‘In My Life’ — The Beatles
If you ask John Lennon, this 1965 single off “Rubber Soul” would receive a place on all the lists of the greatest songs ever made. The Beatle went as far as to call it “my first real, major piece of work.” He also said that “up until then, it had all been glib and threw away.” Peter Shotton, his friend, and eventual biographer said that the line “Some [friends] are dead and some are living / In my life I’ve loved them all” was a tribute to both Shotton himself Stuart Sutcliffe, who passed away in 1962.
‘In My Life’ — The Beatles
‘Layla’ — Derek And The Dominos
Eric Clapton was inspired by “The Story of Layla and Majnun,” a 12th-century book by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi that he penned “Layla.” Many people think that it is one of the greatest rock songs in the history of music. Aside from that, Clapton also took inspiration from his life and his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd. She was the wife of his fellow musician and friend George Harrison, but it worked out in the end as they went on to be married for almost a decade. “It was the heaviest thing going on at the time,” he shared with the Rolling Stone in 1974. He added, “That’s what I wanted to write about most of all.”
‘Layla’ — Derek And The Dominos
