Confusion (Electric Light Orchestra song)

"Confusion" is the second song from the 1979 Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) album Discovery. It features 12-string acoustic guitar and vocoder.

A-side"Last Train to London" (UK)

B-side"Poker" (US)

Released8 October 1979 (US)

Recorded1979

Quick facts Single by Electric Light Orchestra, from the album Discovery ...

"Confusion"
UK single
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Discovery
A-side	"Last Train to London" (UK)
B-side	"Poker" (US)
Released	8 October 1979 (US)
Recorded	1979
Studio	Musicland Studios, Munich
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:42
Label	Jet
Songwriter	Jeff Lynne
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Don't Bring Me Down" (1979) "Confusion" (1979) "Last Train to London" (1979)
Discovery track listing
9 tracks Side one "Shine a Little Love" "Confusion" "Need Her Love" "The Diary of Horace Wimp" Side two "Last Train to London" "Midnight Blue" "On the Run" "Wishing" "Don't Bring Me Down"
Music video
"Confusion" on YouTube

Close

It was released in the UK as a double A-side single with "Last Train to London". It peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, making it the fourth consecutive top 10 single to be taken from the Discovery album.^[1] In the United States the song was released as a single with "Poker" on the B-side becoming a more modest hit, reaching number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

Billboard rated "Confusion" as "a superbly crafted single," describing it as "a mid-tempo rock track that mixes a Beatlesque sound with a hint of disco."^[3] Cash Box called it a "bubbly Lynne concoction, mixing glossy pop melody with alternately grandiose and circus-like keyboard fills" and praised the song's hook and craftsmanship."^[4] Record World called it a "mellifluous, pop disc with the everpresent falsetto vocals & keyboard gymnastics."^[5]

I'd just got hold of the very latest synthesizer, the Yamaha CS-80. The song is based entirely on the sound it made.