Nights in White Satin
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| "Nights in White Satin" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Single by The Moody Blues | ||
| From the album Days of Future Passed | ||
| Single Released | 1967 | |
| Recorded | 1967 | |
| Song Length | 7:38 (album) 4:25 (single) | |
| Record label | Deram | |
| Chart positions | 2 (USA, 1972) 19 (UK, 1967) | |
| The Moody Blues single chronology | ||
| "Go Now" 1965 | "Nights in White Satin" 1967 | "Tuesday Afternoon" 1967 |
"Nights in White Satin" is a 1967 song by The Moody Blues, first featured on the album Days of Future Passed.
It was not a popular title when first released. This was mainly due to its length, which at seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds was longer than the norm at that time. It was edited down to 4:25 and stripped of the orchestra and poetry reading on its original single release, backed with "Cities". The song was re-released in 1972 after the success of such longer-running dramatic songs as "Hey Jude" and "Layla", and it charted at #2 in the United States. Its original release in the United Kingdom reached #19. The song was re-released yet again in 1979, selling even more copies.
Band member Justin Hayward wrote the song at age nineteen, and titled the song after a friend gave him a gift of satin bedsheets. The song itself was a tale of a yearning love from afar, which leads many aficionados to term it as a tale of unrequited love endured by Hayward. The London Festival Orchestra (not a professional orchestra at all, but composed of well-regarded studio musicians) provided the musical accompaniment heard throughout, and which reached its climax before and after the song itself and the spoken-word poem. The band and orchestra makes use of the Mellotron keyboard device, which would come to define the "Moody Blues sound". The song is also known for its ridiculously simple drumming.
The spoken-word poem, which is heard near the six-minute mark in the song, is called Late Lament. It was written by drummer Graeme Edge and was read by keyboardist Mike Pinder. On Days of Future Passed, the poem's last five lines bracket the album, appearing also at the end of track 1 ("The Day Begins").
While largely ignored on its first release, the song has since garnered much critical acclaim, ranking #36 in BBC Radio 2's "Sold on Song Top 100" list.
There is also a version in Spanish (Noches de Seda) and Italian (Notte di Luce - sung by Mario Frangoulis and Justin Hayward, 2002).
[edit] Cover versions
- Giorgio Moroder (Knights In White Satin album, 1976)
- The Dickies (Dawn of the Dickies album, 1979)
- Glenn Hughes (Music for the Divine album, 2006) (Used in the movie Stealth )
- Declan Galbraith on his album Thank You
[edit] External links
| The Moody Blues |
|---|
| Justin Hayward | John Lodge | Graeme Edge Former members: Ray Thomas | Mike Pinder | Patrick Moraz | Denny Laine | Clint Warwick |
| Discography |
| Studio Albums: The Magnificent Moodies | Days of Future Passed | In Search of the Lost Chord | On the Threshold of a Dream | To Our Children's Children's Children | A Question of Balance | Every Good Boy Deserves Favour | Seventh Sojourn | Octave | Long Distance Voyager | The Present | The Other Side of Life | Sur La Mer | Keys of the Kingdom | Strange Times | December |
| Live: Caught Live + 5 | A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra | Hall Of Fame: Live at the Royal Albert Hall | Lovely To See You Again |
| Compilations: This is The Moody Blues | Greatest Hits | Prelude | Time Traveller (Box Set) | An Introduction to The Moody Blues |
