Mr. Blue Sky

You'll be happy to know that unlike Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and Devo's "Beautiful World," there's nothing subversive in "Mr. Blue Sky." The song really is about a happy, warm feeling on a sunny day. It's the closing song on the third side of Electric Light Orchestra's 1977 Out Of The Blue album. Known as "Concerto For A Rainy Day," that album side starts with a song called "Standin' in the Rain" and follows the concept of a rainy day that comes to an end.

On a BBC Radio interview, ELO leader Jeff Lynne talked about how he came up with this song after he locked himself away in a Swiss chalet attempting to write ELO's follow-up to their album A New World Record. "It was dark and misty for two 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 two weeks."

Jeff Lynne has a "blue" streak: Other songs he wrote for ELO include "Out of the Blue" and "Midnight Blue." Lynne is from the Birmingham area in England, where the Birmingham Football Club (or as Americans call it, "soccer team") is called the Birmingham Blues. The "blues" in these songs are in some way a tribute to his team.