Miss You Nights
(David Townsend)
Originally recorded by: Cliff Richard


I've had many times I can tell you
Times when innocence I'd trade for company
And children saw me crying
That I thought I'd had my share of that
But these miss you nights are the longest

Midnight diamonds stud my heaven
Southwoods burning like the jewels that eye your place
And the warm winds that embrace me
Just as surely kissed your face
Yeah these miss you nights they're the longest

(Lay down) Lay down all thoughts of your surrender
It's only me who's killing time
(play down) play down all dreams once remembered
It's just the same this miss you game

Thinking of my going 
How to cut the thread and leave it all behind
Looking windward for my compass
I take each day as it arrives
But these miss you nights are the longest

Yeah these miss you nights are the longest
Leave it all behind...

(playing time 3:19)

Song Facts: This can be found on The Day After Yesterday.

 According to US

I was not familiar with this song at all, although I am aware of who Cliff Richard is. So this was another track on the TDAY CD that I could listen to with "virgin" ears and not have a biased opinion based on the original. I grew to like this one.

The lyrics sound to me a lot like something Rick could've/would've written. The line that really gets me in the beginning is, "and children saw me crying". Why that makes my throat catch and eyes well up with tears, I don't know. Probably because I'm a sap, but the way he says it touches me somehow. As if he was so caught up in his loneliness, that he just didn't care who saw him that way anymore.

That's what I feel from this song, a great sense of loneliness. That everything is okay during the day, but once night rolls around it's a whole different story. You let your guard down, your defenses are tired from the day's struggle of trying to maintain a sense of normalcy, and you just want to lay down and be comforted. You just want to hold someone or have that someone hold you and they are not there anymore.

I love the calm, flow-y feel to this song. The simple guitar in the beginning is beautiful & soothing. Rick's raspy voice adds to the emotions being emitted here. This song also reminds me a lot of Rick's earlier stuff, I think it's the 70's music vibe. 

My curiosity then got the best of me. I wanted to hear the original to see if it was the song, or Rick that I was attracted to. I now know my ear turns to tin when RS is not at the vocals. I really, really don't like Cliff's version, and I was actually incredulous that this was a big hit for him. The original is mostly piano-based, and I really think the guitar adds more to the melancholy feeling of this song. The accompanying singers also seem overbearing to the lead vocalist, adding a choir-like feel to the original. Rick also left out a verse, I don't know if that was intentional or not. That being said, this is definitely one I don't skip on the TDAY CD - but you won't catch me listening to the original! - Michelle P.

This song has been one of my favorites on this record since I got it last July. I think it epitomizes the etheral quality that was supposedly the theme of this record. I think his voice sounds very strong on this tune, and there is movement to it that some of the other slower songs (I'm Not In Love) lack. 

Like others on this list, I find myself very much drawn to the songs on this record that I had never heard of, and this one is one of them. It feels very much like a song that Rick could have written, perhaps showing up during the Karma time period. The imagery in it is the reason. When I listen to that first stanza, I totally think Rick can feel it:

I've had many times, I can tell you, times when innocence I'd trade for company
And children saw me crying...

I love the way the words are used to create pictures in this song, much like Rick can paint a picture with words. The second stanza is a terrific example of this:

Midnight diamonds stud my heaven
And the warm winds that embraced me just as surely kissed your face

But mostly I love the passion I hear in the last bit (and the ways it can be related to many people and places in life):

Play down all thoughts of your surrender, it's only me who's killing time
Play down all dreams once remembered
It's just the same, this miss you game

And the last bit about cutting the thread and leaving it all behind, looking windward for his compass...this just feels very much like something Rick could write and feel and say about himself. I take each day as it arrives sounds like the place he was searching for and feeling like he was at during the Karma days but perhaps is striving for again now. 

I really do like this one.  - Amy SP

WOW is the first word that comes to mind when I hear this song! It has got to be one of my favorites off of TDAY. This song sounds like it stepped right out of a romance novel to me. (Hey, maybe this would have been better in A Change of Place, during the love scene, rather than the French music!) I only vaguely remember this song from before. I don't know that I heard it a lot, but it sounded somewhat familiar. Now I LOVE it! See what Rick can do for an old song that slipped through the cracks! I went and listened to a clip of the original…and I tell you, I prefer Rick's rendition of the song.

I think my favorite thing about this song is the way it builds as it goes along. It rises & falls musically. I especially like the change over sound as it goes from "It's just the same, this miss you game," to "thinking of my going. How to cut the thread & leave it all behind." That is a great way to say that it's time to move on.

I also love the sound of desperation in his voice. It's just perfect for this song. One part that I enjoy the most (although the whole song just sweeps me off my feet), is where it says, "Lay down, lay down all thoughts of your surrender, it's only me who's killing time." I adore that part, for the lyrics, the music, the background vocals, and for Rick's vocals. My goodness…his voice in this one is immaculate! The second verse is my favorite verse (as a whole section of the song)…."Midnight diamonds stud my heaven, south woods burning like the jewels that eye your place. And the warm winds, that embrace me…Just as surely kissed your face. Yeah these miss you nights, they're the longest." All these lyrics sound like something Rick could have written! So poetic! Then Rick ends it beautifully, in almost a whisper "leave it all behind." What a great song choice for this collection. Definitely a stand-out track in my opinion. - Kelley Pearson

This is another strange sounding song - I'd never heard the original before. I like Rick's very much more - perhaps it's more fitting to my time period of musical tastes.  - Jen H.