For this Musical Analysis assignment, I chose to analyze the song ‘Layla’ by Eric Clapton. Eric Clapton is a British singer, songwriter, rock and blues guitarist. Eric Clapton is the only three-time inductee into the rock and role hall of fame. Layla was written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, and recorded on September 9, 1970. The reactions the song elicits are comparable to those of Bohemian Rhapsody. A musical connection is elicited by this song as every instrument plays a key part throughout the 7 minute ballad. Layla is similar to Bohemian Rhapsody is a sense that Layla was not incredibly popular when it was initially released. It took some time for Layla to gain its popularity (partly because of the songs length) and is now critically recognized as one of the greatest rock songs, ranking number 27 on the Rolling Stones list of “The Top 500 Songs of All Time.” [3]
The song Layla is a most recognizable by the opening signature riff played by Clapton; A piece utilizing advanced guitar playing techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, power chords, and bends, all contributing to a melody of the song. The song can be broken into two parts. The first part, recorded in D Minor, contains the melodic/iconic guitar riff. The second part, recorded in C Major, is an instrumental section called the “piano exit” or “coda”, which is like an extended outro.
Eric Clapton is quoted in a 2011 interview with Mike Hrano saying, ” ‘Layla’ is a difficult one, because it’s a difficult song to perform live. You have to have a good complement of musicians to get all of the ingredients going. It’s difficult to do as a quartet, for instance, because there are some parts you have to play and sing completely opposing lines, which is almost impossible to do. If you’ve got a big band, which I will have on the tour, then it will be easy to do something like ‘Layla’—and I’m very proud of it. I love to hear it. It’s almost like it’s not me. It’s like I’m listening to someone that I really like. Sometimes, my own music can be like that. When it’s served its purpose to being good music, I don’t associate myself with it any more. It’s like someone else. It’s easy to do those songs then.” [2]
The beauty, complexity, and lyricism of ‘Layla’ is what makes it such a legendary rock song. “Layla is the aural manifestation of a man’s emotions – not as raw or guttural, as a blues by Robert Johnson would be, but very much in the same vein of honest and sincere expression of desire and melancholy” [1].
[1] Sanchez, Jose Lopez. “Derek and the Dominos – Layla.” Dead Curious, 12 June 2013, deadcurious.com/2012/04/30/derek-and-the-dominos-layla/. http://deadcurious.com/2012/04/30/derek-and-the-dominos-layla/
[2]Hrano, Mike. “’Eric Clapton – The Mike Hrano Interview’.” Eric Clapton Interview – Reptile, 2011, http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/interviewsandarticles/reptileinterview.htm
[3] Rolling Stone. “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/derek-and-the-dominos-layla-56618/
Michael Tilly's Blog 
First off, I definitely agree with the fact that this song would be recognized by the introduction riff. A complex introduction is sure to stand out among the rest. I wonder though what musicians he looked up to and thought of as role models? The piece is a little long and I can understand people’s viewpoints of not listening to it because of that. Although some think it’s too long, Avengers Endgame was three hours and everybody loved that so I suppose you can’t judge something just because it runs long.
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Great song choice. I liked the background behind this and the quote by Eric himself. It seems there is a lot that goes into creating music and learning the history behind it is interesting. Eric Clapton has a lot of good, well known songs and one I recommend listening to is “Wonderful Tonight”
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I think this song was a great choice. It really represents rock well. It was actually on of the first rock songs I listened to by choice when I first learned what Spotify was. D minor is probably one of my favorite keys personally, even though sons d minor can tend to be a bit sad. I’m not sure I’m fond of his quote, he comes off a bit pretentious, but I feel like it was well intentioned.
As someone who hasn’t looked to far in depth into this particular song I very much appreciated your analysis, and liked the specific insights you presented. Not everyone can appreciate key changes, or long songs for that matter ( I had a bit of trouble with this song when I was younger for this reason. I would love to see more content like this. A band I really enjoy that can write somber ballads is Skid Row. Mind you, this band is from a completely different era, as well as possessing a much different feel, I enjoy listening to both of them for a lot of the same reasons. Here is a link to one of their albums if you’re curious or feeling reminiscent:
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Interesting piece of music by Eric Clapton. I am not very familiar with his music, but I recognize his song, ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ which seems to have a slow beat, at least for me. You have a good analysis on the two main parts of the song, that are related to the melody. This song seems to have a very fast beat in the beginning, that I can’t even tell what the measure is. The second part has a lot of saxophone. This is probably the first song I’ve heard where the first and second parts sound so different. I think it would be interesting to look at the dynamics and articulation in greater detail. It would also be create a header for each element and have a paragraph discussing that specific element. I wonder if this piece, ‘Layla’ has inspired other musicians to write songs where opposing parts are played at the same time with many instruments. Good job, nonetheless!
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Wow, this one hit me in the feels a little. I just returned from my aunt’s memorial services with a box of photos that I dug into last night. Many of them were of my dad, who passed away when I was 15. This song was one of his favorites and I HATED Eric Clapton as a kid because of it. My brothers and I used to call him Eric Crapton… As an adult I’ve been able to appreciate the artistry behind his music and I love your in depth assessment. It’s more than I would have been able to read into it. What is YOUR connection to the song?
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