The Night's Too Long
{{short description|1989 single by Lucinda Williams}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Night's Too Long
| cover = File:The_Night's_Too_Long_single_cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Lucinda Williams
| album = Lucinda Williams
| B-side = Price To Pay
| released = 1989
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Blues|Folk|World|Country}}
| length = 3:10
| label = Rough Trade
| writer = Lucinda Williams
| producer = {{hlist|Gurf Morlix|Dusty Wakeman|Lucinda Williams}}
| prev_title = Changed the Locks
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = I Just Wanted to See You So Bad
| next_year = 1989
}}
"The Night's Too Long" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. It was released in 1989 as the second single from her third album, Lucinda Williams (1988).
The song was recorded by American country music artist Patty Loveless. It was released in 1990 as the second single from her fourth studio album On Down the Line.
Content
The song is about a restless young woman who decides to move from her small town to the big city, where she can take in the nightlife and meet the man of her dreams. The first part of the song has her sacrificing to set up her move, which takes place in the second half of the song. Her new office job (in the song's third verse) takes a back seat to her going out to the bars, where she dances and eventually consummates a relationship with the man she had been looking for.
Critical reception
Robin Denselow, writing in The Guardian, called the song an "epic narrative", stating that it "echoes Springsteen at his best."{{cite news|last=Denselow|first=Robin|date=January 16, 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/16/lucinda-williams-25th-anniversary-review|title=Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams 25th Anniversary Edition – review|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-date=December 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228205047/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jan/16/lucinda-williams-25th-anniversary-review|url-status=live}}
Track listing
;7" single{{cite web | url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3167372-Lucinda-Williams-The-Nights-Too-Long-Price-To-Pay| title=Lucinda Williams – The Night's Too Long/Price to Pay| accessdate=26 October 2021 | author=Discogs| website=Discogs| date=1989}}
- "The Night's Too Long" – 4:15
- "Price to Pay" – 2:46
Patty Loveless version
{{Infobox song
| name = The Night's Too Long
| cover = The Night's Too Long.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Patty Loveless
| album = On Down the Line
| B-side = Overtime
| released = September 23, 1990
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length = 3:10
| label = MCA Nashville
| writer = Lucinda Williams
| producer = Tony Brown
| prev_title = On Down The Line
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = I'm That Kind of Girl
| next_year = 1991
}}
=Critical reception=
Lisa Smith and Cyndi Hoelzle described the song favorably in Gavin Report, where they wrote that "Patty plaintively sings the story of a woman trying to break out of her small-town life."{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Lisa |author2= Cyndi Hoelzle |date= August 31, 1990 |title= New Releases |journal=Gavin Report|page=24|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Gavin-Report/90/90/Gavin-1990-08-31.pdf}}
=Track listing=
=Charts=
The song charted for 19 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, reaching No. 20 during the week of December 8, 1990.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=206}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1990) !align="center"|Peak |
| {{singlechart|Canadacountry|6|chartid=1415|publishdate=January 19, 1991|accessdate=August 23, 2013}} |
| {{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|20|artist=Patty Loveless}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|hL2NgJ4DE08|Album version by Lucinda Williams}}, official audio (no music video)
- {{YouTube|JJPe27YBYoQ|Music video by Patty Loveless}}
{{Lucinda Williams}}
{{Patty Loveless}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nights Too Long}}
Category:Lucinda Williams songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer)
Category:Songs written by Lucinda Williams
Category:Rough Trade Records singles
Category:MCA Nashville Records singles