Princess of the Night

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"Princess of the Night"
Single by Saxon
from the album Denim and Leather
Released23 October 1981
Recorded1981
Genre Heavy metal
Length4:01
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Saxon
Producer(s) Nigel Thomas
Saxon singles chronology
"Never Surrender"
(1981)		"Princess of the Night"
(1981)		"Power and the Glory"
(1983)

"Princess of the Night" is a single by British heavy metal band Saxon, featured as the opening track and single from their 1981 album Denim and Leather ; the song was written as a group production of all five members of the band at the time: Peter "Biff" Byford, Steve Dawson, Pete Gill, Graham Oliver, and Paul Quinn. The lyrics of the song deal with the narrator's affinity of a steam locomotive of the LMS Princess Royal Class. [1]

Contents

The single itself peaked in its popularity at 57 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

Saxon are from Barnsley, an industrial town in north-central England with several railways. According to singer Biff Byford, Barnsley is famous for "bus scrapyards". In 1981, Byford said, "Princess of the Night is a song about a steam train that ends up on the scrapyard." [2]

Later in 1981, Byford added, "Some time ago we used to park our van at Barry Island in Glamorgan. There's a huge compound there where they keep all the old steam trains that they don't use anymore. They're just left to rot and I suppose that upset us because they really were magnificent machines. Well you can't beat the days of steam can you? [3]

"Anyway, late at night if I couldn't sleep I used to look out at those ghostly engines and imagine them painted up and back in their glory. It's my romantic side coming out again." [3]

Personnel

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References

  1. ↑ Facebook chat question to Saxon, 11 Jun 2015
  2. ↑ "Saxon — the Barnsley Connection". Kerrang! . London: Sounds. June 1981. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 "The Eagle Has Landed: Saxon Spread Their Wings". Kerrang! . London: Sounds. November 1981. Retrieved 20 May 2023.


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