled in.
“I want to know if you still love your husband or if you are seeing someone else.” Boyd stated in a 1970 letter. She initially believed it to be from a devoted fan. In actuality, though, one of her husband’s closest friends, Eric Clapton, was the one who set the heartbreaking address. “Take me if you want me; I’m yours. He also wrote, “Please break the spell that binds me if you don’t want me.” The unassuming but now notorious Layla is the recipient of every single one.
Boyd finds that “Layla” stands out among all the songs written about her, maybe because of its sheer audacity. It was about me, and he was being so loving and passionate in his lyrics, so when I first heard “Layla,” it was both incredibly flattering and a little embarrassing. She recalled, “I couldn’t believe that someone could feel that way about me, or write those kind of lyrics.”
But the song also carried with it a thrill of terror. “‘You know why I wrote that,’ he said to me as he played it on a cassette. “Oh my gosh, really?” was my reaction. This is a brief public… and George and I are married,” Boyd recalled. Since Clapton’s muse was still in a relationship with his friend the Beatles, he wrote a passionate love song about a man pleading for the love of forbidden women.
Boyd remarked of the tension the song created, “I wanted it to go away although I loved it at the same time.” “It created enormous mental storms for me. I found Eric to be very charming and attractive, and he was a pleasure to converse with. Eric was a great listener during the difficult period I was going through with George.
So many people have the desire to be the subject of songs. In popular culture, rock stars’ muses occupy a mythical position. Peeking behind the scenes still captivates music fans. The relationships and circumstances that shaped iconic rock songs interest them. This fascination is evident through films like Almost Famous. The writings of well-known groupies like Pamela Des Barres also reveal this fascination. It was one thing for Boyd to have inspired George Harrison, but “Layla” felt like something else entirely.
“The most powerful, moving song I had ever heard,” she declared, describing the song. It was hard to ignore the intense desire within. “The song won over me when I realised how much passion and creativity I had inspired.” I was at my breaking point,” she said. “Layla” is a timeless anthem that marked the beginning of the affair that would alter her life’s path.
