After ELO's breakup in the mid 1980s, Lynne moved into production work, showing both the influence of The Beatles that characterized much of ELO's work and an influence from rockabilly-style music. The Beatles' connection was strengthened when Lynne produced George Harrison's Cloud Nine, a successful comeback album for the ex-Beatle released in 1987 featuring the popular single "(Got My Mind) Set On You." In 1989, Lynne co-produced the acclaimed album Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty, which included the hit singles "Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down" and "Runnin' Down A Dream," all co-written by Lynne. This album and Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, also co-produced by Lynne, both received nominations for the Grammy as Best Album Of The Year in 1989.
In 1990 Lynne released his first solo album Armchair Theatre, featuring the singles "Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up." The album received some positive critical attention but little commercial success.
In February of 1994, Lynne fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the three surviving Beatles on Anthology album series, and reunion tracks "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" (overdubbing John Lennon's demos for the songs). He has also produced records individually for George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and worked extensively on the Roy Orbison album Mystery Girl.
In 2001, Lynne released a new ELO album, Zoom, which--save for original ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy on one track--featured none of the original members of the Electric Light Orchestra, but attempted to "return to the classic ELO sound" [1]. The album received positive reviews but had no hit singles. While a concert of the album was filmed and shown on PBS stations, a planned concert tour was cancelled, although the concert was released on DVD. Also that year, Lynne appeared on a VH-1 Storytellers show filmed in New York, and EMI and Sony released remastered editions of part of ELO's catalog.
Lynne went back to the recording studio as a producer in 2002, co-producing and helping complete George Harrison's posthumously-released album, Brainwashed. He was also heavily involved in the memorial Concert for George, held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, and subsequently produced the Surround Sound audio mix for the Concert For George DVD released in November 2003. The DVD received a Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video.
Also in 2002, a tribute to Lynne called Lynne Me Your Ears was released [2], featuring two CDs full of artists performing Lynne/ELO songs, including Todd Rundgren, SWAG (featuring members of Wilco, The Mavericks and Cheap Trick), Sixpence None The Richer, Doug Powell, PFR, Jason Falkner, Fleming and John, Jerry Chamberlain of Daniel Amos, Rick Altizer and others.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine Tom Petty revealed that fellow Wilbury and Full Moon Fever producer Jeff Lynne will reunite with Petty on his upcoming solo album, due in 2006.
Jeff Lynn co-wrote, with John Farrar, the lyrics and music for the 2007 Broadway musical Xanadu. The show used several ELO songs, including "I'm Alive," "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic."
In 2012 Lynne's second solo album, a covers album entitled Long Wave, was released on 8 October 2012. A greatest hits collection of re-recorded ELO songs by Lynne titled Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was also released under the ELO moniker on the same day.
On September 24, 2015, under the name Jeff Lynne's ELO, "When I Was a Boy", the first single from Alone in the Universe was released on the internet with a music video released not long after. The album was released on November 13, 2015 and was followed by promotional shows including the first ELO shows in the United States in 30 years. A 2016 European tour has been scheduled.
Lift Me Up
Jeff Lynne Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all you gotta do is bring it to me, baby
Talk is what I want What I want
Oh, yeah What I want
And all you gotta do is bring it to me, baby
Talk Come on, let's talk about it
Talk Can't seem to do without it
So lift me up, finish what you started
Take me on for a ride
Lift me up from the broken hearted
River's deep and wide
All I want is love What I want
Oh, yeah What I want
And all you gotta do is listen to me, baby What I want
(Think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think)
You got to think about it
And do something about it
No use complainin' when it's over
So lift me up, finish what you started
Take me on for a ride
Lift me up from the broken hearted
River's deep and wide
Life 'Cause life gets tougher every
Day Day if you can't afford to
Pay Pay, even so you got to carry on carry on
So lift me up, finish what you started
Take me on for a ride
Lift me up from the broken hearted
River's deep and wide
Lift me up
Take me on for a ride
Lift me up from the broken hearted
River's deep and wide
Lift me up
Lift me up
Lift me up
The river's deep and wide
The lyrics of Jeff Lynne's "Lift Me Up" speak of the universal desire for love and communication in relationships. The singer wants their partner to bring them love and to talk about their issues rather than keeping them bottled up. They don't want to end up like the brokenhearted, so they ask for their partner's support to lift them up and finish what they started. The river in the final lines represents the depth and difficulties of love and relationships.
The song's driving beat and distinctive synth sounds capture the feeling of urgency and desperation in the lyrics. Despite the upbeat tempo, there is an underlying sense of vulnerability and honesty in the words. The repetition of phrases like "what I want" and "lift me up" emphasizes the directness of the singer's desires.
One interpretation of the lyrics is that they speak to the universal struggle to maintain healthy relationships. The singer is acknowledging that love is not always easy, but that it is worth striving for despite the difficulties. The lines "Life gets tougher every day if you can't afford to pay" could suggest financial struggles taking a toll on the relationship, but the emphasis on carrying on despite the hardships reinforces the importance of love and communication.
Line by Line Meaning
Love is what I want
The singer wants love
And all you gotta do is bring it to me, baby
The singer wants their partner to provide them with love
Talk is what I want What I want
The singer wants to communicate
Oh, yeah What I want
The singer confirms they want communication
And all you gotta do is bring it to me, baby
The singer wants their partner to provide them with communication
Talk Come on, let's talk about it
The singer invites their partner to talk
Talk Can't seem to do without it
The singer feels like they need communication to survive the relationship
Talk Don't want to be one of the broken hearted
The singer doesn't want to experience the pain of a failed relationship
So lift me up, finish what you started
The singer asks their partner to complete what they began
Take me on for a ride
The singer wants to experience more of the relationship
Lift me up from the broken hearted
The singer doesn't want to be part of a broken relationship anymore
River's deep and wide
The singer describes the metaphorical depth and width of their emotional pain
All I want is love What I want
The singer confirms they want love
Oh, yeah What I want
The singer confirms they want love
And all you gotta do is listen to me, baby What I want
The singer wants their partner to pay attention to their needs
(Think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think)
The singer urges their partner to think about their relationship
You got to think about it
The singer asks their partner to think about the relationship
And do something about it
The singer wants their partner to take action to fix the relationship
No use complainin' when it's over
The singer suggests that it's pointless to complain after the relationship is over
Life 'Cause life gets tougher every
The singer acknowledges that life can be difficult
Day Day if you can't afford to
The singer implies that life is hard if you're not financially stable
Pay Pay, even so you got to carry on carry on
The singer suggests that you have to keep going even if it's difficult
Lift me up
The singer wants their partner to lift them up emotionally
The river's deep and wide
The singer repeats the metaphor of their emotional pain
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Musicnotes, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Chris Squire, Trevor Charles Rabin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
hereisthe news
Jeff Lynn's most underrated song.
John Cirillo
Absolutely! This song is among his lost treasures.
OUTTA-TYME88
ELO was/is better than the Beatles (John Lennon) In my opinion he rivals Tom Petty (my second favorite artist)
Dan Martino
How many amazing songs has this man written? I feel fortunate to have lived in this time.
Alan Rabjohns
I fully agree jeff has saved the MOVE and kept the ELO going after ROY WOOD scarpered off to form WIZZARD and now al
sallymaggiespotty
Jeff Lynne is right up there with Lennon and McCartney on the overall talent scale.Just incredible.
Trevor D
+sallymaggiespotty
Big call but I agree with you
F. Valencia
yeah Jeff make part with John Lennon,Paul McCartney,Eric Clapton,George Harrison, Phil Collins and Bob Dylan
F. Valencia
Well
Trevor D
Yeah good call Phil Collins is a legend but shorter of talent than those other superstars