A New World Record

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Collection Audit:

Yester-day I listened to Electric Light Orchestra's A New World Record, and I noticed something about the string parts in a couple songs.  Aside from the key, the same string part is in "So Fine" and "Livin' Thing."  I guessed on the keys based on the notes in the parts themselves, but here they are in notation (with the disclaimer that I might be wrong; notation still isn't my strong point). 

"So Fine" 

 

"Livin' Thing" 

 

Having what is virtually the same part in two songs (which are back-to-back in the track listing) helps give the album a greater consistency.

Here's a thing I noticed about a couple songs on A New World Record when I listened to it recently for my Collection Audit project.

"Livin' Thing"

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Collection Audit:

I'm halfway through a compilation album of Electric Light Orchestra (All over the World: The Best of Electric Light Orchestra).  After a post I wrote here two years ago (after listening to this same album), I started a project where I look into ELO's music in some depth (I haven't gotten that far yet), so I've been transcribing these too. 

I noticed the line "Takin' a dive 'cause you can help but slide, floating downstream" in "Livin' Thing," and I think it's a small lyrical reference to the Beatles.  The "floating downstream" part is very similar to the first line of "Tomorrow Never Knows" - "Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream."  In my project, I've found more than a few references to the Beatles, so I'm more confident that this is a reference rather than just a coincidental resemblance.

 Via my Collection Audit project, I discovered an-other Beatle reference.

A New World Record

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I've been neglecting this again, but here are my initial notes on A New World Record.

"Telephone Line"

There's the line "Blue days, black nights," which is the title of a Buddy Holly song (although not one that he wrote).  I don't think I've really seen anything where ELO mentions Buddy Holly, but Jeff Lynne contributed a cover of "Words of Love" to a Buddy Holly tribute album, so I think there's something to the "blue days, black nights."

Of course, that phrase is also an-other way that Lynne can include the color blue.

"Rockaria!"

I've already written about the Beethoven reference.  There are also a few more references to 1950s songs, if my conjecture is correct.  The "Knocked me right back in the alley" from the first verse isn't too dissimilar from Little Richard's "Well, I saw Uncle John with bald head Sally / He saw Aunt Mary comin', and he ducked back in the alley" from "Long Tall Sally."  Additionally, "Rockaria!" has sections where the vocal melody has only one note, which is an-other feature of "Long Tall Sally."

The various "ready" sections (like the first verse's "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a-ready / Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm ready") seem to have some connection to "Ready Teddy," which was recorded by both Little Richard (whose version was apparently first) and Buddy Holly.

"Mission (A World Record)"

It's a minor point, but this also includes blue: "The planet Earth from way up there / Is beautiful and blue."

"So Fine"

I've mentioned this before too, but both "So Fine" and "Do Ya" contain the phrase "midnight sun" (as does "Whisper in the Night" from No Answer).

"Livin' Thing"

Because the G isn't included in "Livin'," I'm not sure how to spell one other section of the lyrics.  If it follows what "Livin'" establishes and also drops the G, it's "It's a givin' thing," but it could also just be a different verb form: "It's a given thing."

The phrase "rolling and riding and slipping and sliding" in the first verse - while exhibiting some interesting parallel alliteration and internal rhyme - also seems to be a Little Richard reference, specifically to his "Slippin' and Slidin'."

"Shangri-La"

There's an-other use of blue in the lines "She seemed to drift out on the rain / That came in somewhere softly from the blue."

The more interesting thing about this is the very obvious Beatle reference:  "My Shangri-La has gone away / Faded like the Beatles on 'Hey Jude.'"  While I've noticed a lot of possible Beatle references, I've been cautious about asserting them.  There's no denying this one though.