'Mr Blue Sky' by ELO: The making of Jeff Lynne's Beatles-inspired hit

6 November 2024, 13:33

How a moment in a chalet in the Alps inspired one of the all time great singles.

Jeff Lynne has announced that Electric Light Orchestra, more commonly known as ELO, are soon to play their last ever live show.

At their final concert, they'll be sure to perform a career-spanning set of hits, among them 'Mr Blue Sky'.

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As well as selling oodles of copies and becoming the band's signature song, it's featured in countless movies and TV shows and been covered by some very high profile artists.

But do you know who wrote the song, where it got in the charts, or what unusual "instrument" appears on the recording?

Read on for everything you ever wanted to know about Electric Light Orchestra's 'Mr Blue Sky'.

Who wrote Mr Blue Sky and who plays on the record?

Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky (Official Video)

ELO's first album The Electric Light Orchestra saw a nearly even split in songwriting credits between Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood.

But after co-founder Wood left ELO in 1972 to form Wizzard, Lynne took full control and, apart from a rare cover here or there, wrote pretty much every song the band released on their albums after that.

That included every song on 1977's Out of the Blue, including side three closer 'Mr Blue Sky'.

Jeff Lynne explained in a radio interview how he was inspired to write the hit and the rest of the album when holed up in a Swiss chalet with the task of following up the previous year's A New World Record.

"It was dark and misty for two weeks, and I didn't come up with a thing," Jeff said.

"Suddenly the sun shone and it was, 'Wow, look at those beautiful Alps.' I wrote 'Mr. Blue Sky' and 13 other songs in the next two weeks."

Musically, the song owes more than a bit of debt to The Beatles, with its chord progresssion matching 'Yesterday'. Lynne would go on to produce 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' for the Fabs ,any years later.

When it comes to who played on the song, Roy Wood was long gone of course, but all the then-current members of ELO were present and correct.

That meant Jeff Lynne on vocals, guitars and orchestral and choral arrangements, plus fellow founding member (and Move veteran) Bev Bevan on drums, percussion and even a fire extinguisher. Yes, really.

Richard Tandy – who had joined the band in 1971 as a replacement for bassist Rick Price but had long moved on to keyboards – played pianos, synths and vocoder.

And the sound was rounded out by Kelly Groucutt on bass, Mik Kaminski on violin, and both Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale on cello.

What is Mr Blue Sky about?

Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky (Animated Video)

Everything is open to interpretation, but on the face of it Mr Blue Sky is about... the clouds parting ("its stopped raining") and, well, the sky being blue ("sun is shining in the sky").

Below the surface, there's a little more going on. There's talk of bad times giving way to good ("On the streets where once was pity") as well as the threat of returning darkness ("soon comes Mr. Night creepin' over") softened by memories of better days ("I'll remember you this way").

"I suppose this is my most well-known song," Lynne told Rolling Stone.

"Everybody tells me something different about it. It’s even got crazy appeal to kids since it’s like a nursery rhyme."

He continued: "I remember writing the words down. I was at a chalet in the mountains of Switzerland, and it was all misty and cloudy all the way around.

"I didn’t see any countryside for the first four days or so, and then everything cleared, and there was this enormous view forever, and the sky was blue."

When was Mr Blue Sky released and where did it get in the chart?

Despite its status as ELO's signature song, 'Mr Blue Sky' wasn't actually the lead single from Out of the Blue.

That honour went to 'Turn to Stone', the album's opener.

The first time fans would have heard 'Mr Blue Sky' was on the album itself, which was released on October 28, 1977, and a few days earlier in the US.

It was released as a single on January 20, 1978, with 'One Summer Dream' – previously available as the final track on 1975's Face the Music album – as its B-side.

'Mr Blue Sky' wasn't ELO's highest charting single at the time, despite reaching an impressive number 6.

That placement was not only matched by their 1973 Chuck Berry/Ludwig Van Beethoven mashup version of 'Roll Over Beethoven', but surpassed by 1976's 'Livin' Thing', which reached number 4.

They went on to have even bigger hits, with 1979's 'Don't Bring Me Down' reaching number 3 and 'Xanadu', featuring Olivia Newton-John, going all the way to number 1.

But 'Mr Blue Sky' eventually outsold them all, going triple platinum in the US and QUADRUPLE platinum in the UK.

What TV shows and films has Mr Blue Sky featured in?

Groot ~ Mr. Blue Sky

As well as becoming a radio staple, one thing that has helped 'Mr Blue Sky' become such an enduring classic is its presence on oh so many movies and TV shows.

There are more than we can even begin to list here, but to name some of the biggies, it's popped up in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, The Magic Roundabout, The Super Mario Bros, LAX and Doctor Who.

It's also popped up at ceremonies and sporting events, including the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Who has covered Mr Blue Sky?

Mr. Blue Sky

Given how perfect the ELO recording of 'Mr Blue Sky' is, it's striking how many major artists have braved the notion of covering it.

Before we get to them, we need to mention Jeff Lynne's own 2012 home studio reworking for Mr Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.

It's been a favourite of independently minded artists, including The Delgados, Weezer and Nerf Herder, a band best known for writing and recording the theme of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Lily Allen covered the song as a bonus track for her debut album Alright, Still in 2006, while Britain's Got Talent youngster Connie Talbot recorded it in 2014.