Lady in Black (song)
| "Lady in Black" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Uriah Heep | |
| from the album Salisbury | |
| B-side | Simon the Bullet Freak |
| Released | 1971 |
| Format | 7" |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock |
| Length | 4:44 (album) 3:34 (single edit) |
| Label | Vertigo (UK) Mercury (US) |
| Writer(s) | Ken Hensley |
"Lady in Black" is a song by the 1970s rock band Uriah Heep. It is the fourth track of their 1971 album Salisbury.
The song is credited to Ken Hensley. It tells the story of a man wandering through war-torn darkness and encountering a goddess-like entity who consoles him. It is often praised, by fans and critics alike, as Hensley's most poetic work to date.
[edit] Cover versions
Acts who have covered "Lady in Black" include the gregorian chant project Gregorian on their 2006 album Masters of Chant Chapter V and Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum. The song was translated into Finnish and covered by another Finnish band Lemon in 1972 as "Nainen tummissa".
In 1972 Italian singer Caterina Caselli covered the song in her album Caterina Caselli 1972, with title L'uomo del Paradiso;[1] Italian translation has been made by Claudio Daiano and Ettore Carrera.[2]
The song was covered by the Spanish folk metal group Mägo de Oz in a translated version as "Dama Negra". Serbian heavy metal band Kraljevski Apartman recorded a cover version with Serbian lyrics entitled Slike on their 2000 album Izgubljen u vremenu. Czech version Slečna závist (Miss Envy) is by rock band Arakain.
Italian singer Spagna covered the song in her 2002 album Woman. There is also an Italian language version, titled Di nero vestita , included in Io sono il vampiro, a 2005 album (O.S.T. of the homonymous 2002 horror movie) by the Italian progressive rock band Abiogenesi.
In 2002 the Romanian group Iris together with Mick Box and Bernie Shaw from Uriah Heep made a new version of this song named "Doamna in negru". This new version was a collaboration between Iris and the two members of Uriah Heep and the lyrics are bilingual in Romanian and in English.[3]
