"Shadows of the Night" is a song composed by D.L. Byron explicitly for the 1980 film ''

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

'', which tells the story of two young runaways in New York City. The song did not make it into the movie and Byron's own record label rejected it, claiming the song "wasn't commercial enough." It was released as a single by

Helen Schneider Helen Schneider (born December 23, 1952) is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany. Life and career Helen Leslie Schneider was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider. Schneider studi ...

in 1981 as well as on her album ''Schneider with the Kick''. According to Byron, Schneider's version went 5× platinum in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

countries. This successful song is not mentioned in her own biography. Another version with slightly different lyrics was released by

Rachel Sweet Rachel Sweet (born July 28, 1962)
accessed May 2, 2014. is an American singer, television writer and actres ...

on her album ''...And Then He Kissed Me'', also in 1981. The most famous version was then released in September 1982 by American rock singer

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo (''née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum alb ...

, as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''

Get Nervous ''Get Nervous'' is the fourth studio album by American rock singer Pat Benatar, released in October 1982. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart the week ending November 20 and peaked at No. 4, staying on the charts for 46 weeks. Thr ...

''. Benatar's recording reached number 3 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the Top 15 on the US Hot 100 and in Canada, and the Top 20 in Australia. "Shadows of the Night" garnered Benatar her third Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1983. The lyrics of Benatar's version differ slightly from both previous versions.

Music video

Benatar's music video for the song centers around Benatar as a riveter dreaming about being a flying ace who fights Nazis in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It features

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who has starred in several Hollywood movies, such as ''Ruthless People'', ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', ''Stripes'' and ''Gremlins'', and co-starred in all of the fil ...

as a pilot and

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor and filmmaker. He appeared in films such as '' Weird Science'' (1985), ''Aliens'' (1986), ''Near Dark'' (1987), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''True Lies'' (1994), '' Apollo 13 ...

as Nazi radio operator. Benatar's

T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...

aircraft is named ''Midnight Angel'', a phrase also used in the song itself with a different meaning ("And now the hands of time are standin' still/Midnight angel, won't you say you will"). Helen Schneider's version has a spaceman and a goat.Helen Schneider With The Kick (2) – Shadows Of The Night - Discogs
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Chart performance

Cover versions

There have been several cover versions of the song over the years: *In 1983, the Rachel Sweet version was covered by singer-songwriter

Randy VanWarmer Randy VanWarmer (also written as Vanwarmer, Van Warmer; March 30, 1955 – January 12, 2004) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His biggest success was the pop hit, "Just When I Needed You Most". It reached No. 8 on the UK Single ...

on his album ''The Things That You Dream''. *In 2005, the song was included as a musical number medley with the

Quarterflash Quarterflash (previously stylized as QuarterFlash) was an American rock group formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon. The band was originally made up of the two current members, Orinda Sue "Rindy" Ross (lead vocals and saxophone) and her husband Mar ...

song "

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" in the

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs perfo ...

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''. *The 2012 film adaptation of ''

'', is where the song is performed by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. *In 2008, the song was covered by

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

for the soundtrack of the TV film '' Picture This''.
That same year, another cover by Paul Layton was included on the soundtrack of the independent zombie comedy movie '' Dance of the Dead''. *In 2014, the song was featured in the enhanced version of the video game ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'' on the in-game radio station

Los Santos Rock Radio The music for the 2013 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game ''Grand Theft Auto V'', developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, was composed by The Alchemist (record producer), The Alchemist, Oh No (musician), Oh No ...

. *In 2015, the song was featured at the end of the

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

episode of '' The Goldbergs''. *In 2022,

Alison Pill Alison Pill (born November 27, 1985) is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous films and television series. She transitioned to adult roles and her breakthrough came with the television ...

sang a jazz cover of the song in '' Star Trek: Picard'' as the character Agnes Jurati.

Sampling

In 1995, the melody of the chorus was sampled in the

DJ Miko DJ Miko was an Italian dance act fronted by keyboardist Monier Quartararo Gagliardo (born 8 February 1973) and British vocalist Louise Anne Gard from Tunbridge Wells. It mainly released dance cover versions of past pop and rock hits and is prima ...

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song "Lovely Lullaby", and again in 2014 in the

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

song "

Really Don't Care "Really Don't Care" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato, featuring English singer Cher Lloyd. The song was released on May 20, 2014, as the fourth and final single from the former's fourth studio album ''Demi'' (2013). Both of them co-wrot ...

References

{{Pat Benatar 1980 songs 1982 singles Chrysalis Records singles Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Pat Benatar songs Songs written by Pat Benatar Rock ballads