‘Tuesday Afternoon’ (sometimes referred to as ‘Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)’, or simply ‘Forever Afternoon’) is a 1968 song written by Justin Hayward that was first released by English rock band the Moody Blues on their 1967 album Days of Future Passed and later released as a single. The song was released as a single in 1968 and was the second single from Days of Future Passed (the first being ‘Nights in White Satin’). It was backed with another Days track, ‘Another Morning’.
The song was originally released on The Moody Blues' 1967 album Days of Future Passed, a concept album chronicling a typical day. On the album, it was part one of ‘The Afternoon’ track titled ‘Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)’. Justin Hayward said that he wrote the song on a Tuesday afternoon in Lypiatt Park, in western England near Stroud. Hayward's mother had taken him and his brother to the park while they were growing up, and he revisited the park during the production of Days of Future Passed to write the song. He said that he wrote the song "with guitar and joint in hand". Hayward explained: "I sat down in a field, smoked a funny African cigarette, and that song just came out. It was a Tuesday afternoon."
Justin Hayward had a dog named Tuesday, but the song has nothing to do with the pooch. In his Songfacts interview, Hayward explained: "It just so happened we were sitting in the field together, that's all. But it was a Tuesday afternoon and I did smoke a joint and it was down there where I come from in the West Country and this song just came out." Hayward wrote the song originally intending to name it ‘Tuesday Afternoon’. At the insistence of producer Tony Clarke, it was named ‘Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)’ for its release on Days of Future Passed. However, when it was released as a single a year later, its name was changed back to ‘Tuesday Afternoon’. Some of the Moody Blues compilation and live albums list the song as ‘Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)’ to reflect both titles.
This song uses a Mellotron. The instrument is a keyboard which triggers taped loops of a chosen instrument recorded at different pitches. It is not synthesized sound, but actual instrument recordings. In this song the recorded loops were strings. The strange and unique quality of the sound comes from the warble in the tape loops as they play back. The Moody Blues Mellotron wizard was Mike Pinder, who was a founding member of the band. He used to work for a company called Streetly Electronics, which made the instrument. He was one of the few musicians who could keep the unwieldy device operational, and The Moody Blues became the first high-profile band to use it in live performances.
Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as the Moody Blues' greatest song, saying that "Justin Hayward’s beautiful lyrics and melody combined with John Lodges’ guitar work and Mike Pinder’s Mellotron presented Moody Blues fans with the group’s grandest work and quite simply, the finest recording of the band’s long career." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the Moody Blues' 4th greatest song.
Label – Deram
Songwriter – Justin Hayward
Producer – Tony Clarke
SONG LYRICS
[Instrumental Intro][Chorus]
Tuesday afternoon
I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away
Something, calls to me
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh
[Instrumental Interlude]
[Verse]
I'm looking at myself reflections of my mind
It's just the kind of day to leave myself behind
So gently swaying through the fairyland of love
If you'll just come with me you'll see the beauty of
Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon
[Chorus]
Tuesday, afternoon
I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away
Something, calls to me
The trees are drawing me near, I've got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh
[Orchestral Outro]