The Moody Blues Nights In White Satin | A love story to the rhythm of “mellotron”
Do you know what a mellotron is? You’re just a few lines away from discovering the secret behind one of the most beautiful songs of all time, ‘Nights in White Satin’. A melody created in the 60’s by The Moody Blues that goes so deep that it never comes out again.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Video | The Moody Blues Nights in White Satin
- Trembol | Story behind Nights in White Satin
- You can’t miss | Best parts of the song
- This is what it says | Nights in White Satin Lyrics
- Did you know? | Fun facts abotu the song
- Much more | Nights in White Satin versions
- Technical Note about Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues
Video | The Moody Blues Nights in White Satin
Trembol | Story behind Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues wanted to make a concept album that represented the different moments of the day, from dawn ☀️ to dusk 🌑. Therefore they titled the 7 songs on the album ‘Days of Future Passed’, released in 1967, with the following names:
- The Day Begins
- Dawn: Dawn is a Feeling
- The Morning: Another Morning
- Lunch Break: Peak Hour
- The Afternoon
- Evening
- The Night
You are probably wondering, where is the song ‘Nights in White Satin‘? Well, it happens to be the last song, ‘The Night’, which in its original version lasted 8 minutes and would later be renamed ‘Nights in White Satin’.
The original version included an orchestral section and a final poem called ‘Late Lament’, which were cut to release a version of 3 minutes and a little later, the version we all know of 4:26, already under the name ‘Nights in White Satin’.
Was ‘Nights in White Satin’ successful when it was released in the 1960s?
No, it wasn’t. When it was published in 1968 in the United States it only reached number 103 in the charts and in the United Kingdom number 19, but a carambola was going to make the song’s luck change in 1972.
At that time in the US, DJs in each region had their own playlist where they sought to be original and discover new talent. A Seattle DJ chose ‘Nights in White Satin’ for his repertoire, achieving a resounding success that spread like wildfire to the rest of the continent.
So much so that it reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 in Canada, becoming The Moody Blues’ biggest hit single with 1 million copies sold.
- The song would repeat on the charts every decade since.
The Moody Blues, who had changed members prior to the album by adding bassist John Lodge and guitarist and singer, Justin Hayward, had created one of the best singles of the late 1960s.
The Moody Blues (Facebook Images)
Justin Hayward (Facebook Image)
The meaning of Nights in White Satin
The track was written by newcomer Justin Hayward, who had written the song at age 19 while straddling two relationships. He had just left his girlfriend, whom he still loved, and was just starting a new relationship.
Hayward was looking for some kind of metaphor to represent the emotional turmoil he was experiencing and remembered a gift he had recently received from another former girlfriend. Guess what it was? White satin sheets. Justin said:
They were very romantic looking, but totally impractical.
Nights in White Satin is the story of a longed-for love from afar.
It was just another song I was writing and I thought it was very powerful. It was a very personal song and every note, every word in it means something to me and I found that a lot of other people have felt that very same way about it.
Justin Hayward (‘Nights in White Satin’ author)
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What is the ‘mellotron’ that sounds in ‘Nights in White Satin’?
A mellotron is a predecessor of today’s synthesizer. It was an analog instrument that could replicate many sounds and rhythms through the use of tape loops, so it was an inexpensive way to incorporate orchestral, string and other sounds into a recording. Perfect for bands without much of a budget like The Moody Blues at the time.
It turns out that the band’s keyboardist, Mike Pinder, had worked in a mellotron factory, and was in love with the instrument.
Although the song’s credits say that the orchestral parts are played by the ‘London Festival Orchestra’, the truth is that only a small part of the song is theirs. Virtually all the strings heard on ‘Nights in White Satin’ are done on Mike Pinder’s mellotron keyboard.
- This would become the signature sound of The Moody Blues.
Mellotron (Wikimedia Commons)
You can’t miss ⭐️ The best of Nights in White Satin
1.- ‘Beauty I’d always missed‘, what a nice mellotron entry.
2.- The final part of the bridge and the last verse are fantastic.
3.- The last chorus goes up in pitch each time he sings ‘I love you‘ until the final gong.
This is what it says | The Moody Blues Nights in White Satin Lyrics
THE MOODY BLUES | NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN | LYRICS
Nights in white satin
Never reaching the end
Letters I’ve written
Never meaning to send
Beauty I’d always missed
With these eyes before
Just what the truth is
I can’t say anymore
‘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 anymore
‘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
THE MOODY BLUES | NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN | LYRICS IN SPANISH
Noches de blanco satén
Nunca llegan al final
Cartas que he escrito
Sin intención de enviar
La belleza que siempre he añorado
Con estos ojos antes
La verdad
no puedo decirla mas
Porque te amo
Sí te amo
Ay como te amo
Mirando a la gente
Algunos de la mano
Por lo que estoy pasando
ellos no pueden entender
Algunos intentan decirme
Pensamientos que no pueden defender
Lo que quieras ser
Lo serás al final
Y te amo
Sí te amo
Ay como te amo
Ay como te amo
Noches de blanco satén
Nunca llegan al final
Cartas que he escrito
Sin intención de enviar
La belleza que siempre he añorado
Con estos ojos antes
La verdad
no puedo decirla mas
Porque te amo
Sí te amo
Ay como te amo
Ay como te amoPorque te amo
Sí te amo
Ay como te amo
Ay como te amo
| Background Image: NIghts in White Satin cover
The story of the ‘Late Lament’ | The final poem in ‘Nights in White Satin
The original 8-minute version of ‘Nights in White Satin’ that can be found on the album includes in the final 2 minutes a poem entitled ‘Late Lament’.
This poem was written by drummer Graeme Edge and was recited by keyboardist Mike Pinder.
At the end of it a large gong sounds representing the conclusion of the album.
- Whenever The Moody Blues toured with orchestra they always played Nights in White Satin with the ‘Late Lament’, being recited by Graeme Edge because Mike Pinder left the band.
Video | The Moody Blues The Night
Did you know...?
Much more | Best Nights in White Satin Covers
Bettye LaVette ‘Nights In White Satin’
Justin Hayward, the singer of The Moody Blues and composer of the song, has stated on more than one occasion that for him Bettye LaVette’s version is better than his own.
- Bettye included it on her 2010 album ‘The British Rock Songbook’.
‘Nights in White Satin’ has been covered by dozens of other artists, including Giorgio Moroder (1976), Elkie Brooks (1982) and our favorite, German singer Sandra, from her 1995 album ‘Fading Shades’.
- Other versions are by: Nomadi, Juliane Werding, The Dickies, Il Divo, Erwin Nyhoff, Rachael Leahcar, Oceans of Slumber, Franck Pourcel, Dalida, Eric Burdon and War, Deodato, Marie Laforêt, The Shadows, Jacky Cheung, James Last and Orchestra, David Lanz, Alain Bashung, Nancy Sinatra, Jennifer Rush, Mario Frangoulis, God is an Astronaut, Declan, Midnight Movies, Collide, Transatlantic and Larkin Poe.
The song has also been used in a multitude of commercials and films such as:
- The film of the same name, ‘Nights in White Satin’ directed by Michael Barnard in 1987.
- Chanel Bleu perfume commercial in 2023.
- Tim Burton’s 2012 film ‘Dark Shadows’.
- ‘Halloween II’ directed by Rob Zombie in 2009.
Technical Note | The Moody Blues ‘Nights in White Satin‘
✔️ ‘Nights in White Satin’ was one of the first Rock n’ Roll recordings in stereo, as well as one of the first to use the famous mellotron.
✔️ The main melody of the track is very reminiscent of Ben E. King’s ‘I (Who Have Nothing)‘, released in 1963, although the instrumentation makes “Nights in White Satin” sound different.
🎼 The song is in the key of E minor and features the Neapolitan chord (a major chord built on the second degree of the descending scale).
- To highlight the sound of the bass when “Yes, I love you” is played, brutal!
Nights in White Satin (Single front cover)
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