"Hey you with the pretty face...welcome to the human race!! A celebration! Mr. Blue Sky's up there waiting and today is the day we've waited for!"
Well...after my previous blog had all the frivolity of Leonard Cohen dressed as Eeyore at a wake, I thought perhaps something light was in order. Electric Light (Orchestra) to be specific.
Why not share a song about sunshine while we wait for Spring to be sprung?
"Mr. Blue Sky" is special to me for a lot of reasons. Here are just a few:
- Blue is my favorite color...it makes me happy. I even wrote a song about it called "Be My Blue"
- Next to the Beatles, ELO is my favorite group. Yes, this ages me, but that is acceptable when one is age-ed.
- The song (and others by bandleader, Beatles and Tom Petty producer, and Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne) has enjoyed a resurgence of late, recently even being voted the "Official Song of the Midlands" of Great Britain (Jeff, like my boys from Duran Duran is from Birmingham, UK)
- It makes my son sing around the house which is fun/funny to hear and it makes my girls dance which is a joy to watch.
- I can't hear "Hey you with the pretty face..." and not think of someone in particular
The song is off of the huge hit double album (side note to younglings: "Albums" were kind of like CD's but much larger and darker and without them, the only people who would ever get paid to stand around and "Scratch" anything would be Major League Baseball players.) "Out of the Blue" from 1977.
Jeff wrote most of the songs for this 2-ablbum set in a 2 week timespan in a rented swiss chalet. It had been raining most of the time he was there, so when he walked out one day to see a beautiful blue sky greeting him it inspired this bouncy, happy song.
The video link is to a performance from a few years ago at a concert in LA that I actually had won tickets to through my persuasive essay....I didn't get to go because I couldn't afford plane tickets and couldn't get the time off to drive there and back. :( I could have been in that crowd AND had won a backstage pass to a meet-and-greet with Jeff Lynne and the band.
No big deal to you, perhaps, but to ME? I would have had to wear an adult diaper with a backup in some sort of man-purse if I had gone because I would have wet myself with excitement! Nice mental image huh? Everyone take a moment to poke out your mind's eye....better? Moving on...
Note as you watch the video that the drummer get his "clanking" sounds after each verse by hitting a mounted fire extinguisher...just like during the recording in the mid 1970's.
And for the uninitiated, Jeff Lynne co-wrote and performed (and produced) the Tom Petty hits "Free Fallin'" (which I cover on my CD "Blame it on the Moonlight") and "I won't Back Down" among others.
He is also connected as a musician and friend with such legends as Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker and Aerosmith to name only a few.
So...here's the link and I will post the lyrics and you can take a few minutes to have a little optimism breathed into your day. I know I can use some :)
Sun is shinin' in the sky
there ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin'
ev'rybody's in a playin'
And don't you know
it's a beautiful new day
hey
hey
Runnin' down the avenue
see how the sun shines
brightly in the city on the streets
where once was pity.
Mister Blue Sky
is living here today
hey hey
Mister Blue Sky
please tell us why
you had to hide away for so long (so long)
where did we go wrong? x2
Hey
you with the pretty face
welcome to the human race.
A celebration
Mister Blue Sky's up there waitin'
and today is the day we've waited for
hey
hey
Mister Blue Sky
please tell us why
you had to hide away for so long (so long)
where did we go wrong?
Hey
there
Mister Blue
we're so pleased to be with you
look around
see what you do, ev'rybody smiles at you x2
Mister Blue Sky
Mister Blue Sky
Mister Blue Sky
Mister Blue
you did it right
But soon comes Mister Night creepin' over
Now his hand is on your shoulder
never mind
I'll remember you this
I'll remember you this way
Mister Blue Sky
please tell us why
you had to hide away for so long (so long)
where did we go wrong?
Hey there Mister blue (sky)
we're so pleased to be with you (sky)
look around
see what you do (blue), ev'rybody smiles at you.
(choir singing)
Mr. Blue Sky why?
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