Don't Bring Me Down...Brrrruce

Electric Light Orchestra's Number one song in US...

I was listening to an interview with ELO’s front man Jeff Lynne on Sirius the other day and he shared this interesting story.

Following the departure of Roy Wood in 1972, Jeff Lynne assumed sole leadership of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and wrote, arranged, and produced virtually all of its subsequent records. ELO broke up in 1986.

Jeff Lynne tells the story about Bruce in the song Don’t Bring me Down. While writing the lyrics, Jeff wanted a silly word to go after the “Don’t Bring Me Down” singing part in the bridge. It just needed a word or sound to finish the line.

Lynne says ”Whenever we play Madison Square Garden, Bruce Willis is always there. So, he’s right by the front. When I sing “Don’t bring me down… Brrruce”. We all point at Willis, and he’s ever so sweet, and really enjoys having people sing Bruce at that part of the song”.

A German sound engineer asked Lynne how he knew the German word for ‘Greeting” is “Gruss”? But it was written as “grroosss” in the liner notes for the album. It was totally by accident that Jeff's made up word "grroosss" sounded like the German word, but the decision was made to leave it in the song.

The fans always shout Bruce whenever that part of the song comes up, so Lynne decided - if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em - and he sings Bruce instead of Gruss all the time now.

Even when Bruce Willis is not in the audience.

Lyrics, before Bruce:

You got me runnin', goin' out of my mind
You got me thinkin' that I'm wastin' my time

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

You wanna stay out with your fancy friends
I'm tellin' you, it's got to be the end

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down

What happened to the girl I used to know?
You let your mind out somewhere down the road

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

You're always talkin' 'bout your crazy nights
One of these days, you're gonna get it right

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down, gruss
Don't bring me down

You're lookin' good, just like a snake in the grass
One of these days, you're gonna break your glass

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

You got me shakin', got me runnin' away
You got me crawlin' up to you everyday

Don't bring me down
No, no, no, no, no
Ooh-ooh-hoo
I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down, down, down, down, down, down

I'll tell you once more before I get off the floor
Don't bring me down

Songwriters: Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra)

Don't Bring Me Down lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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About

• Record Date: March/April 1979

• Record Location: Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany

• Written By: Jeff Lynne

• Produced By: Jeff Lynne

• Engineered By: Mack

• Performed By: Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer), Bev Bevan (drums, percussion), Richard Tandy (grand piano, synthesizer, electric piano, clavinet), Kelly Groucutt (bass, vocals)

  Initially Released On: Discovery LP album (1979 May — UK — Jet JET LX 500)

Don't Bring Me Down is also significant as it is ELO's highest Billboard charting single ever in the USA and is the biggest hit in many other countries as well. (...source)

Now you know the real story!

You don’t have to buy me a coffee. I have coffee. But a comment would be cool! Thank You to all Subscribers!

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