The band had their first UK Top 30 hit in 1985 with the piano-based #30 single "You Are My World". The following year they had their biggest hit with an energetic cover version of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' soul classic "Don't Leave Me This Way" (in a version inspired by Thelma Houston's cover) which spent four weeks at number one and became the UK's biggest selling single of 1986. It also made the US Top 40. It featured Sarah Jane Morris as co-vocalist, taking advantage of the contrast between Morris' deep and rounded contralto and Somerville's soaring falsetto. Morris performed both backing and co-lead vocals on many of the Communards' other recordings, and appeared in group photos as an unofficial third member.
Later that year The Communards had another UK Top 10 hit with the single "So Cold the Night," which reached number 8. In 1987, they released an album titled Red, which was partly produced by Stephen Hague. Red featured a cover version of the Jackson 5's hit "Never Can Say Goodbye" (in a version inspired by Gloria Gaynor's cover), which the Communards took to Number 4. Their last released single was "There's More to Love Than Boy Meets Girl" in 1988, which reached Number 20 and was, consequently, their final Top 20 hit.
They split in 1988 and Somerville began a solo career. Coles followed his Christian leanings and, after periods as a journalist for the Times Literary Supplement and Catholic Herald, he was ordained in the Church of England, spending time as the curate of St Botolph's (The Stump) in Boston, Lincolnshire. He is now the assistant priest at St Paul's Knightsbridge and Chaplain to the Royal College of Music and is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 4.
So Cold the Night
The Communards Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I shake so scared
Spying from my room
With nervous unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
I know that you knowthat I'm here
each night
Watching and praying the time is now
right
For me to undress and caress you
Until then I'll just sit here and dream.
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night, Cold the night
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my lover
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room with nervous
unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Ooh it's so cold without you
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
The lyrics to The Communards' song "So Cold the Night" suggest an obsessive love, an unrequited passion that has been smoldering for some time. The singer watches from his room, longing for the object of his affection, who he watches night after night. He is nervous and scared - this is obviously an illicit love, something that isn't meant to be. The use of elements like "Undress" and "Fingers caressing" suggest that this is a person with some sort of fascination with their target, which makes it all the more unsettling. The desperation in his voice is palpable, with the repeated refrain of "Soon we will be together, until then so cold the night" seeming almost like a self-soothing mantra to keep his own spirits up. The lyrics paint a picture of a person consumed by their love, living in a world of fantasies, hoping against hope that somehow things will work out for them.
There is also an eerie, almost voyeuristic quality to the lyrics in "So Cold the Night". The singer obsesses over their target, spying on them through their window, watching as they undress. The repetition of the phrase "cold the night" underscores how alone the singer feels in their love - despite their desire, they are cut off from the object of their affection, made to shiver with longing in the darkness. Throughout the lyrics, the singer seems to be speaking both to and about their target, almost as if they're willing them to hear his love and respond in kind. Overall, "So Cold the Night" is a dark, deeply emotional song that captures the agony and ecstasy of an unrequited passion.
Line by Line Meaning
I watch your window
I observe your window from outside
I shake so scared
I tremble with fear
Spying from my room
Secretly watching from my own room
With nervous unrest
Anxiety and unease fill me
Night after night your fingers caressing
You repeatedly touch and stroke your own skin
The skin that is so fair you slowly undress
You slowly take off your clothes and reveal your fair skin
Soon we will be together
We will be united soon
Until then so cold the night
The nights are cold until we can be together
I know that you know that I'm here each night
I am aware that you are aware of my presence each night
Watching and praying the time is now right
I am observing and hoping that now is the appropriate time
For me to undress and caress you
For me to disrobe and touch you
Until then I'll just sit here and dream
Until then I will dream and wait patiently
Soon my love
My beloved, soon
Soon my secret lover
My clandestine lover, soon
Cold the night
The night is cold
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Ellessar1357
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room
With nervous unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
I know that you knowthat I'm here
each night
Watching and praying the time is now
right
For me to undress and caress you
Until then I'll just sit here and dream.
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night, Cold the night
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my lover
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room with nervous
unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Ooh it's so cold without you
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
@polopolo4356
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room
With nervous unrest
Night after night your fingers
Caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
Undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
I know that you know that I'm here
Each night
Watching and praying the time is now
Right
For me to undress and caress you
Until then I'll just sit here and dream
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night, Cold the night
@polopolo4356
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my lover
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room
With nervous unrest
Night after night your fingers
Caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
Undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
@donna-elizabeth
Perfection. Jimmy's voice, the music, lyrics, harmonies...it has it all.
@alexandergalindo9021
Tha song is really amazing
@tsoj71
I love the oriental vibe of this song! Brings back so many memories of my teenage years!
@MrViho-le9oc
It sounds more Middle Eastern to me
@sarcasticallyrearranged
The video shows a desert and you think that it’s “Oriental?”
How?!
@rjjcms1
More Nafud than Gobi.
@sourigrise4963
Oui c'est plutôt Moyen-Orient... 😊
@Xcorgi
@@MrViho-le9ocYou mean Arabic vibe.
@olivierdamiron7279
Massive! Jimmy carries it with passion, absolute beauty. We will never see or hear anything like this again. Pure GOLD!!!
@Ellessar1357
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room
With nervous unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
I know that you knowthat I'm here
each night
Watching and praying the time is now
right
For me to undress and caress you
Until then I'll just sit here and dream.
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night, Cold the night
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my love
Soon my secret lover
Soon my lover
I watch your window
I shake so scared
Spying from my room with nervous
unrest
Night after night your fingers
caressing
The skin that is so fair you slowly
undress
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Soon we will be together
Until then so cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Ooh it's so cold without you
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night
Cold the night