‘In My Life’ — The Beatles
If you ask John Lennon, this 1965 single from “Rubber Soul” would be on every list of the greatest songs ever written. In fact, Lennon even went as far as to say that it was: “my first real, major piece of work.” He also stated that “up until then, it had all been glib and threw away.” His friend and eventual biographer, Peter Shotton, stated 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
“The Story of Layla and Majnun,” a 12th-century book by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, inspired Eric Clapton to write “Layla,” which many consider to be one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Clapton also drew inspiration from his own life, particularly his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd. She was the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison, but it all worked out in the end, and they were married for nearly 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