Single:
Don’t Bring Me Down entered the Australian singles chart* on 20 August 1979 and peaked at #6. It was #38 on the Top 100 of 1979.
Album:
The song is on Discovery which entered the Australian albums chart* on 25 June 1979. It reached #1 on 23 July 1979 and remained there for a total of 6 weeks.
Songwriter:
Jeff Lynne
Producer:
Jeff Lynne
Record label of Australian release:
Jet
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Songfacts:
Don’t Bring Me Down was the first ELO song that did not use strings. After recording it, they fired their string section, leaving four members in the band.
ELO leader Jeff Lynne wrote this song late in the sessions for the Discovery album. He came up with the track by looping the drums from a song he recorded earlier in the session, then coming up with more music on the piano. The words came last, as Lynne put together some lyrics about a girl who thinks she’s too good for the guy she’s with.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/electric-light-orchestra/dont-bring-me-down
Misheard lyric:
A common mondegreen in Don’t Bring Me Down is the perception that, following the title line, Jeff Lynne shouts “Bruce!” Lynne has explained a number of times that he is singing a made-up word Groos, which some have suggested sounds like the German expression “Gruß”, meaning “greeting.” Lynne has explained that originally he did not realise 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. 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.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don’t_Bring_Me_Down
Lyrics:
You got me runnin’, goin’ out of my mind
You got me thinkin’ that I’m wastin’ my time
Don’t bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I’ll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don’t bring me down
Click for full lyrics
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