Rock Poetry Line by Line

"Nights in White Satin"

“The Night: Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues,

Composer:  Justin Hayward.

“Late Lament,” Poem by Graeme Edge; narrated by Mike Pinder.

From Days of Future Passed, 1967.

White Satin Sonneta

Mystical song sounds like a haunting hymn;

More than for listening was memorized.

Heard many times to digest gist within,

Its symphonic poetry mesmerized.

Instrumentals stirring and meaningful,

Opens thoughtful minds to contemplation.

May glean from its words ideas insightful-

Core therein more than lovers' elation.

Flesh steers our search, its enslavement endless,

For love’s swollen heart engages spirit.

Delays all thought of facing nothingness,

Rear view realization time was wasted.

.

Born graced with souls of pristine white satin;

Sum of our essence what we imagine.---Lisa Cole-Allen

“Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues, from 1967’s

Days of Future Passed took listeners aback.  More than a love

song, it had beneath its beauty a command to see beyond the

present into the future while reviewing the past.  All activities

ceased and there was silence save the majestic music, vocals

that both lulled and questioned, the introspective poetic

recitation, and the symphonic finale concluded by the Chinese gong.

Days of Future Passed, a concept album, the title itself paradoxical,

is cited as the precursor of progressive rock music and an influential

work of the counterculture era. The album’s metaphor is the life

cycle, symbolized by time periods of day and night to portray birth

to death and beyond.

Do we hear “Nights in White Satin” in a different light now than we

did then?  To this day, do we remain silent during “Late Lament?” 

Do we think of love, loss or regret? Do tears fall, sobs choke?  

Or is there contentment, serenity in having survived?

“The Night: Nights in White Satin”