"Mr. Blue Sky" | ||||
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Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
from the album Out of the Blue | ||||
B-side | "One Summer Dream" | |||
Released | 28 January 1978 (UK) June 1978 (US) |
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Format | 7" single | |||
Recorded | 1977 at Musicland Studios, Munich | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
5:06 3:45 (Japanese 7") |
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Label | Jet | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
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"Mr. Blue Sky" | |
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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 | 3:44 |
Label | Frontiers |
Songwriter(s) | Jeff Lynne |
Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne |
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra track listing | |
12 tracks
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"Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by British rock group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album Out of the Blue (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto for a Rainy Day" suite, on side three of the original double album. "Mr. Blue Sky" was the second single to be taken from Out of the Blue, peaking at number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and number 35 in the United States. The song was played as a wake-up call to astronaut Christopher Ferguson on Day 3 of STS-135, the final mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
In a BBC Radio interview, Lynne talked about writing "Mr. Blue Sky" after locking himself away in a Swiss chalet and attempting to write ELO's follow-up to A New World Record:
It was dark and misty for 2 weeks, and I didn't come up with a thing. Suddenly the sun shone and it was, 'Wow, look at those beautiful Alps.' I wrote Mr. Blue Sky and 13 other songs in the next 2 weeks.
The song's arrangement has been called "Beatlesque", bearing similarities to Beatles songs "Martha My Dear" and "A Day in the Life" while harmonically it shares its unusual first four chords and harmonic rhythm with "Yesterday".
The arrangement makes prominent use of a cowbell sound, although this is credited on the album to percussionist Bev Bevan, as that of a "fire extinguisher".
Describing the song for the BBC, Dominic King said: