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.
Queen of the Hours
Electric Light Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waiting for the wind,
To blow away the veil of time
Slowly now the threads of age
Are starting to unwind
Queen of the hours,
Along, along, along the path of time, of time
The tale when all is well, is well
Black was the night that
Came in from the east
And caused the land to sleep
Riding on a storm it carved
A message in the Isabella Creek.
Dawn is the death wish
Night has passed away
It left a sacred flower
Open up the grave and bowed it´s life
Unto the Queen of the hours.
The lyrics of Queen of the Hours by Electric Light Orchestra depicts the passing of time and the inevitability of aging. The song describes the Queen of the Hours as a representation of time that waits patiently for the wind to blow away the veil of time. She is still, and the clock shall tell the tale when everything is right.
The second stanza continues the theme of darkness and the passage of time. It explains how a storm carved a message in Isabella Creek while the land slept through the black of night. Dawn is a metaphor for a death wish that signifies the end of time. Night has passed away, leaving a sacred flower that opens up the grave and gives its life to the Queen of the Hours.
Overall, the song encapsulates a solemn message about the passing of time and how everything eventually fades with time. It shows how the Queen of the Hours represents the passing of time, and while everything may change and fade away, she remains constant and timeless.
Line by Line Meaning
Queen of the hours, lies
The person being addressed is the Queen of the hours and she is taking a break or resting
Waiting for the wind,
She is waiting for something unforeseeable that will make her life move forward
To blow away the veil of time
She is waiting for the wind to get rid of the obstacles and limitations imposed by time and fate
Slowly now the threads of age
She is getting older gradually
Are starting to unwind
Her life is beginning to move toward its end
Queen of the hours,
The beautiful and powerful Queen that is the subject of the song is back in focus
Along, along, along the path of time, of time
She has traveled along time's path for a long time and continues to do so
She is still, the clock shall tell,
Despite everything that happens, time continues to move forward and pass her by
The tale when all is well, is well
When everything is going well, there is no story to tell
Black was the night that
The night was dark and frightening
Came in from the east
It came from the direction of the rising sun
And caused the land to sleep
The darkness and silence of the night covered the land like a blanket, causing everything to be calm and peaceful
Riding on a storm it carved
The energy of the storm allowed the darkness to leave its mark on the land
A message in the Isabella Creek.
The storm left a message behind, written in the creek
Dawn is the death wish
Dawn always marks a new day, implying that the day that has gone by is now dead and gone
Night has passed away
The night has ended and gone by
It left a sacred flower
The night left something beautiful and symbolic behind
Open up the grave and bowed it´s life
Even in death, the flower was still alive and blooming
Unto the Queen of the hours.
The flower was offered as a tribute to the Queen of the hours
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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.