Can't Get It Out of My Head
"Can't Get It Out of My Head" | ||||||||||||
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Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||||||||||
from the album Eldorado | ||||||||||||
B-side | "Illusions in G Major" | |||||||||||
Released |
January 1975[1] (UK) November 1974[1] (US) | |||||||||||
Format | 7" single | |||||||||||
Recorded | 1974 De Lane Lea Studios | |||||||||||
Genre | Symphonic rock, soft rock[2] | |||||||||||
Length |
4:23 (Album version) 3:07 (Single edit) | |||||||||||
Label |
Warner Bros. (UK) United Artists (US) | |||||||||||
Writer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||||
Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||||
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"Can't Get It Out of My Head" is a song by Electric Light Orchestra (also known as ELO).
First released on the band's fourth album, Eldorado, in September 1974, the song is the second track on the album and follows "Eldorado Overture." The song was released in November of that same year as a single.
The song became the band's first top ten single in the United States, reaching number 9,[3] and helped boost public awareness of the band in America; however, back in the UK the single and LP failed to chart. In 1978 the song was included on a four-track ELO EP (UK release) reaching number 34 on the UK charts. The song has appeared on many ELO compilation albums.
Lyrical error
For over 40 years now, many lyric publications still show the line in the 1st verse erroneously as "Walking on a wave's chicane", though the correct lyrics are "Walking on a wave she came". On the YouTube video at this link , Jeff clearly sings "Walking on a wave she came", and you can see that his lips come together to form the "M" in "came" rather than stay apart as you would say the "N" in "chicane", and you also plainly hear that he says "wave" and not "wave'S" --- there is no "S" sound in "wave" as he says it. A "chicane" has nothing to do with waves; it's roadway feature where traffic engineers place a lot of curves in a street or racetrack to slow traffic down as evidenced by its Wikipedia entry and at the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This isn't the first time ELO had a misprint that affected them greatly, as their first album was mistakenly titled "No Answer" due to an error upon release.
Chart positions
Weekly singles charts
Chart (1975) | Peak Position |
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Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart[4] | 59 |
Dutch GfK chart[5] | 20 |
French Singles Chart | 5 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] | 9 |
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles | 14 |
U.S. Record World Singles[6] | 23 |
U.S. Radio & Records (R&R)[7][8] | 27 |
Year-end charts
Chart (1975) | Peak Position |
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U.S. Billboard[9] | 81 |
Jeff Lynne version
"Can't Get It Out of My Head" | ||||
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Song by Electric Light Orchestra from the album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
Released |
8 October 2012 (UK) 9 October 2012 (US) | |||
Recorded | 2001–2012 Bungalow Palace | |||
Length | 4:35 | |||
Label | Frontiers | |||
Writer | Jeff Lynne | |||
Producer | Jeff Lynne | |||
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra track listing | ||||
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Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song in his own home studio. It was released in a compilation album with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name.[10]
Other appearances
- Telekinesis covered this song on the 2010 American Laundromat Records release, Sing Me to Sleep - Indie Lullabies.
- The song was covered by the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver on their 2007 album Libertad.
- In 2006, the popular Fox teenage drama, The OC, featured a special cover version of the song in an episode, as well as commissioning the indie artist John Paul White to cover the track for Music from the OC: Mix 6 "Covering Our Tracks".
- A live cover version by Fountains of Wayne appeared as a B-side on their 1997 single "Sink to the Bottom" and later on their 2005 album Out Of State Plates.
- In 2006 Jonathan Kossin covered the song.
- In the 1970s, a "Sacred Mushroom Edition" cut of Kenneth Anger's experimental film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome circulated that used the ELO song as its score instead of the original Glagolitic Mass by Czech composer Leoš Janáček
- Progressive rock band Transatlantic covered this song on their 2014 album Kaleidoscope, on disc 2 of the special edition.
- Hard rock band Silent Rage covered this song on their 1989 album, "Don't Touch Me There", but changed a few lyrics and renamed it to "Can't Get Her Out Of My Head".
External links
- In-depth Song Analysis at the Jeff Lynne Song Database (jefflynnesongs.com)
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
References
- 1 2 http://www.jefflynnesongs.com/cgioomh/
- ↑ Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic "This compilation of familiar soft rock includes such notables as ... "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by Electric Light Orchestra."
- 1 2 "Electric Light Orchestra - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
- ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discografie Electric Light Orchestra". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ↑ Hawtin, Steve. "Song artist 171 - Electric Light Orchestra". Tsort.info. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ↑ ELO
- ↑ Charts!
- ↑ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm
- ↑ "Releases : elo - Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra". Elo.biz. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
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