"Driftwood" is a 1978 single by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band the Moody Blues. It was the second single released from the album ''

Octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

'', after "

Steppin' in a Slide Zone "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was the first single the Moody Blues had released in five years, after the band's temporary hiatus. It was written by bassist John Lodge, and was ...

". Written by Justin Hayward, "Driftwood" is a slow love ballad, in a similar manner to "

Nights in White Satin "Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album ''Days of Future Passed''. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 ...

" and "

Never Comes the Day "Never Comes the Day" is a 1969 single by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by band member Justin Hayward, and was the only single released from their 1969 album ''On the Threshold of a Dream''. Background The song was ...

Background

'' Billboard Magazine'' described "Driftwood" as a "lush romantic ballad." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a smooth and spacy ballad about beaching on the shore of life" and also praised the vocal performance. "Driftwood" was also the final single to feature keyboardist Mike Pinder, who left the band shortly before the completion of ''Octave'' for personal reasons. He would later be replaced by former

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Shortly after release, a promotional video was recorded for "Driftwood." The video features Patrick Moraz on the keyboards, although Mike Pinder is playing the keyboards in the actual recording. The song also includes an

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

which is played by session musician R.A. Martin, although

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Night ...

is depicted playing the alto saxophone in the video.

Personnel

* Justin Hayward: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar * John Lodge: bass guitar * Mike Pinder: keyboards *

: tambourine * Graeme Edge: drums, percussion

Additional personnel

* R.A. Martin: horns, alto saxophone

Chart success

The record spent seven weeks on the U.S. ''Billboard'' charts and peaked at No. 59. It also reached No. 38 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

References

{{authority control The Moody Blues songs 1978 singles Songs written by Justin Hayward 1978 songs Decca Records singles