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.

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

I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down.
Like a fool, I fell in love with you,
Turned my whole world upside down.

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

Let's make the best of the situation
Before I finally go insane.
Please don't say I'll never find a way
And tell me all my love's in vain.

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

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



Lyrics submitted by Balthasar

Track duration: 04:20

"Layla" as written by Eric Patrick Clapton, Jim Gordon

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Layla song meanings
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90 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:It wasn't unitl several years ago that I found out that he finally did get together with Patii....
    I was disappointed. This was the greated unrequited-love songs of all times - and he almost kills himself with heroin around this time...... and then he gets together with her years later???
    I imagine their relationship never matched the passion he expressed in this song.......
    Rather it is summed up by the song "Wonderful Tonight" - I always hated that song.
    But who I am I to judge? The greatest rock'n'roll was created under the influence of heroin. It must bring out a lot of raw passion - but you wouldn't catch me doing it. :-)
    Flag MamboManon August 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Thanks DesertBreeze. That matches what I have heard of the Patti
    Flag MamboManon August 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Thanks DesertBreeze. That matches what I have heard of the Patti
    Flag MamboManon August 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Well everyone knows what this song is about: Eric Clapton fell in love with Patti Boyd, George Harrison's wife, who was the inspiration behind most of the songs on LAYLA. He was inspired by the writings of the Persian poet Nizami, who wrote "Layla and Majnun." Clapton even used Nizami's words for "I Am Yours" from the same album.

    There's a lot of pain in this song, a lot of anger. The music's high energy literally makes you feel like you're going insane, as does Duane Allman's solo at the end (BTW, Duane was the one who wrote the guitar lick, not Clapton).

    The final piano coda is very lamenting about lost love. I don't know what Jim Gordon was thinking when he wrote this piece, but it fits so perfectly with the first part. It's also very sad when you think of what happened to Derek and the Dominos. A band separated by drugs, Duane Allman died a year later, Carl Radle years later, and Jim Gordon now in the nuthouse for murdering his mother. To me, this final coda represents the death a great band.

    However, I can't listen to the final coda now without thinking about the scene from "Goodfellas!" Genius film-making at it's finest (imagine how that scene would have worked without the "Layla" coda at the end).
    Flag lordofthejimmyon January 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: See if you can spot this one ? :))

    No doubt there's history behind this song, I've just read Eric's autobiography and must say it is worth reading and gives you insight to not only his life but some songs too.

    And the unplugged version is so goood.


    Flag sanelaon September 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:He is going to be singing this to me for the rest of his life. Talk about tables turning. TOODLESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOT ME ON MY KNEES
    Flag ALWAYSYOURS4EVERon August 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Is it really about George Harrison's ex-wife? What happened? Really?
    Flag samhassockson June 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Why did the Allman brothers die i still have those records with one of the original recordings. Wish i could go back to that time.
    Flag BradyJrQuion October 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Layla is only superficially about Patti. Layla is about finding a powerful obsession to mask off intense emotional pain. The word "co-dependence" and the concept of "romance addiction" hadn't been invented in 1970, but it applies now.
    Flag naughtmoseson September 09, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:i think its about a girl named layla and him, they both confined in each other when they got lonely, he ended up falling in love with her and maybe she didn't love him back or it was just a one sided love kind of thing from either side.
    Flag answer1on May 28, 2009   Link

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