Nights in White Satin / Cities

Penned by Justin Hayward at age 19 after being gifted a set of satin bedsheets, this sweeping epic fundamentally bridged pop music with classical orchestration. The track heavily utilizes the Mellotron, played by Mike Pinder, to simulate a full string section, accompanied by the London Festival Orchestra in the album version. Initially considered too long and slow for radio, it eventually became a colossal global hit upon reissue in 1972.