We got a 747 coming down in the night
There's no power, there's no runway lights
Radio operator try to get a message through
Tell the flight deck New York has no lights
There's no power, what do we do
A 747 coming down in the night
Try to get a message through

We were strangers in the night
Both on separate flights
Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
We were strangers in the night
Both on separate flights
Strangers in the night

Going nowhere
This is Scandinavian 101
Flight from Hawaii coming out of the sun
Kennedy, you should be in sight
We can't see a thing here in the night
Navigator says we're on the flight path
There's no radio, no sign of life
This is Sandinavian 101

For Gods sake get the ground lights on
'Cause we were strangers in the night
Both on separate flights
Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
We were strangers in the night
Both on separate flights

Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
There's a 747 goin' into the night
There's no power they don't know why
They've no fuel they gotta land soon
They can't land by the light of the moon
They're overshooting there's no guiding lights
Set a course into the night

Scandanavian 101
For Gods sake get your ground lights on
We were strangers in the night
Lost on separate flights
Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
We were strangers in the night
Lost on separate flights

Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
Strangers in the night
We were strangers in the night
Strangers in the night
We were strangers in the night
Strangers in the night

Both on separate flights
Strangers in the night
Going nowhere
We were strangers in the night
Flight 101
Strangers in the night going nowhere


Lyrics submitted by Seven

747 Lyrics as written by Kjetil Roesnes Geir Johnson

Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

747 (Strangers In the Night) song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    wow this is so cool im the first to write about this song well... if u read the lyrics its about a plane thats in serious trouble "They've no fuel they gotta land soon" so thats about it

    spikemeister_03on May 09, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yeah.. thats right.. but... I've tried to find out something about 747 crashed in New Yory at Kenedy... but found nothing... so I realized that this one is not reference to something that happened... or maybe I wrong... does someone knows something more???

    Mankijson February 21, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The lyrics up there are a bit shagged^^, but it is a tale of two planes "strangers in the night" - the "747" and "Scandinavian 101" which are both flying into a New York that's without power.

    dfolon March 13, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    good song....

    roeibooton November 08, 2006   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    This is not about an airline crash, but the major power outage in the northeast USA in 1965 and the effects it had on Scandinavian Airlines Flight 911 (yes, they're singing 101, but it's 911). Flight 911 was on its way into Kennedy airport in the dark. In the dark, they overshot the airport (since the the ground control couldn't respond to their calls) and flew towards Manhattan. Captain Lofsted took the decision to throttle and rise.

    You can read more here: breakfornews.com/forum/viewtopic.php or watch S01E01 (season 1, episode 1) of James Burke's "Connections" series.

    CanadianVikingon July 06, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I know who wrote the riff to this.

    joe1015396on April 20, 2016   Link
  • 0
    Song Fact

    This song is about The Great Northeast Blackout that forced planes in New York to remain in ascent in 1965 with the power outage provoking a Scandinavian flight to detour to Kennedy Airport in the dark. The lyrics tell the struggles the pilots and crew members faced who were desperately trying to communicate with air traffic control and find a safe place to land. The Great Northeast Blackout took place on November 9, 1965. Due to disastrous technical problems, electricity supplies to thousands of people in southern Ontario, Canada, and across eight north-eastern American states, were abruptly cut. Alarmingly, this included power supplies to airport runway lights, forcing countless planes to be re-routed elsewhere.

    Biff Byford was watching a BBC documentary about the blackout, presented by noted science historian James Burke, and suddenly had a cool idea for a song. “I was watching this documentary and somehow it all just went in, you know?” Biff recalls. “I’d heard another song with a lyric about ‘riding on a 747’ and that was stuck in my head, and it all seemed to come together naturally. I came up with the melody for the chorus first. I think I wrote that arpeggio in the chorus with the words ‘Strangers in the Night’ in there. I probably got the idea from the [1966] Frank Sinatra song – the syllables were the same. I’m a big Sinatra fan. I like his phrasing. So when that riff came along, it all fitted together really nicely.”

    Kingofstilporton March 02, 2024   Link

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