| "Eldorado" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||||||||
| from the album Eldorado, A Symphony | ||||||||||
| A-side | Boy Blue US Wild West Hero UK |
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| Released | April 1975 (US) b-side May 1978 (UK) b-side |
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| Recorded | Feb - Aug 1974 | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock music, Symphonic rock | |||||||||
| Length | 5:17 (LP) 4:50 (single) |
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| Label | Jet Records, United Artists | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||
| Producer | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||
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Eldorado is the title track from the 1974 album of the same name by the Electric Light Orchestra.
The song was used as the B-side of the US single "Boy Blue in 1975 and later as the flip side to the UK hit single Wild West Hero in 1978
According to the songs composer Jeff Lynne
"This song is where the dreamer wakes up to reality, then decides he likes his dream world better and tries to get back to Eldorado." - Eldorado (remastered) liner notes by Jeff Lynne, 2001
The title track gained a certain notoriety when it was claimed by some Christian Fundamentalists that "Eldorado" contained some "satanic messages." Purportedly, the line in the song that went "Here it comes, another lonely day; Playing the game. I'll sail away; On a voyage of no return to see" was claimed to sound something like "He is the nasty one - Christ you're infernal - It is said we're dead men - Everyone who has the mark will live" when played backwards. Jeff Lynne denied these allegations, then further asserted his point to his accusers — in his typical tongue-in-cheek manner — by inserting an obviously and deliberately backmasked segment into ELO's next album (Face The Music), within the opening portions of the famous "Fire On High" track. He further satirized it by releasing an entire album strewn with backmasking.
The song was also covered by Fleming & John in the tribute compilation Lynne Me Your Ears.