“Lady in Black” is a song by the 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. There were many b-sides for this song as a single. The most famous was “Simon the Bullet Freak” but “Bird of Prey” has also been the b-side for the song. In 1981 the band released a single in Germany and in Netherlands and the b-side was “Easy Livin'”. The song was written in the key of A Minor.
A brief comment on the cover of the original vinyl release commented that for Ken Hensley inspiration was a real case: a surprise visit to his daughter’s rural vicar at a moment when he was in very depressed state. The result of this meeting, and – some kind of insight – was the song “Lady in Black”: a philosophical parable that tells us that evil cannot be overcome by evil itself.
Lady in Black (1971)
She came to me one morning, one lonely Sunday morning
Her long hair flowing in the mid-winter wind
I know not how she found me, for in darkness I was walking
And destruction lay around me from a fight I could not win
She asked me name my foes then. I said the need within some men
To fight and kill their brothers without thought of love or god
And I begged her give me horses to trample down my enemies
So eager was my passion to devour this waste of life
But she would not think of battle that reduces men to animals
So easy to begin and yet impossible to end
For she the mother of all men had counselled me so wisely that
I feared to walk alone again and asked if she would stay
“Oh lady lend your hand,” I cried, “Oh let me rest here at your side.”
“Have faith and trust in me,” she said and filled my heart with life
“There is no strength in numbers. Have no such misconception
But when you need me be assured I won’t be far away”
Thus having spoke she turned away and though I found no words to say
I stood and watched until I saw her black cloak disappear
My labour is no easier, but now I know I’m not alone
I’ll find new heart each time I think upon that windy day
And if one day she comes to you drink deeply from her words so wise
Take courage from her as your prize and say hello for me
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