The Diary of Horace Wimp
| "The Diary of Horace Wimp" | ||||||||||||
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| Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||||||||||
| from the album Discovery | ||||||||||||
| B-side | "Down Home Town" | |||||||||||
| Released | 21 July 1979 | |||||||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||||||
| Recorded | 1979, Musicland Studios, Munich | |||||||||||
| Genre | ||||||||||||
| Length | 4:17 | |||||||||||
| Label | Jet | |||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||||||||||
| Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||||||||||
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"The Diary of Horace Wimp" is the fourth track on the Electric Light Orchestra album Discovery, written by Jeff Lynne.
Released in 1979 as a single, the song is Beatlesque in nature and became a Top Ten hit in the UK and Ireland. The lyrics describe a week in the life of a repressed man who nevertheless overcomes his shy nature with the help of "a voice from above." The day Saturday is omitted – this is because, as explained by Jeff Lynne: "The football match is played on a Saturday".
Jeff Lynne references Citizen Kane when he says "Horace Wimp" while actually seeing a close-up shot of his lips at the end in its music video[1] as well just like Orson Welles did with "Rosebud".[2]
| “ | A song about a lucky lad who somehow defies the odds and gets the girl. Really wild use of the vocoder. | ” |
| —Jeff Lynne[3] | ||
B-side
Down Home Town
"Down Home Town" first appeared on the band's fifth album Face the Music. It also featured as the flip side to the US single "Last Train to London".
"Down Home Town" contains an intro with a backmasking message, the backing chorus of the previous track, "Waterfall": "Face the mighty waterfall, face the mighty waterfall." This song includes an orchestral intro (after the "Waterfall" refrain) and a similar ending. These reverse recorded words were only used because of the sound effect, but some fanatical christians [sic] in the USA were sure they heard, as several hysterics put it 'satanic messages' hidden on the record".[4]
Chart positions
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 48 |
| Germany (Media Control Charts)[6] | 52 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[7] | 10 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] | 8 |
References
- ↑ "ELO - The Diary of Horace Wimp". YouTube. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "CITIZEN KANE – Rosebud". YouTube. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ Lynne, Jeff (2001). Discovery (Media notes). Electric Light Orchestra.
- ↑ Guttenbacher, Patrik; Haines, Marc; von Petersdorff, Alexander (1996). Unexpected Messages.
- ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Electric Light Orchestra – The Diary Of Horace Wimp". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Diary of Horace Wimp". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Archive Chart: 1979-08-11" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
External links
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