Song of the Day: “Don’t Bring Me Down” by Electric Light Orchestra

Will [5:50 PM]:
is there a better song
than
goodbye stranger by supertramp?
answer
no
no, there is not
dan you should just stop your song of the day articles
b/c the song of the day
every day
is goodbye stranger
by supertramp

Dan [6:37 PM]:
My rule is one song per artist, so i can’t pick it every day
Maybe I’ll do a “songs that aren’t goodbye stranger week”
and rate each song based on how similar it is to Goodbye Stranger

In 1969, a Dutch investor hired keyboardist Rick Davies to form a band. They named the band “Daddy.” Two years later, the band renamed itself Supertramp. In 1979 — or 10 “AD” (After Daddy) — Supetramp released their signature album, Breakfast in America. You might or might not know this album as the one with “Goodbye Stranger.”

This important historical narrative has a counter-part. In 1969, another band formed called Electric Light Orchestra. In 1979, ELO released their biggest album, Discovery. This album featured mainstream smash “Don’t Bring Me Down.”

The chronologies indicate “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “Goodbye Stranger” are cousins of sorts. The music backs this up! Both are radio-friendly pop-rock. The timbres aren’t identical: “Don’t Bring Me Down” hits harder than “Goodbye Stranger” courtesy of its spry rhythm parts. But both are industrious and melodic. Both feature vocal parts in a register that’s high for a typical male.

Let’s not get carried away: “Don’t Bring Me Down” is no “Goodbye Stranger.” It does not have a contrapuntal chorus, nor a bananas, left-field guitar solo to close the song. But it’s about as close as you can come without, in fact, being “Goodbye Stranger.”

I rate “Don’t Bring Me Down”‘s similarity to “Goodbye Stranger”: ★★★★ out of ★★★★★.

Click here for the full list

Click here for the full list


Dan and Brian from Earn This now have a film review site and podcast:

The Goods: Film Reviews

The Goods: A Film Podcast

Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and more.

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