They incorporated the sounds of string ensembles, vocoders and dub echos into rock songs, thereby creating a very sophisticated studio version of rock. The musical content of ELO songs often went far beyond usual chord structures, mixing pop songwriting with classical romanticism and synthesized sounds. The band claim that their music "picks up where The Beatles' 1967 song I Am the Walrus left off."
Formed in 1970 by Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan (the remaining members of the 1960s rock group The Move). The band used cellos, violin, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound. This was an idea Roy Wood initially had while with The Move, to take rock music in a new direction. In 1970 when Carl Wayne left the The Move, Jeff Lynne, front man with fellow Brum band Idle Race, responded to Wood's second invitation to join the line-up, with the lure of starting the new band. To help finance the fledgling project, two more Move albums were released during the recording of their eponymous first album in 1971 which produced the UK hit 10538 Overture. In the US this album was released with the mistaken title of No Answer, due to a mix-up with an uncompleted telephone call to the American label and subsequent secretarial message.
However, tensions soon surfaced between Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. With most of the media attention focused on Roy Wood, differences in musical direction, and a disastrous first live outing, it was no surprise when the band went through the first of its many line-up changes as Wood took Hugh McDowell and Bill Hunt with him to form Wizzard. Despite the music press's predictions that the band would fold without Wood, Jeff Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan remaining on drums, bassist Richard Tandy switching to moog synthesizer, Michael d'Albuquerque on bass, Mike Edwards, Colin Walker (cello) and Wilfred Gibson replacing Steve Woolam on violin. They released ELO 2 in 1973, from which came their first U.S. chart hit, a hugely elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic Roll Over Beethoven. After their second album, violinist Gibson was dismissed and replaced by Mik Kaminski. They also released On The Third Day in 1973, with Mike Edwards playing all the cello parts due to Colin Walker leaving the band. Later that same year saw the return of Hugh McDowell, who had jumped ship the year previous, to replace cellist Colin Walker.
In 1974 Lynne hired a thirty-piece orchestra, choir and Louis Clark, then began work on the next LP Eldorado, A Symphony, a concept album about dreams, scoring their first U.S. Top Ten hit with Can't Get It Out Of My Head in 1975. Eldorado would become ELO's first gold album.
After the release of Eldorado, bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt and cellist Melvyn Gale joined, replacing de Albuquerque and Edwards respectively.
The band split in 1983. In 1985, Lynne, Tandy and Bevan reunited and recorded the album "Balance of Power". This reunion was short lived and the band split once more in 1986. Bev Bevan and Louis Clark, with the consent of Lynne, toured and recorded as ELO Part II from 1988 until Bevan's retirement in 1999. In 2000, Lynne and Tandy reformed Electric Light Orchestra and released a new record, "Zoom". "Zoom" proved to be a commercial failure, and the duo split once more in 2001.
In 2014, following support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, Lynne and Tandy reunited as a part of BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" to perform under the new billing, "Jeff Lynne's ELO", a name Lynne devised as a response to ELO tributes, imitation bands, and offshoots who used ELO to promote their own tours.
In February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO performed at the Grammy Awards with Ed Sheeran, and in September of that year they announced a new album would be released under Columbia Records. Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone in the Universe was released on November 13, 2015, and was ELO’s first album of new material in almost 15 years.
The second album under Jeff Lynne’s ELO, Jeff Lynne's ELO - From Out of Nowhere, was released on November 1, 2019.
There is more than one artist with the name "ELO". The vast majority of scrobbles to "Electric Light Orchestra" are for the rock band from England.
ELO, is a South Korean singer, who debuted with the album, 8 Femmes, on August 26, 2016.
A Long Time Gone
Electric Light Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I look out the window
And still you're not there
You're a long time gone
Such a long time gone
Tearing down memories bitter and sweet
Smashing away 'til it's all obsolete
Such a long time gone, long time gone
You're a long time gone
Do I wonder why
Every day that I
Think about you still
And I always will
Did so much for me
Now I think I see
This I do believe
Feels more like a dream
Looked at the weeds in the broken concrete
Before the bulldozers waltzed in and killed the old street
You're a long time gone, long time gone
Such a long time gone, long time gone
Door steps that shone in a bright summer sky
Lay shattered and wasted since our last goodbye
You're a long time gone, long time gone
Such a long time gone, long time gone
You're a long time gone
Do I wonder why
Every day that I
Think about you still
And I always will
You're a long time gone
Did so much for me
Now I think I see
This I do believe
Feels more like a dream
You're a long time gone
Do I wonder why
You're a long time gone
You never did
I never said goodbye
You're a long time gone
The Electric Light Orchestra's "A Long Time Gone" is a song about feeling the weight of the absence of someone who has left. The singer looks out the window and sees that the person in question is still not there, and realizing that they have been gone for a long time. The lyrics become particularly nostalgic when the singer references memories, both good and bad, that they shared with the person who left. It is not clear why the person left, as there is no mention of any conflict or disagreement that may have caused the separation.
The lyrics become more descriptive when the singer looks at the broken and battered surroundings. Previously bright and shining doorsteps and streets are now just memories to be reflected upon. The weed-riddled concrete, the bulldozers, and the shattered doorsteps represent the passing of time and how things change over it as the singer realizes that the person they are missing is a long time gone.
Overall, the Electric Light Orchestra's "A Long Time Gone" is a bittersweet song that beautifully captures the longing one feels for someone who has been gone for an extended period. It's a song where the starkness of the reality depicted is magnified by how much the singer misses the person they are singing about.
Line by Line Meaning
Seems like forever and time left to spare
It feels like an endless amount of time has passed with nothing to fill it
When I look out the window
As I gaze out of my window
And still you're not there
You are still absent
You're a long time gone
It has been a significant duration of time since you departed
Such a long time gone
A tremendously lengthy amount of time has elapsed since your departure
Tearing down memories bitter and sweet
I'm dismantling my good and bad memories
Smashing away 'til it's all obsolete
I'm eradicating all the memories until they are all entirely irrelevant
Do I wonder why
I sometimes question myself
Every day that I
On a daily basis
Think about you still
I'm still contemplating about you
And I always will
And I will continue to do so forever
Did so much for me
You did a lot for me
Now I think I see
I believe I've come to understand
This I do believe
This is what I am convinced of
Feels more like a dream
It almost seems like a distant dreaming
Looked at the weeds in the broken concrete
I saw the weeds that sprouted from the cracked sidewalk
Before the bulldozers waltzed in and killed the old street
Prior to the bulldozers arriving and demolishing the old neighborhood
Door steps that shone in a bright summer sky
The front steps of the house that gleamed in the sunny summer days
Lay shattered and wasted since our last goodbye
Now, they lay broken and useless since the last time we met
You're a long time gone
It's been a while since you were last here
Do I wonder why
I'm still curious about the reasoning behind it
You never did
You didn't
I never said goodbye
I didn't bid you farewell
You're a long time gone
You've been absent for a while
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEFF LYNNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robert Cochran
on State of Mind
An overlooked album which more people should listen to
Rodney
on Rockaria!
Weit in die Ferne , man hört, man hört die Musik
Philip Kassabian
on Starlight
A nice ELO song.
Philip Kassabian
on Starlight
A lovely ELO song.
Philip Kassabian
on Wild West Hero
An absolutely beautiful song.
Philip Kassabian
on Last Train to London
Never heard this ELO song before.
Philip Kassabian
on All Over the World
An ELO song that surprisingly few people know about. To me this rivals Mr. Blue Sky.
Philip Kassabian
on Ticket to the Moon
A song about a person being utterly confused in a difficult situation. He can't even fathom the journey he's about to take to the moon. It's surreal to him.
Philip Kassabian
on Strange Magic
A very mysterious and awe inspiring song. Definitely one of ELO's better songs.
Philip Kassabian
on Livin' Thing
It's a great song and to me it symbolizes the meaning of loss and how absolutely devastating it can be for a person.