Investigating the music of the Electric Light Orchestra while trying to learn all of the parts.
Sunday, July 27, 2025
"Ticket to the Moon"
I was thinking about "Ticket to the Moon" again this morning and had a realization about the line "It's just one-way." It's sung to a single pitch (A), and this limited tonality matches the "one-way" nature of the ticket. There's a singularity or exclusivity to both.
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Ticket to the Moon
Saturday, July 26, 2025
"Julie Don't Live Here"
"Julie Don't Live Here" exhibits the same feature that I noted in "When Time Stood Still": in the line "The lonely light where we used to meet was gone," the phrase "lonely light" alliterates, and since the two words start with the same sound, there's a sense of this singularity.
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Julie Don't Live Here
Friday, July 25, 2025
"When Time Stood Still"
I'm not entirely sure of my transcription, but I think the second verse of "When Time Stood Still" is:
Sitting there inside your mindJust waiting for the clock to chimeIn a lonely lineStood a lonely man
There are two poetic features here that heighten this sense of loneliness.
The verse is held together by assonance more than rhyme (the long i in "mind," "chime," and "line"), but this sound is lacking in the final line ("Stood a lonely man"), illustrating how this man is separate.
The phrase "lonely line" alliterates, and because the two words start with the same sound, there's a sense of this singularity.
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When Time Stood Still
Thursday, July 24, 2025
"The Bouncer"
I'm not sure if I have the section divisions or line breaks in the right places, but I noticed some significance in this part of "The Bouncer":
I see your lightShine in my windowAnd I know I am coming homeAnd as the light growsGrows ever brighterI see your faceYou are alone
Backing vocals harmonize most of the lead vocals here, but they're conspicuously absent for "You are alone," emphasizing this solitude.
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The Bouncer
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
"21st Century Man"
During the line "Return with what you've learned, they'll kiss the ground you walk upon" in "21st Century Man," there's a synthesizer part something like this:
There are two musical qualities here that match the lyrics. As if to illustrate the obeisance of "they'll kiss the ground you walk upon," there's a dramatic descent (spanning more than two octaves), and because this descent is conjunct, there's also a sense of the steps involved in that "walk[ing]."
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21st Century Man
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
"Ticket to the Moon"
In the lines "Yeah, I've got a ticket to the moon / But I'd rather see the sunrise / In your eyes" in "Ticket to the Moon," there are a couple contrasts that mirror the narrator's conflict. There's the simple astronomical difference between the hot, active sun and the cold, lifeless moon, and there's also a difference in relative movement: "I've got a ticket to the moon" indicates that it's the narrator who will be travelling, but "I'd rather see the sunrise / In your eyes" describes a situation where he's more or less stationary and it's the sun that's moving.
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Ticket to the Moon
Monday, July 21, 2025
"Twilight"
Yester-day was the anniversary of the moon landing in 1969, so I listened to Time, mostly to hear "Ticket to the Moon." I noticed a handful of small features in a number of songs.
Near the end of "Twilight," from about 3:04 to 3:18, what I think is some kind of synthesizer plays this repeated phrase for a total of eight measures:
A phrase with these same intervals (but a different rhythm) also appears near the end of "Wishing" from the previous album. I think it's in the violins first, at ~3:23:
The repeated line "Hold on to her" (at ~3:39) is sung to these same pitches with roughly the same rhythm, but the phrases fall within the measure differently.
While the intervals in these parts from "Twilight" and "Wishing" match exactly, I'm not sure if this was an intentional nod to an earlier song or just a coincidence.
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