From Something to Layla
Behind every great work of art, there is a muse. And in the world of 60’s and 70’s rock, her name is Pattie Boyd.
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The ’60s and ’70s was the time of drugs, political action and bell bottoms — the perfect landscape for revolutionary rock music. But most importantly, it was the age of Pattie Boyd. As a young model, she quickly became the face of Swinging London, and at the age of 19, she found herself in the Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night.”
During her first day on set, George Harrison asked for her hand in marriage. When she turned him down, only time could keep them apart for so long. She settled on a dinner date, and the rest was history.
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Harrison and Boyd’s relationship inspired “Something,” Harrison’s first A-side single with the Beatles. The Boyd-inspired masterpiece became Harrison’s most successful song: a melody forward, emotionally rich ballad that defined his career.
When Boyd left Harrison due to his infidelity, she found solace in his best friend Eric Clapton’s adoration of her. A pair of bell bottoms Clapton gifted Boyd at the start of their relationship inspired “Bell Bottom Blues.” The song kickstarted the notorious one-album wonder, “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.” Boyd’s irresistible, mesmerizing charisma was notoriously immortalized in “Layla,” a raw, impassioned anthem where Clapton lays bare his longing for his best friend’s wife. Boyd’s influence over these men became glaringly public when the song dropped, redefining her status as a rock muse.
Later in the album is the track, “Have You Ever Loved A Woman,” in which the blues band sings about an unrequited and forbidden love.
You just love that woman
So much, it's a shame and a sin
But all the time you know
She belongs to your very best friend
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Despite Clapton’s denial, the song’s aching confession mirrored his real-life turmoil, as he longed for Boyd even while she was still married to his close friend, George Harrison.
Though the flame between Boyd and Clapton was short lived, with an end abruptly mirroring the split of her and Harrison, out of it came the hit song, “Wonderful Tonight.” The tune came from a quiet moment of love between the couple as Boyd couldn’t decide what to wear one night. Clapton assured her that everything she wore would look wonderful on her.
After her relationship with both Harrison and Clapton, and the two men dedicating their hit songs to her, Boyd’s fame turned into a reflection of her past. She took on the title of being a renowned muse, yet she felt otherwise.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Boyd said, "I think in my case, both George and Eric had an inability to communicate their feelings through normal conversation. I became a reflection for them.”
For Boyd, the music was not a testament to her, but rather a projection of Harrison’s and Clapton’s feelings. Even when the men told her they’d written about her, she refused to believe it. Boyd supposed that the songs were a product of the tumultuous times the men experienced, captured through songwriting.
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Boyd’s experiences remind us that the role of a muse is ephemeral — an illusion draped over the artist’s own creativity. While inspiration may stem from a person or an experience, art is ultimately an extension of the artist’s own self, not a product of the muse’s existence.
Strike Out,
Writer: Olivia Hansen
Editor: Naina Chauhan
