Justin finally understands iconic song

ThisisCornwall.co.uk Lead singer with the Moody Blues Justin Hayward has had an incredible career spanning six decades, generating countless hits and world tours. But the single thing he is best known for is probably his penning of that staple of radio stations around the globe, Nights In White Satin, a track he wrote when he was just 19. Now a very well-preserved 60-something, he reflects on the track, ahead of the Moody's return trip to Plymouth Pavilions – a track he wrote without too much thought at the time and only just appreciated properly very recently. "Curiously, back in the Sixties when I wrote it, it was considered not form to discuss what songs were about," he says. "People understood, or worked out their own interpretations – the world was very different. So I didn't really think about it all that much." He might not remember what his teen self meant exactly, but Justin has clear recall of the night he wrote it and what was on his mind at the time. "I remember coming home from a gig very late one night, it must have been dawn as the birds were singing. At the time Graham and I were sharing a flat with our girlfriends. For me it was the end of one love affair and the beginning of another, so a very emotional time, and I had this series of random thoughts. "Yes, a girl had given me a pair of white satin sheets, which is where the idea started." It only reached number nine at the time, while other Moody's songs Go Now and Question were more successful. Justin says it was only two years ago that he really appreciated it properly for the first time. "I was sitting in bed with my laptop and saw this incredible interpretation of the song by Detroit singer Bettye La Vette. "As she sang it I burst into tears. My wife came in and asked me what was the matter and I said 'I've been singing this song all my life, but now, aged 64, I've only just heard it properly for the first time'."