Princess Of The Night

Album: Denim And Leather (1981)
Charted: 57
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Songfacts®:

  • Any uninitiated metal fan listening to this uptempo track might conjecture that it is a bizarre tribute to a groupie who is well past her sell-by date. In fact, it was inspired by a train.

    In the very first issue of Kerrang!, June 1981, an interview with vocalist Biff Byford and guitarist Paul Quinn, Saxon - The Barnsley Connection, makes this clear. Byford explained it is a song "about a steam train that ends up in the scrap yard."

    Later, that year, in the November issue, he went into more detail: "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?"

    He continued: "Anyway, late at night if I couldn't sleep I would look at those ghostly engines and imagine them painted up and back in their glory. It's my romantic side coming out again." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England
  • Biff Byford had the lyrics written for this song about a year before the band put music to it. When that music came, it came quickly Byford explained in our 2014 interview: "Paul Quinn (Saxon guitarist) came up with a riff and it sort of fit my lyrics. So that song was written very quickly, very quickly indeed. I already had the lyrics and the riff went together so simply, really smooth."

Comments: 2

  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcA classic English metal song about a train.
  • What from HellReally. A f--king groupie. Bringing the mail through ice and snow. 90 tons of thunder. You going to tell me people thought this was about a groupie.
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