It Wasn’t Meant to Be
Background: In a previous blog, we talked about whirlwind romances, to the tune of international affairs. They didn’t work out, but were strong for a brief period of time. In this blog, I thought it would be interesting to look at romances that never get off the ground to begin with, for various reasons, but mostly outside factors (as opposed to the people involved being overtly toxic).
“Layla” by Derek and the Dominoes
Lyrically: As has happened before, in the writing of my previous blog, I accidentally stumbled upon another topic, so before you come after me for not including “Layla” in the blogs about women or omissions playlist, this is why. “Layla” is so deep into the forbidden love category that Eric Clapton, who was pining after George Harrison’s then-wife, Pattie Boyd, had to create a band to be secretive about it (and create a pseudonym for her, which was based on the tale of Layla and Manjun, in which a princess named Layla is married off to someone she doesn’t love). You can see this reflected in the lyrics from the opening line: “What will you do when you get lonely with nobody waiting by your side?” The rest of the song, minus the line where he says she’s been “Running around too long” focuses on the narrator’s state of mind being so madly in love with her: “Like a fool I fell in love with you, turned the whole world upside down,” and encouraging her as a result to “Make the best of this situation before I finally go insane. Please don’t say that we’ll never find a way and that my love is in vain.” Eventually, after Pattie and George divorced, she and Eric wound up getting married, so the song took nine years to work, but it did work (at least for about 10 years).
Melodically: There are two versions of this song, and the first one I heard was the acoustic version from Unplugged. I loved that version, until I heard the original, and absolutely nothing compares where the main part of the song is dominated by Duane Allman’s searing guitar. The acoustic version has the intro using A, C, D, and Dm, played four times, except the last time around, it ends on C. The song’s intro is in D minor. The verses change to C#m and use C#m7, G#7, C#m7, C, D, E, and E7, followed by F#m, B, E, and A (played twice, minus the A the second time around). The chorus uses Dm, Bb, C, and Dm, played four times. The solo uses the same chords as the chorus.
I mentioned earlier that the song is dominated by the guitar work of Duane Allman, but the other distinguishing feature of this song is the piano coda. This was written by drummer Jim Gordon (though sometimes attributed to Rita Coolige), and uses C/E, F, C, C/E, F, Bb7, and C before ending on Am, Dm, G, C, Am, D7, and G. This whole portion gets repeated until the song fades out. In addition to guitar and piano, the song also contains drums and bass.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, coda format. In our last blog, we talked about the effectiveness of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” in having short verses, forcing you to care about the narrator immediately. In “Layla,” there are short verses for a different reason: To let the instrumentals shine. The short verses also fit well with the desperation of the narrator. There’s not a whole lot to say other than how badly he needs Layla in his life, so everything is short and sweet, with a bunch of jamming in between. The structure also works in the sense that the first two verses talk about how much he needs her and the last verse encourages her to make the best of the situation (her being married) and still do what they can until they can be together.
Closing Note: Jim Gordon, the drummer who wrote the piano coda that I can’t shut up about, passed away in 2023. His story is tragic, but fascinating, and we thank him for his work on this tune.
Part of the reason I wanted to focus on “Layla,” other than the fact that it’s a terrific song, is that we lost Bobby Whitlock within the last year (August 10, 2025). He was from the Memphis area, and I got to see him play live a few times, the first being one of my first shows in Memphis after moving down here. When he dove into the piano coda for “Layla,” I teared up a little bit, since it’s a beautiful song, but also because it was such an important one in my childhood (as was “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”, which he co-wrote with Eric). The band actually formed in Memphis, with the common thread being Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, and Bobby was also one of the first members of the Memphis Songwriters Association. We thank him for his work as well.
2. “Amor Prohibido” by Selena
Lyrically: We can’t make a blog about forbidden love without talking about a song literally called “Forbidden Love.” Selena Quintanilla (known mononymously as Selena), got started in music at an early age, struck up a relationship with her guitar player, Chris Perez. However, Selena’s father, who managed her band (The Dinos), felt that Chris’ image would damage his daughter’s career, and forced the two of them to break up, also firing Chris from the band. So “Amor Prohibido” was written in response to her father’s reaction to their relationship (which eventually led to them marrying in 1992).
She mentions in the opening lines of the song, “Ansias locas”, which refers to crazy anxiety that she has in seeing her love interest, given the fact that people are against their relationship. “Que importa que dirán tu padre y tu mamá, aquí sólo importa nuestro amor” says “It doesn’t matter what your father and mother will say, the only thing that matters is our love.” In the chorus, she says, “Amor prohibido, murmuran por las calles, porque somos de distintas sociedades,” meaning “‘Forbidden love’ they murmur in the streets, because we’re from distinct societies.” She then goes on to say how money doesn’t matter when it comes to love. There are certainly things that sound more poetic in Spanish before you translate them, but this is a universal emotion, and a common topic to talk about in songs (look at “Can’t Buy Me Love” by The Beatles, for instance), so that’s one reason why this was able to have crossover appeal.
Melodically: The song’s intro uses G, Bm, C, Am, and D, which gets played twice. With the song in G major, this is a I, iii, IV, ii, V pattern. The verses then use G, C, G/B, Am, and D, which is a I, IV, I, ii, V pattern, followed by G, Em, G, C, and G/B (a I, vi, I, IV, I pattern), before ending on Am, Em, Bm, G, Bm, A, and D (a ii, vi, iii, I, iii, II, V pattern). The chorus essentially uses the same chords as the intro, but adds in a G/B. Instrumentally, the song uses synthesizers, drums and other percussion, as well as bass. The song was released during the Tejano revival of the 1990s, which saw Latino artists from Texas embracing sounds of Mexican music. In this case, the song uses a Mexican Cumbia style that emphasized the use of synthesizers and marimbas.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus format. As I said in the lyric section, the idea of prohibited love isn’t re-inventing the wheel by any means, nor is the idea that money doesn’t matter when it comes to love. Since it’s such a simple idea, the structure doesn’t need to be anything complicated either, so it works very well.
You can listen to “Amor Prohibido” below.
Closing Note: Since the first draft of this blog, Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, passed away. Though he’s kind of the bad guy in this particular song, he was a musician as well, and was crucial in getting Selena her start, as well as knowing how she could best reach the widest audience, while still staying true to her roots.
3. “Rude” by Magic!
Lyrically: “Rude” is a song about a guy who goes to ask his girlfriend’s dad for permission to marry his daughter, and the father says no. This, however, does not stop the boyfriend from continuing his relationship with the girl. The narrator felt like he did everything right, saying, “(I) put on my best suit” and also saying, “I had my heart in my hand.” Once he says no, he says they’ll get married even if they have to “Run away to another galaxy,” but insisting that although it wasn’t what he wanted, the father’s answer “Leaves (him) no choice.” This song is an interesting one lyrically because there’s really no indication of what the father said, other than, “You’ll never get my blessing ‘til the day I die, tough luck, my friend, but the answer is no,” but that makes the hook even more effective. He was going to marry this person, whether he got the blessing or not, so it’s not that his answer was a bummer, he was bummed because the guy was rude to him. It gives the song a little kick that “Why’d you have to say no?” would not have had. And most importantly, it provides me with a punchline whenever one of my students uses the word “rude” to describe something someone just said.
Melodically: The song is played with a capo on the 6th fret. Relative to the capo, you’re playing C, D, and Em twice, which is a IV, V, vi pattern, the song being in Eb. Then, you play the same thing two more times, but throw in a G after the D. With the song in Eb major, this is a VII, I, ii pattern, followed by a VII, I, IV, ii pattern. This pattern gets repeated throughout the song. It’s worth noting that this is a reggae-infused song, so when you’re strumming, each chord is two counts, and you strum on the “and” of each beat. Instrumentally, the song uses guitar, drums, as well as strings in the pre-chorus and bass in the chorus.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, pre-chorus, chorus format. The structure fits especially well with the reggae vibe of the song, but it also fits well with the intentional vagueness of the lyrics. The whole point is just that what the dad said was rude, not the fact that he said no, so being so hung up on that leaves anything else unnecessary.
You can listen to “Rude” below. I swear there’s a cover somewhere that Jimmy Fallon did of this song in the folk style of Bob Dylan (the latter of whom experimented with reggae in his song “Jokerman”), but I can’t find it anywhere, so if you do, let me know in the comments!
4. “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police
Lyrically: Unlike the other three songs we have looked at in this blog, this song is about a forbidden love and that’s just the way the narrator likes it. Before hitting it big as a singer, Gordon Sumner (now known as Sting), worked as a teacher, and many of the girls he taught thought he was very good looking. Of course, Sting, being the consummate professional that he is, didn’t want those relationships, because obviously if they had, the police really would have had to get involved! This song tells the tale of a teacher who fights off the affections of a student, by telling her, “Don’t stand so close to me” despite him being “The subject of young girl fantasy.” He cares for the student, as shown in the second verse, “Temptation, frustration, so bad it makes him cry. Wet bus stop, she’s waiting, his car is warm and dry.” And by the third verse, people are talking in the staff room, and “The accusations fly.” Yet nonetheless, he keeps insisting to the student, “Don’t stand so close to me.”
Melodically: The intro uses Gm, while the verses use Eb and Gm. With the song in the key of D major, this is a iv, II, iv pattern. The chorus uses D, A, D, A, Bm, A, D7/A, and Em/A, a I, V, I, V, vi, V, I, ii pattern, which gets played twice. The solo gets played over the verse chords and gets played four times (same as the verses), and the outro uses the same chords as the chorus as it repeats the chorus lyrics (something the Police did quite frequently in their songs). Instrumentally, the song contains guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass, and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus format. With each verse, the teacher’s genuine concern for the student grows, and as that happens, the more suspicious the staff members at the school grow of the narrator. He never actually did anything wrong, but by the third verse, the accusations are flying, and we never know his fate, we just know he keeps insisting the student not stand so close to him. This structure allows for the hybrid song to take full effect: there are examples of why it’s a bad idea for the student to stand close to the teacher, but not full on examples of her standing so close to him (like something going on at home), he just foresees terrible trouble (to quote a phrase from “Dirty Work,” by Steely Dan, which also could have fit this category) if she continues to do so. The structure builds the intensity of this relationship that can’t happen, even though nothing happens to the narrator in the song.
You can listen to “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” below.
