For the flower colloquially known as "Princess of the Night", see Epiphyllum oxypetalum.
| Princess of the Night | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Saxon |
| Album: | Denim and Leather |
| Released: | 23 October 1981 |
| Recorded: | 1981 |
| Genre: | Heavy metal |
| Length: | 4:01 |
| Label: | Capitol |
| Producer: | Nigel Thomas |
| Prev Title: | Never Surrender |
| Prev Year: | 1981 |
| Next Title: | Power and the Glory |
| Next Year: | 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]
The single itself peaked in its popularity at 57 on the UK Singles Chart.
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?
"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]