Lady in Black (song)

Lady in Black is the title of a well-known rock songs of the British hard rock band Uriah Heep.

The rock ballad was written by Ken Hensley, the keyboard player for the group, allegedly after meeting with a woman in the summer of 1970 in Munich. They were friends long close later time. In the fall of 1970 wrote and composed the song Hensley. Hensley had to sing yourself as the song the former vocalist David Byron to " banal " sounded Lady in Black.

The pacifist text is about the encounter of a man with a mysterious "Lady in Black" (woman in black ), which can metaphorically represent the conscience. In a severe conflict, which is not described in detail, he asks her for weapons and his strength. However, the woman refuses and tells him instead to peacefulness and relaxation of the conflict. His request to accompany him from now on, she refuses. She leaves him again, not without promising him at any time to be there for him when he needs it.

Hensley sings the text without breaks, divided into five stanzas. In between each one viertaktiger chorus, which consists of a long drawn sung ahh and repeated after the last verse until the song fades out. The song is composed in A minor and consists only of the two chords A minor and G major.

The introductory instruments are the acoustic guitar, which is set to play the basic rhythm, and drums. From the second stanza put an electric bass and electric rhythm guitar, which together form the distinctive and at the same time monotonous and repetitive basic riff of the song. In the course of keyboards and a second voice added.

The 4:44 minutes long song was recorded in October 1970. He was first published on the 1971 soundtrack LP Salisbury and later as a single - to cut about a minute - uncoupled. Especially in Germany the song was very successful, where it was subsequently re-released on single during the 1970s and a total of three times in the single charts came (1971 24th, 1975 44th and 1977 5th place). Live, the song was partially played in two or three times as long. Cover versions exist of, inter alia, Torment, Ensiferum, the Puhdys, The Ravenous and Gregorian and Rex Gildo a German lyric. There are also countless adaptations and parodies, including one of the most famous of Norbert and the cowards.