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Nights In White Satin Lyrics
Nights in white satin
Never reaching the end
Letters I've written
Never meaning to send
Beauty I've always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can't say any more
'Cause I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you
Gazing at people some hand in hand
Just what I'm going through they can't understand
Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend
Just what you want to be you will be in the end
And I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you
Oh how I love you
Nights in white satin
Never reaching the end
Letters I've written
Never meaning to send
Beauty I've always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can't say any more
'Cause I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you
Oh how I love you
'Cause I love you
Yes I love you
Oh how I love you
Oh how I love you
Breath deep
The gathering gloom
Watch lights fade
From every room
Bedsitter people
Look back and lament
Another day's useless
Energy spent
Impassioned lovers
Wrestle as one
Lonely man cries for love
And has none
New mother picks up
And suckles her son
Senior citizens
Wish they were young
Cold hearted orb
That rules the night
Removes the colours
From our sight
Red is gray and
Yellow white
But we decide
Which is right
And
Which is an Illusion
Song Info
Submitted by
kevin On Jun 11, 2001
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Justin Hayward wrote "Nights" when he was about 19. He wrote the song as he was going through a rather difficult breakup with a girl. At the same time, though, he'd met the woman who would eventually become his wife (and still is to this day.) He's often said that the song came out of the despair and excitement he was feeling at the time; one relationship ending, and another beginning. As for the title? Well, a woman he knew (he's never said whether she was the one he was breaking up with at the time...) had given him some white satin sheets. While he says they're very romantic and all, they didn't really work well when he had a day's growth of stubble on his chin! (He hated them, in fact!) He also has said that the song took about as long to write as it took to play. He was up very late one night in his apartment, apparently fretting over his relationship situation, and, as he's put it, "...the song just came out."
this song shows how our world is full of meaningless illusions, and how people are looking for something more meaningful in life. he says in the beginning of the song, that he doesn't know what is going on with this one that he loves so much, and he doesn't know if he should go ahead and be with her, it might be too big of a risk...wow this sums up my life
My take on these lyrics is firstly don't search for too much deep meanings therein, great music, a lot of drugs, thrown in some sex and you've got it, however I always liked the poem at the end, it actually seemd to capture the circle of life with a dispassionate moon watching over the entire panorama. I'm listening to it now, well actally moved on the "Timothy Leary is Dead". Mike
My take on these lyrics is firstly don't search for too much deep meanings therein, great music, a lot of drugs, thrown in some sex and you've got it, however I always liked the poem at the end, it actually seemd to capture the circle of life with a dispassionate moon watching over the entire panorama. I'm listening to it now, well actally moved on the "Timothy Leary is Dead". Mike
Greetings. As far as the songs I suppose that the word, "kinghts" or "nights" could both apply to its' meaning. I am in my mid 40's and I vaguely rememeber my Dad listening to MB in the mid 70's. (On the Threshold of a Dream.)
Greetings. As far as the songs I suppose that the word, "kinghts" or "nights" could both apply to its' meaning. I am in my mid 40's and I vaguely rememeber my Dad listening to MB in the mid 70's. (On the Threshold of a Dream.)
To me, this song refers to the journey of life that we are all on. While not everyone is a romantic I feel that most of us (human beings) seek love, companionship or at the very least acknowledgement and understanding.
To me, this song refers to the journey of life that we are all on. While not everyone is a romantic I feel that most of us (human beings) seek love, companionship or at the very least acknowledgement and understanding.
Being a "knight" in white satin is like being a chivalrous...
Being a "knight" in white satin is like being a chivalrous night of Old (King Arthurs) time. Seeking a sense of completion from finding and connecting with that fair maiden (soul mate or love.) or current love interest. Psss. Don't worry ladie's I am not leaving you out. A female can be a Knight in White satin.
Anyhow, all of us who have been intwined in a romantic liason know the many corridors, avenues and sometimes dead ends that our minds and thoughts can take us down. We also know what it is like to create illusions on how things are, can be, and should be. If we are lucky (and diligent) we might find someone to share the "illusion" with. Yet, "how long can we share the illusion?" It depends upon the two and many other variables. Family, money life and or whatever factors that the two feel/ar affected by.
In the song he mentions "beauty I have missed with these eyes before." I feel he is refering to what alot of us take for granted or fail to see. It sounds to me that he is at a poignant and pondering type of moment. Maybe he's sitting on a park bench in Central Park. Better yet, Hyde park in London.
Here he is observing life going on. From a mother's pt. of view, to the elderly, lonely man, to impassioned lovers.
Finally, the last stanza in reference to the moon, "cold hearted orb, that rules through the night," is the inanimate objectivity of the moon and how it just is. It neither is good or bad, it merely is.
It apppears cold to him for maybe he is in a state of confusion or sadness. Perhaps it may seem bleak because of the weather where he is. (say England). I think that it is his state of mind though.
Inevitably, no matter what the outcome of a love affair, or life or anything we experience or go through. It all comes back to you. And how you choose to perceive and look back on an issue or event. "And which is an illusion."
OK. How many people grew up listening to this on the radio, not getting the album or seeing it in print and thinking for a long time that it was "Knights in White Satin"?
not one woman whould have thought that, It HAD to be "Nights". We all wanted that night for ourselves in that white satin!! Still do..............
not one woman whould have thought that, It HAD to be "Nights". We all wanted that night for ourselves in that white satin!! Still do..............
Ha. You are not kidding. I never thought about that until now. I wonder why we did thing that it was Knights?
Ha. You are not kidding. I never thought about that until now. I wonder why we did thing that it was Knights?
i think a lot of us thought of "Knights in white satin," because for some reason that title has more mystique, than the more obvious "Nights... Nonetheless, a beautiful (a bit redundant, but compelling) song accompanied by music which contributes the mystique.
i think a lot of us thought of "Knights in white satin," because for some reason that title has more mystique, than the more obvious "Nights... Nonetheless, a beautiful (a bit redundant, but compelling) song accompanied by music which contributes the mystique.
knights in white satin is that not the crusaders,white satin with a red cross
knights in white satin is that not the crusaders,white satin with a red cross
@grouping I thought of a Knight killed in combat and was being laid to rest clothed in white satin... tearful lover, kids present at the funeral, whatever. We (males) may have thought that way because of the war which was very near the forefront of MY thoughts. Back then, you went one of three places, college, Vietnam, or Canada.
@grouping I thought of a Knight killed in combat and was being laid to rest clothed in white satin... tearful lover, kids present at the funeral, whatever. We (males) may have thought that way because of the war which was very near the forefront of MY thoughts. Back then, you went one of three places, college, Vietnam, or Canada.
@grouping Actually, it does represet "Kinights in White Satin". or at least the cover artist thought it had that double-meaning. Most poetry does. Its called metaphor. If you look at the cover for Days of Future Past in the upper left-hand corner is a picture of a knight charging with a lance on a horse.
@grouping Actually, it does represet "Kinights in White Satin". or at least the cover artist thought it had that double-meaning. Most poetry does. Its called metaphor. If you look at the cover for Days of Future Past in the upper left-hand corner is a picture of a knight charging with a lance on a horse.
As a child, this was a very powerful image. As I heard this song, I never knew the "Nights in White Satin" romantic analogy. But the white knights never reaching the end is a perfectly complete poetic and meaningful meaning to the song....
As a child, this was a very powerful image. As I heard this song, I never knew the "Nights in White Satin" romantic analogy. But the white knights never reaching the end is a perfectly complete poetic and meaningful meaning to the song. And I would bet Hayward and Pinder knew that. After all, according to the cover artist they carefully approved and chose the imagery for all their early album covers. They put the Knight in there for a reason....
@grouping I always knew it was "Nights," when perhaps I should have thought "Knights."
@grouping I always knew it was "Nights," when perhaps I should have thought "Knights."
when looking at this song you need to take it in the context of the album as a whole. Days of Future Passed, is an album that charts a mans life across a day. Additionally, you'll find listening to the entire album that the spoken stanza at the end of the song is only a part a poem spoken in the opening song of the album, a mere reprise (more on this later). In the process of talking of a man's life they finally reach the end, the "night", the white satin spoken of is not a bed sheet as some might think, it is in fact the lining of the coffin in which we lay at the end of life, an ending that goes on "never reaching an end". This song is actually the long lament of a man looking back on his life, regretting things he didn't do, chances he didn't take, particularly of never making known his love for woman he once knew. Now, back to that bit about the spoken lament at the end, the final five lines are the same that start the album, symbolizing that our endings are the same as our beginings, or to put it another way, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". For anyone who only knows the song, I recommend that at least once in your life, you take the time to take it all in, in full context of the entire album start to finish. It helps to put it all in perspective.
@xsailor367 Nice write up. Another contributor pointed out that the writer of this song actually mentioned it was satin sheets for a bed that inspired this story (given to him by a lover). But I like the interpretation of the satin lining of a coffin better! The fact is that any interpretation is a two-way process and it doesn’t necessarily mean the authors intention outweighs the value of the listeners or readers interpretation. What is on the page matters most, and from that standpoint, your version trumps what may have been the authors’.
@xsailor367 Nice write up. Another contributor pointed out that the writer of this song actually mentioned it was satin sheets for a bed that inspired this story (given to him by a lover). But I like the interpretation of the satin lining of a coffin better! The fact is that any interpretation is a two-way process and it doesn’t necessarily mean the authors intention outweighs the value of the listeners or readers interpretation. What is on the page matters most, and from that standpoint, your version trumps what may have been the authors’.
@xsailor367 Nice write up. Another contributor pointed out that the writer of this song actually mentioned it was satin sheets for a bed that inspired this story (given to him by a lover). But I like the interpretation of the satin lining of a coffin better! (The “nights” would be the perpetual darkness from within the grave.) The fact is that any interpretation is a two-way process and it doesn’t necessarily mean the authors intention outweighs the value of the listeners or readers interpretation. What is on the page matters most, and from that standpoint, your version trumps what may...
@xsailor367 Nice write up. Another contributor pointed out that the writer of this song actually mentioned it was satin sheets for a bed that inspired this story (given to him by a lover). But I like the interpretation of the satin lining of a coffin better! (The “nights” would be the perpetual darkness from within the grave.) The fact is that any interpretation is a two-way process and it doesn’t necessarily mean the authors intention outweighs the value of the listeners or readers interpretation. What is on the page matters most, and from that standpoint, your version trumps what may have been the authors’.
I can't say what Hayward meant these lyrics to say, since i dont know him or much about him, but i can say what they mean to me. I think this song captures perfectly the tension for someone who's held firm to beliefs or principles or thoughts for most of their life, only to have them challenged by falling deeply in love with someone else. Suddenly, everything you thought you knew to be right seems wrong, and what was black-and-white becomes "an illusion". You're plunged into confusion as to what's over the top, what's good, what's bad...whether or not to send the letter you've got written in front of you on your desk. Every definition and value judgement you've had- beauty, goodnes, virtue- has been challenged by love. The question: how now do you define those things you're confused about? The songwriter's decision is to allow he and his lover to determine the definition within the illusion. And i guess the reason this song brings back bitter memories is that i chose otherwise.
I know how you feel. Love isn't black and white.
I know how you feel. Love isn't black and white.
don't feel bad, 'ladyofshalott,' i chose otherwise also and lost the love of my life forever. a sad story, needless to say, for he was the only love in my life whose love was unconditional. you are not alone in carrying those memories. this is the hand we are dealt, and it's all a sojourn.
don't feel bad, 'ladyofshalott,' i chose otherwise also and lost the love of my life forever. a sad story, needless to say, for he was the only love in my life whose love was unconditional. you are not alone in carrying those memories. this is the hand we are dealt, and it's all a sojourn.
@ladyofshalott Your Interpretation of this song gives new meaning to it. In 2012 I remember hearing this song. I was in a new and exciting relationship after just being let go of from a 20 year marriage. I had heard Nights so many times before but on this occasion I knew that this song had a different meaning than what I thought. Your interpretation was the most similar to my situation at the time. I too chose otherwise, for the sake of doing what my integrity thought was right. But it doesn't always work out that everyone has the...
@ladyofshalott Your Interpretation of this song gives new meaning to it. In 2012 I remember hearing this song. I was in a new and exciting relationship after just being let go of from a 20 year marriage. I had heard Nights so many times before but on this occasion I knew that this song had a different meaning than what I thought. Your interpretation was the most similar to my situation at the time. I too chose otherwise, for the sake of doing what my integrity thought was right. But it doesn't always work out that everyone has the same amount of integrity in a relationship. I then tried for years to get back to what I had given up but trust and other issues seem to side track that relationship. We did keep our friendship and learned more about each other. Seven years later and she's mine now. Keep writing those letters and send them.
My Interpretation starts from the line "Just what you want to be, you will be in the end" and he goes on to say how much he loves her
To me the song is all about letting go of the one you love so she can have her own life when you realise that your attachment will prevent her from having that life
The songs starts with the double entendre, "Nights in white satin, never reaching the end" then the "Letters I've written, never meaning to send" are his Knights in White Satin. These Knights would have told her what he can't say anymore, just what the truth is, because he really does love her
The rest of the song fits the pattern. Couples can't understand what he is going through, friends tell him he shouldn't have let her go, and he realises he never realised her beauty
Also, how many people appreciate the orchestral sections, which give this piece the extra element of drama?
I must admit, the spoken section at the end is a bit excessive.
that's why i love the moody blues- they have an opera rock sound that bands like queen had tried to grasp.
that's why i love the moody blues- they have an opera rock sound that bands like queen had tried to grasp.
It's about a relationship that's passed. A love that's no longer in his life, and the trials one goes through when the love is not resiprecated.
The song title conjures a fantasy of romantic nights in bed with pristine white sheets.
The narrator sings about this love, this fantasy or memory he has for another. Writing letters, tormenting himself over her. He watches other in love, and no one can understand his hurt, his pain.
"...Letters I've written Never meaning to send..."
"Gazing at people, some hand in hand Just what I'm going through they can't understand Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend Just what you want to be, you will be in the end"
Other try to tell him to get over it, and this causes rifts with 'some'. He doesn't know why he cannot move on, but it's how he feels and it's who he is now.
Not a big deal, but; these lyrics ain't exactly right. First, in the first stanza he says "The beauty <.I'd> always missed" not "I've". Second, in the refrain, "And I love you, yes I love you.. he says"Oh, how I love you." which places infinitely more meaning to his feelings of love.The refrain explains his feelings and perceptions about his life as it is presently (stated in the stanzas). Nights in white satin "never ending" is laying awake in bed not being able to stop thinking about your lover. Unsent letters are a result of not being able to put your thoughts in order and express what your feeling, though trying many times; none seem to convey your heart. Suddenly seeing previously unseen beauty is a clear sign of love entering your life as well as not knowing the truth anymore because your world is upside down. etc. etc. The poem at the end is his worldly perception before enduring another Night in White Satin. Actually a VERY good love song that is right on the mark!!
You've surely hit the nail on directly on the head, Squako!! Unfortunately, my congratulations come nearly 9 years after you added this interpretation.
You've surely hit the nail on directly on the head, Squako!! Unfortunately, my congratulations come nearly 9 years after you added this interpretation.
Regarding the comment by grouping, it's interesting, on the album cover is a cartoonish picture of a small Knight in white so your conception is not entirely unintended. This is a great song. When it first came out it was like nothing I'd ever heard. Justin Hayward's voice has such a pleading, wistfull quality, really moving!