"Shadows of the Night" is a song composed by D.L. Byron explicitly for the 1980 filmTimes Square, which tells the story of two young runaways in New York City, but it did not make it into the movie and Byron's own record label rejected it, claiming the song "wasn't commercial enough." The song was released as a single by Helen Schneider in 1981 as well as on her album Schneider with the Kick. According to Byron, Schneider's version went 5 times Platinum in Germany and the Benelux countries. Another version with slightly different lyrics was released by Rachel Sweet on her album ...And Then He Kissed Me, also in 1981. The most famous version was then released by American rock singer Pat Benatar. It came out in September 1982 as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Get Nervous. "Shadows of the Night" garnered Benatar her third Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1983. The lyrics of Benatar's version differ slightly from both previous versions. There have been several cover versions of the song over the years. In 1983, the Rachel Sweet version was covered by singer-songwriter Randy VanWarmer on his album The Things That You Dream. In 2005, the song was included as a musical number medley with the Quarterflash song "Harden My Heart" in the jukebox musicalRock of Ages. In the 2012 film adaptation of Rock of Ages, the song is performed by Mary J. Blige. In 2008, the song was covered by Ashley Tisdale for the soundtrack of the TV film Picture This. That same year, another cover by Paul Layton was included on the soundtrack of the independent zombie comedy movieDance of the Dead. In 2014, the song was featured in the enhanced version of the video gameGrand Theft Auto V on the in-game radio station Los Santos Rock Radio. In 2015, the song was featured at the end of the Halloween episode of The Goldbergs.
Music video
Benatar's music video for the song centers around Benatar as a riveter dreaming about being a flying ace who helps fighting Nazis in World War II. It features Judge Reinhold as a pilot and Bill Paxton as Nazi radio operator. Benatar's T-6 Texan aircraft is named "Midnight Angel", a phrase also used in the song itself with a different meaning.
