Uploaded March 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
"Don't Bring Me Down", by British rock band Electric Light Orchestra in 1979, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K., and #6 in Australia. As their second highest charting hit, the song reached two million air-plays. A common misinterpretation in the song is the perception that lead singer Jeff Lynne shouts the word "Bruce!", however, Lynne explained that he is singing a made-up word, "Grooss". The drum track is a tape loop from their song "On the Run", but slowed down, and the song ends with the sound of a metal fire door slamming at the studio where the song was recorded. No string instruments were used in the song as well.The song was dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station, which re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia in 1979. Despite early singles success in the U.K., the band was initially more successful in the United States where they were billed as "the English guys with the big fiddles". ELO, who's style blended modern rock and pop with classical overtones, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
"Don't Bring Me Down", by British rock band Electric Light Orchestra in 1979, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K., and #6 in Australia. As their second highest charting hit, the song reached two million air-plays. A common misinterpretation in the song is the perception that lead singer Jeff Lynne shouts the word "Bruce!", however, Lynne explained that he is singing a made-up word, "Grooss". The drum track is a tape loop from their song "On the Run", but slowed down, and the song ends with the sound of a metal fire door slamming at the studio where the song was recorded. No string instruments were used in the song as well.The song was dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station, which re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia in 1979. Despite early singles success in the U.K., the band was initially more successful in the United States where they were billed as "the English guys with the big fiddles". ELO, who's style blended modern rock and pop with classical overtones, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
