"The Night's Too Long" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

. It was released in 1989 as the second single from her third album, ''

'' (1988). The song was recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

. It was released in 1990 as the second single from her fourth studio album ''

On Down the Line ''On Down the Line'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Patty Loveless. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee during December 1989/January 1990, it was the follow-up to her breakthrough album, '' Honky Tonk Angel''. The album ...

''.

Content

The song is about a restless young woman 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 Robin Denselow is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Education Denselow was educated at Leighton Park School, a boys' Quaker boarding independent school (now co-educational) in Reading, Berkshire, followed by New College, Oxford, wher ...

, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', called the song an "epic narrative", stating that it "echoes

Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

at his best."

Track listing

;7" single * "The Night's Too Long" – 4:15 * "Price to Pay" – 2:46

Patty Loveless version

Critical reception

Lisa Smith and Cyndi Hoelzle described the song favorably in ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'', where they wrote that "Patty plaintively sings the story of a woman trying to break out of her small-town life."

Track listing

;7" single * "The Night's Too Long" – 3:56 * "Overtime " – 2:48

Charts

The song charted for 19 weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, reaching No. 20 during the week of December 8, 1990.

References

External links

*, official audio (no music video) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nights Too Long 1989 singles 1990 singles Lucinda Williams songs Patty Loveless songs Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Songs written by Lucinda Williams Rough Trade Records singles MCA Nashville Records singles Music videos directed by John Lloyd Miller 1988 songs