Don't Bring Me Down

"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.

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

"Don't Bring Me Down"
Artwork for UK, Australian, and some other European vinyl releases
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Discovery
B-side	"Dreaming of 4000"
Released	1979
Genre	Pop rock[1]
Length	4:02
Label	Jet
Songwriter(s)	Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"The Diary of Horace Wimp" (1979) "Don't Bring Me Down" (1979) "Confusion/Last Train to London" (1979)
Discovery track listing
9 tracks Side one "Shine a Little Love" "Confusion" "Need Her Love" "The Diary of Horace Wimp" Side two "Last Train to London" "Midnight Blue" "On the Run" "Wishing" "Don't Bring Me Down"
Audio sample
file help
Music video
"Don't Bring Me Down" on YouTube
Audio
"Don't Bring Me Down" on YouTube

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," meaning "greetings."[5] Lynne has explained that originally he did not realize the meaning of the syllable, and he just used it as a temporary placekeeper to fill a gap in the lyrics, but upon learning the German meaning he decided to leave it in.[5] 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.[6][7][5]

ELO engineer Reinhold Mack remembers the genesis of the term differently, stating that Lynne was actually singing "Bruce" as a joke in advance of an Australian tour "referring to how many Australian guys are called Bruce."[5]

Critical reception

AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco praised ELO for not including any string section in the song: "Electric Light Orchestra can easily be summed up as 'pop music with strings.' Thus, it is pretty ironic that the group's biggest American hit, 'Don't Bring Me Down', features no string section at all", adding that "it proved that Electric Light Orchestra could be just as interesting without the string section and thus paved the way for later string-less hits like 'Hold On Tight' and 'Calling America'", concluding that it "was a song that was powerful enough for rock fans but dance-friendly enough for the disco set".[1] Billboard found the song to be Beatlesque while praising the multiple "irresistible" instrumental and vocal hooks.[8] Ultimate Classic Rock rated "Don't Bring Me Down" as the 97th greatest classic rock song, saying it "may just be Jeff Lynne's most concise and representative musical statement."[9]

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 by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra
Released	8 October 2012
Recorded	2001–2012 Bungalow Palace
Length	4:01
Label	Frontiers
Songwriter(s)	Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)	Jeff Lynne
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra track listing
12 tracks "Mr. Blue Sky" "Evil Woman" "Strange Magic" "Don't Bring Me Down" "Turn to Stone" "Showdown" "Telephone Line" "Livin' Thing" "Do Ya" "Can't Get It Out of My Head" "10538 Overture" "Point of No Return"

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.[10]

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer[4]
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion[4]
• Richard Tandy – grand piano, synthesizer, electric piano, clavinet[4]
• Kelly Groucutt – bass, vocals[4]

Cover versions and remixes

• In 2012, The Hives released a song called "Go Right Ahead". Though not a direct cover, the main riff in the song is nearly identical to the one in "Don't Bring Me Down",[11] and as a result Jeff Lynne was officially credited as a co-writer.
• Country stars Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves and Midland performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote their The Breakers Tour.[12]

Chart and sales

Weekly charts Chart (1979) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 6 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[15] 5 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16] 1 Germany (Official German Charts)[17] 5 Ireland (IRMA)[18] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 6 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[22] 9 Spain (AFYVE)[23] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 2 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[2] 3 US Billboard Hot 100[3] 4 US Cash Box[25] 4 US Record World[26] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[27] 34 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[28] 57 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[29] 25 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[30] 39 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[31] 61 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[32] 50 US Billboard Hot 100[33] 81 US Cash Box[34] 39 Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Silver 250,000^^ United States (RIAA)[36] Gold 1,000,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of number-one singles of 1979 (Canada)

References

1. Guarisco, Donald A. "Don't Bring Me Down – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
2. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
3. "Electric Light Orchestra – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
4. 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. DeRiso, Nick (6 June 2019). "Why Did Jeff Lynne Add 'Bruce' to ELO's 'Don't Bring Me Down'?". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
6. Wild, David. "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band and the Pop Genius Who Dared to Go Baroque". Flashback (Media notes).
7. Sullivan, Caroline (15 October 2014). "ELO's Jeff Lynne: 'All those hipsters with beards are copying me!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
8. "Billboard's Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 4 August 1979. p. 55. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
9. "Top 100 Classic Rock Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
10. "Mr. Blue Sky – The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra". Archived from the original on 27 October 2015.. Jefflynneselo.com.
11. Johnston, Maura (27 March 2012). "The Hives: Go Right Ahead". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
12. Moss, Marissa R. (21 September 2017). "See Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves and Midland Cover ELO on 'Fallon'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
15. "Ultratop.be – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6839a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
18. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Don't Bring Me Down". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
19. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
21. "Charts.nz – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
22. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (E)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
23. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
24. "Swisscharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down". Swiss Singles Chart.
25. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 22, 1979". Archived from the original on 5 February 2011.. Cash Box.
26. "Record World Singles" (PDF). Record World. 15 September 1979. p. 29. ISSN 0034-1622. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
27. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
28. "Jaaroverzichten 1979" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
29. "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Vol. 32 no. 13. 22 December 1979. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
30. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1979" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
31. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1979" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
32. "End of Year Charts 1979". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
33. "Top 100 Hits for 1979". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
34. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1979". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.. Cash Box.
35. "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.
36. "American single certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Don_t Bring Me Down". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 

External links

• In-depth Song Analysis at the Jeff Lynne Song Database (jefflynnesongs.com)
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics