Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin - Lyrics Meaning

This single was first released in 1967 on the Moody Blues' album, "Days of Future Passed." It was not well received when first released, and it was thought that its seven-minute length - then fairly unusual - was probably at least partially responsible for the lukewarm response. After the success of longer-running hits like The Beatles' "Hey Jude," the song was re-released in 1972 and made it all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Coincidentally, it is also the song which fell off the Hot 100 from its highest position - going from #17 to off the charts in a single week.

As the story goes, songwriter Justin Hayward, who joined the band the year before, was inspired to write the song after he received as a gift a set of white satin sheets. In a 2008 interview about the song with Daily Express Saturday magazine, Howard said, "It was a series of random thoughts and was quite autobiographical. It was a very emotional time as I was at the end of one big love affair and the start of another. A lot of that came out in the song."

Nights in white satin

Never reaching the end

Letters I've written

Never meaning to send