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Don't Bring Me Down

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This article is about the Electric Light Orchestra song. For other uses, see Don't Bring Me Down (disambiguation).

"Don't Bring Me Down"
Song
B-side"Dreaming of 4000"

"Don't Bring Me Down" is the ninth and final track on the English rock band the Electric Light Orchestra's 1979 album Discovery. It is their highest charting hit in the United States to date.

History

It's a great big galloping ball of distortion. I wrote it at the last minute, 'cos I felt there weren't enough loud ones on the album. This was just what I was after.

— Discovery remaster (2001), Jeff Lynne

"Don't Bring Me Down" is the band's second highest charting hit in the UK where it peaked at number 3[2] and their biggest hit in the United States, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] It also charted well in Canada (number 1) and Australia (number 6). This was the first song by ELO not to include a string section.[4]

The drum track is in fact a tape loop, coming from "On the Run" looped and slowed down.[4]

The song ends with the sound of a door slamming. According to producer Jeff Lynne, this was a metal fire door at Musicland Studios where the song was recorded.[4]

The song was dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station, which re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on 11 July 1979.[4]

On 4 November 2007, Lynne was awarded a BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc) Million-Air certificate for "Don't Bring Me Down" for the song having reached two million airplays.

Misheard lyric

A common mondegreen in the song is the perception that, following the title line, Lynne shouts "Bruce!" In the liner notes of the ELO compilation Flashback and elsewhere, Lynne has explained that he is singing a made-up word, "Grooss," which some have suggested sounds like the German expression "Gruß." After the song's release, so many people had misinterpreted the word as "Bruce" that Lynne actually began to sing the word as "Bruce" for fun at live shows.[5][6]

Music video

A music video for the song was produced, which showed video of the band performing the song interspersed with various animations relating to the song's subject matter, including big-bottomed majorettes and a pulsating neon frankfurter. The band's three resident string players are depicted playing keyboards in the music video.

Jeff Lynne version

"Don't Bring Me Down"
Song

Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song in his own home studio. It was released in a compilation album with other re-recorded ELO songs and under the ELO name called Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.[7]

Personnel

Cover versions, samplings and remixes

Appearances in other media

Chart and sales

See also

References

  1. ^ Guarisco, Donald A. "Don't Bring Me Down – Song Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Electric Light Orchestra – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Porter, Robert. "Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne -- Don't Bring Me Down: An in-depth song analysis". Jefflynnesongs.com. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  5. ^ Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque". Flashback (Media notes).
  6. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (15 October 2014). "ELO's Jeff Lynne: 'All those hipsters with beards are copying me!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  7. ^ Mr. Blue Sky – The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2015). Jefflynneselo.com.
  8. ^ Johnston, Maura (27 March 2012). "The Hives: Go Right Ahead". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6839a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Electric Light Orchestra" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Don't Bring Me Down". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  17. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  18. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (E)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  19. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  20. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down". Swiss Singles Chart.
  21. ^ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 22, 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 5 February 2011). Cash Box magazine.
  22. ^ RECORD WORLD 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 May 2005). Record World. Geocities.com.
  23. ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  24. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1979" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  25. ^ "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Vol. 32, no. 13. 22 December 1979. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1979" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  27. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1979" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  28. ^ "End of Year Charts 1979". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  29. ^ "Top 100 Hits for 1979". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  30. ^ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 August 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  31. ^ "British single certifications – ELO – Don't Bring Me Down". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Don't Bring Me Down in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  32. ^ "American single certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Don_t Bring Me Down". Recording Industry Association of America.
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