"Forever Autumn" is a song written by

Jeff Wayne Jeffry Wayne (born 1 July 1943) is an American-British composer, musician and lyricist. In 1978, he released ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'', his musical adaptation of H. G. Wells' science-fiction novel ''The War of ...

Gary Osborne Gary Osborne (born 1949 in London) is an English singer and songwriter. He chaired The Songwriters Executive of the British Academy Of Songwriters Composers and Authors for 12 years during which time he was also chairman of The Ivor Novello Awar ...

and

Paul Vigrass Gary Osborne (born 1949 in London) is an English singer and songwriter. He chaired The Songwriters Executive of the British Academy Of Songwriters Composers and Authors for 12 years during which time he was also chairman of The Ivor Novello Awar ...

,and sung by

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

. The original melody was written by Wayne in 1969 as a jingle for a

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

commercial. Vigrass and Osborne, the performers of the original jingle, added lyrics to the song and recorded it for inclusion on their 1972 album ''Queues''. Their interpretation was also released as a single and gained moderate commercial success in Japan, selling more than 100,000 copies and becoming a top-20 hit on the country's

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

. The best-known version is the recording by

from the album ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the sci ...

''. Wayne wanted to include a love song on the album that sounded like "Forever Autumn", and he decided that the best course of action was to simply use the original song. Wayne chose Hayward, of

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

, to sing it saying that he "wanted that voice from '

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 ...

'". It was recorded at London's Advision Studios in 1976. The song reached #5 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1978. The single version was released on the compilation album '' Highlights from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds''. A new version was released in late 2012, sung by

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

for the new album ''

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation'' is a 2012 concept album by Jeff Wayne and is a re-working of his 1978 concept album, retelling the story of the 1898 novel ''The War of the Worlds'' by H. G. Well ...

''.

Notable recordings

* Vigrass and Osborne performed it on their 1972 album, ''Queues''. This version also appeared as a single. * Hayward performed it on the 1978 album ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds''. A slightly different mix (notably excluding the narration from the album) was released as a single. The latter version was included in the

Moody Blues Moody may refer to: Places * Moody, Alabama, U.S. * Moody, Indiana, U.S. * Moody, Missouri, U.S. * Moody, Texas, U.S. * Moody County, South Dakota, U.S. * Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada * Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South A ...

' box set '' Time Traveller''. Although sometimes falsely credited as being an original single by the Moody Blues itself, Hayward has performed the song live with that group. * Pierre Belmonde, on the 1980 album, ''Themes for Dreams''. *

Acker Bilk Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was a British clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistc ...

, on the 1980 album, ''Mellow Music''. *

Paul Brett Paul Brett (born 20 June 1947 in Fulham, London) is an English classic rock guitarist. He played lead guitar with Strawbs (although he was never actually a member), The Overlanders, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, T ...

, on the 1980 album, ''Romantic Guitar''. This version also appeared as a single. * Peter Hayward, on the 1982 album, ''Hayward's Choice''. *

Ronnie Aldrich Ronald Frank Aldrich (15 February 1916 – 30 September 1993) was a British easy listening and jazz pianist, arranger, conductor and composer. Early life He was born Ronald Frank Aldrich on 15 February 1916 in Erith, England, the only son o ...

, on the 1987 album, ''For All Seasons''. * Ed Starink, on the 1990 album ''Synthesizer Greatest Volume 5'' and 1992 album ''Synthesizer Gold''. * DJ's Supreme and UFO released a

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. H ...

interpolation in 1997 *

, on the 2012 album ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds: The New Generation''. * Luka Kuncevic, for the opening and end titles of the 2012 animated movie '' War of the Worlds: Goliath'' *

Sarah McQuaid Sarah McQuaid is a singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She has recorded six solo albums: When Two Lovers Meet (self-released, 1997), I Won't Go Home ’Til Morning (self-released, 2008), The Plum Tree And The Rose (Waterbug Rec ...

on the 2018 album, ''If We Dig Any Deeper It Could Get Dangerous'' * Ally Sloper performed it on ''

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leadin ...

's Twitch of Fun''.

Chart positions

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1972 songs 1978 songs 1978 singles Justin Hayward songs Songs with lyrics by Gary Osborne Songs based on jingles Songs written by Jeff Wayne