"Telephone Line"

I noted before that the phrase "blue days, black nights" in "Telephone Line" seems to be a reference to the song "Blue Days, Black Nights," which was recorded by Buddy Holly.  Recently, I figured out some of the bass part for "Telephone Line," and as I was looking at the chords as something of a guide, I realized that "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Telephone Line" are in the same key:  A major.  This might be an-other facet of this reference, or it might simply be a coincidence.

"Telephone Line"

I was thinking about "Telephone Line" yester-day (because I'd listened to From out of Nowhere for the first time the day before, and "Telephone Line" is referenced in "Time of Our Life"), and I realized a small thing.

The last syllable of "ev'rything" in the line "I'd tell you ev'rything" is sung with a glissando (as a whole, the word is sung to the notes E F# E~C#), musically giving a sense of breadth.

"Telephone Line"

When I listened to A New World Record yester-day, I also noticed a couple small things in "Telephone Line."

"Pick up" in the lines "I'd tell you ev'rything / If you'd pick up that telephone" is sung to an ascending pair of notes (albeit a small interval:  E F#), musically giving a sense of "pick[ing] up."

"All" in the lines "Don't you realize the things we did, we did / Were all for real, not a dream" is also sung with a melisma (F# A, I think), musically giving a sense of that entirety.

A New World Record

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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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.