Billy Squier – Lonely Is The Night

I liked some of Squier’s earlier songs. This song peaked at #28 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs in 1981. The song was on the Don’t Say No album which peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1981. The album had four well-known songs on it including The Stroke, My Kind of Lover, In The Dark, and this one. This song has always had a Led Zeppelin feel to me.

Squier asked Brian May of Queen to produce this album but because of scheduling conflicts, he couldn’t do it but recommended Reinhold Mack who produced the Queen album The Game…who ended up producing this album. Squier worked out of Boston and worked with at one time or another Ric Ocaskik, Joe Pepper, and Tom Shultz.

My second concert was a Billy Squier concert on November 30, 1982, in Nashville at the Municipal Auditorium. The Auditorium has been around since the early sixties and I remember seeing the No Smoking signs at the beginning of the concert…by the end you couldn’t see them because of the smoke. Nazareth opened up for Squier.

My first two concerts were REO and Billy Squier…My sons first two concerts were Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr…I told him he had a much better beginning than I did in his concert history…his third was Bob Dylan.

From Songfacts

In a 1982 interview with Sounds magazine, Squier explained that he doesn’t write songs when he’s on the road, which keeps him away from topics like groupies and parties. Said Squier: “‘Lonely Is The Night’ for example is nothing to do with the fact that I’m in a rock band, but it does have to do with the fact that you can be by yourself in a room somewhere and not know what to do, be scared to death of having to go out and find something.” 

 

Lonely Is The Night

Lonely is the night when you find yourself alone
Your demons come to light and your mind is not your own
Lonely is the night when there’s no one left to call
You feel the time is right, say the writing’s on the wall

It’s a high time to fight when the walls are closin’ in
Call it what you like it’s time you got to win
Lonely, lonely, lonely your spirit’s sinkin’ down
You find you’re not the only stranger in this town

Red lights, green lights, stop and go jive
Headlines, deadlines jammin’ your mind
You been stealin’ shots from the side
Let your feeling’s go for a ride

There’s danger out tonight, the man is on the prowl
Get the dynamite, the boys are set to howl
Lonely is the night when you hear the voices call
Are you ready for a fight, do you wanna take it all?

Slowdown, showdown waitin’ on line
Show time, no time for changin’ your mind
Streets are ringin’, march to the sound
Let your secrets follow you down

Somebody’s watchin’ you baby, so much you can do
Nobody’s stoppin’ you baby, from makin’ it too
One glimpse’ll show you now baby, what the music can do
One kiss’ll show you now baby, it can happen to you

No more sleepin’, wastin’ our time
Midnight creepin’s, first on our minds
No more lazin’ ’round the TV
You’ll go crazy, come out with me

Feelin’ lonely
Lonely is the night
Feelin’ lonely
Lonely is the night
Lonely, lonely, lonely

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

25 thoughts on “Billy Squier – Lonely Is The Night”

  1. Would’ve guessed it was an A-side, it still gets some airplay to this day. He put out some pretty good songs in the early-80s and radio seems to have rediscovered them in a big way in last couple of years (in Texas at least)

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    1. I thought it was an a side as well.
      The one I remember the most then was The Stroke… he had a decent career

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      1. Ok, so I had to share this with you. First of all, one of the things I love about talking music with people is talking about A-sides and B-sides. There are few people who even understand what that means today. They’ll never understand what it was like to go up to a jukebox and pick the A or B side of a song. Hell, many people don’t even know what a 45 is!

        I remember one day talking to someone about how many B-sides we’re just throwaways. Not a whole lot of effort went into them. Sometime later, we were listening to a comedy show on the radio and they played this… It is some British band literally making fun of the throw away songs….

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      2. I know most people don’t know anymore. I would flip a record everytime when I was a kid…of course I was lucky enough to like the Beatles, Stones etc…and their B sides were almost always very good.

        lol I never heard that before…ever.

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      3. That reminds me…I actually won concert tix off of the radio to see REO. I was just waking up in the morning and was listening to the music (I used to sleep with one on). They were doing this “Name The Oldie” thing and I heard the opening drum beat to “Hang On Sloopy”. How my sleepy ass got thru to the station…and actually WON, I don’t know. “Live As We Know It” tour. 1987. Shocked the s*** out of me! I SWEAR I think Guns -n- Roses opened for them because I remember Axel & REO sharing a piano…or, maybe, they just toured together, taking turns with openings??? Either way, I’ve see Guns -n- Roses and I don’t recall going out of my way to get G -n- R tix.

        My second concert was Foreigner…Agent Provocateur Tour. 1985.

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      4. I’ve tried to win tickets on the radio with no luck. Our bass player still does to this day. He won Boston tickets a couple of years ago and I went.

        I saw REO twice…free tickets the second time from someone.

        Also I sneaked in a sold out Temptations concert at Opryland when it was running…

        Concerts were so much fun back then. i don’t go to many now…just really big acts I really want to see…My son and I did go see Jake Bugg at a club…that is the newest concert I went to…I got him into Jake lol.

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      5. Heh. It gets more strange. All I woke up to was them wanting the answer to the oldie. I knew it, called in and I was right. I had NO IDEA what the prize was. It’s not like I was actively seeking REO tix. There is an on-the-air recording, somewhere if they keep records, of me saying “I don’t even know what I’m calling FOR!” 🤣 My sleepy dumb ass just called in because I knew the damn answer! Imagine my surprise… Imagine them going “What an airhead.” Imagine the listeners facepalming in traffic. 😆

        I would have loved to have seen Boston.

        When did Opryland shut down? I’d like to see The Temptations.

        I’ve never heard of Jake Bugg. Did you ever look up Emily Hackett?

        Oh, the concerts I have been to. Big ones @ Greensboro, Raleigh, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth…the small ones at The Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill or The Lighthouse in Elon…the clubs in Austin…the clubs in Myrtle Beach…SXSW…even Carowinds in the 70s with my mom. My actual first music concert was there…1976…England Dan & John Ford Coley.

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      6. That was funny. You could have won a tractor and never have known…you could have won Bob Dylan tickets God forbid lol.

        I was going to reply earlier but I was in the middle that 2nd 8 hour Carbon Black class this week…I’m spent.

        Look up Jake Bugg with a song called Two Fingers and Lightning Bolt….

        Yes I did she lives here…I saw her video of her in a Church.

        I went to Atlanta to see The Who…I think last count I was up to 52 concerts. That is cool going to one in 76.

        Opryland closed in 1997. People are still upset. They put a…wait for it….Mall! in it’s place. Like we needed another one. Nashville is the largest city without a theme park.

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      7. LOL! And, come to think of it, if I had, I wouldn’t know a soul to give Dylan tix to! I don’t recall ever knowing anyone that listened to Dylan…in my family or my friends.

        Yeah. I could have wound up with a tractor. My Grandmothers would have loved that.

        Hey. No worries…EVER. I can’t reply on a timely basis, either. LIFE.

        I love Emily’s voice.

        I got to see The Who in Raleigh. It’s a shame we both missed seeing Moon.

        I haven’t been to Carowinds in YEARS. But, it had a neat Pavilion for music back then.

        Wow. That is a damn shame…on both counts. Malls are dying.

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      8. Yea I’m behind reading posts and I’ve cut down to 1 a day because it got to be too much with the extra work I have. I’m going to plan a night where all I do is catch up on reading…. You on the other hand have been been posting quite a bit.

        I know we both missed Keith…I would have loved to have seen him…they were a different band with him.

        She does have a good voice and has really good notices in Nashville.

        None in my family likes Dylan but plenty of friends.

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      9. The MOST active I was, was the music challenge back in December. I will normally do one post but, the FOTD/POTD are easy to throw up.

        Plus…I don’t have a job. I have battled like hell to find good employment for eight solid years. I’ve had three FT jobs since 2013…the best one was helpdesk but, the contract ended after a month. The second in 2014 lasted three months…Investment Firm. I RAN from that. There was some serious illegal s*** going on. The last one…2014-2016…22 months. I went ‘back’ to DMV but, a different unit (I spent nine years in the LE unit 1992-2001)…Driver’s License. I’d still be doing that if HQ (Raleigh) had paid us properly for mileage (working relief) AND if they would’ve left me alone about working Charlotte. They kept demanding people go work Charlotte. I told my Senior that I would NEVER go. He said “You could be written up or fired.” Hmmm…I can fix that. F*** it. Y’all don’t pay me enough to be hassled. The job, itself was fine (except the five different pieces of software). Imagine trying to hook up four 21st century software packaged to an AS400 mainframe…and get them all to talk. OMFG.

        Everything else has been PT…despite 100s of applications. I have a credit rating in HELL, no degree, I’m white & I’m over 50. NO JOB FOR YOU.

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      10. Oh yes I know where you are coming from… We have 7 different Franchisee’s with 7 different POS systems…ok Max I want all of them to poll numbers at the same place and to blah blah blah. Some of the POS systems are from the 90s.

        It’s hard out there I know. I don’t want to be a damn Director…I want to be an IT Manager or Sys Admin. I’m tired of relying on other people and being judged by their actions when they won’t pay decent money for people. You lowball people and you get two kinds of applicants… one that has no experience and you have to train from ground up or someone with experience with with a truckload of baggage. I take the non-expereince ones…you get loyal people until they use this place like the minor leagues and get the hell out.

        I have no degree…I went to college for visual communications and was a graphic artist until I found out they don’t make squat and didn’t finish when I got a job. I found out I made more working on computers than working with them. Got a helpdesk job off the street in the 90s and worked myself up the ladder.

        I know it’s hard out there because I’ve stuck my toe in the water and didn’t get many bites. I’ve been told I’m grossly underpaid by recruiters but that is it.

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  6. I remember this album being popular when I was in the 9th grade – 81-82 – this was really big at the time – next album tanked and he sort of just disappeared – I believe ANDY WARHOL did that next album cover. Also he was in a band called PIPER that opened for KISS in the 70s.

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    1. Thanks man…I just listened to some of Piper. It’s got a little harder edge for sure than his solo stuff…at least the songs I listened to.

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