Mr. Blue Sky

"Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by English 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 LP. "Mr. Blue Sky" was the second single to be taken from Out of the Blue, peaking at number 6 in the UK Singles Chart[1]  and number 35 in the United States.[2]  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.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Inspiration  ==Inspiration[ edit] == 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: The song's arrangement has been called "Beatlesque",[3]  bearing similarities to Beatles songs "Martha My Dear" and "A Day in the Life".[4] [5] ==Vocoded sections[ edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">The song features a heavily vocoded voice singing the phrase "Mr. Blue Sky". A second vocoded segment at the end of the song was often interpreted as "Mister Blue Sky-yi"; it is actually "Please turn me over" as it is the end of side three, and the listener is being instructed to flip the LP over. This was confirmed by original keyboardist Richard Tandy, who did confirm the actual lyric to members of the Showdown ELO fan list; it has also been confirmed by Jeff Lynne on 3 October 2012 on the 'One Show'.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[6] ==Chart performance<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Jeff Lynne version<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song and others in his own home studio in 2012. It was released as a compilation album with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[11] ==Music Video<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">A music video has been released in late 2012 via the official ELO website<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[12]  and YouTube,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[13]  a colorful animation directed by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger with animation sequences designed and animated by University of Southern California students.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[14] ==Cover versions<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==In media<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">It appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who episode titled "Love & Monsters". It was also played during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, as well as the Opening Ceremony, as the world's athletes entered the Olympic Stadium. Glidden House Paint used the song in a commercial that aired in summer 2012.
 * 2 Vocoded sections
 * 3 Chart performance
 * 4 Jeff Lynne version
 * 5 Music Video
 * 6 Cover versions
 * 7 In media
 * 8 References
 * 9 External links
 * Nerf Herder released a cover that was used in the end credits of the British Channel 4 documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle in 2007.
 * Lily Allen released it as a single in December 2007.
 * Mayer Hawthorne released a cover on his Impressions - The Covers EP in 2011.
 * Common samples it on "Blue Sky" from his ninth studio album The Dreamer/The Believer released 20 December 2011.
 * Jim Bob, formerly of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine recorded a mournful cover as the theme tune to the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Mr Blue Sky in 2011. An extract was played as the outro to all ten episodes.
 * Parts are used in the song "Let It Out" by Girl Talk in his album, All Day.
 * British contemporary choir Rock Choir recorded the song for their 2011 album Rock Choir Deluxe.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">It was played on 27th February 2011 at Wembley Stadium post match in celebration of Birmingham City F.C winning the League Cup Final and is played at every home game as Jeff Lynne is a ardent Blues fan.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">The song is used in the films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Magic Roundabout, The Game Plan, "Doogal", Megamind, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, The Invention of Lying , Role Models, A Smile as Big as the Moon, and Martian Child.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">British band Take That also used samples of the song for a live version of Shine on their recent tours.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">The song has also been used in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dad! American Dad!]''.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">In 2002 the song was re-recorded by Lynne for use in the VW commercial "Bubble".