Boy Blue (Electric Light Orchestra song)

"Boy Blue" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which first appeared as track number 3 from their 1974 album Eldorado.

"Boy Blue"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Eldorado
B-side"Eldorado"
ReleasedApril 1975 (US)
Recorded1974 De Lane Lea Studios
Genre
Length5:19 (Album version)
4:13 (US single edit)
LabelUnited Artists
Songwriter(s)Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Can't Get It Out of My Head"
(1974)		 "Boy Blue"
(1975)		 "Evil Woman"
(1975)
Eldorado track listing
10 tracks
Side one
  1. "Eldorado Overture"
  2. "Can't Get It Out of My Head"
  3. "Boy Blue"
  4. "Laredo Tornado"
  5. "Poor Boy (The Greenwood)"
Side two
  1. "Mister Kingdom"
  2. "Nobody's Child"
  3. "Illusions in G Major"
  4. "Eldorado"
  5. "Eldorado Finale"

The album version of the song starts with a Baroque-style brass fanfare – reminiscent of Jeremiah Clarke's "Prince of Denmark's March" (ca. 1700) — and then develops into a minimoog sequence before the song properly begins. The song includes a midway solo of the band's three string players. At the end of the song the string instruments quickly fade, immediately leading into the LP's fourth track "Laredo Tornado".

Bassist Mike de Albuquerque featured on the song but it is unknown just how many tracks he contributed to on the album as he left the band during the recording sessions.

"Mike de Albuquerque left the group after the recording session of Eldorado, on which his mighty voice could be heard for the last time on an E.L.O. record in the sixth verse of Boy Blue." — Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages).

Story

"A song about an all-conquering hero from the middle ages." — Jeff Lynne (Eldorado Remaster, 2001).

The song is an anti-war song set during the Crusades and forms the second dream as part of the overall Eldorado dreamscape. It tells a story about a hero returning from a far off war and the rapturous welcome he received from his town folk. Boy Blue (the character of the song) rebuffs the hero worship and declares his hatred of war, stating his refusal to ever take up arms again.

The song was covered by the tribute album Lynne Me Your Ears by Rick Altizer.[1] The US edited single version of this song is missing the fanfare intro, parts of the orchestral bridge, and the second to last chorus.

Reception

The song was released as the second single from the Eldorado album but failed to chart. Billboard said that it had a catchy hook and a similar "smooth sound" to ELO's previous single "Can't Get It Out of My Head," and had expected it to achieve similar chart success.[2]

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References
  1. Damas, Jason. "Lynne Me Your Ears: A Tribute to the Music of Jeff Lynne – Lynne Me Your Ears : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  2. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 19 April 1975. p. 62. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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