Mr. Blue Sky

In a BBC Radio interview, Lynne talked about writing "Mr. Blue Sky" after locking himself away in a Swiss chalet and attempting to write ELO's follow-up to 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.^[7]

Lynne also said:

I suppose this is my most well-known song. Everybody tells me something different about it. It’s even got crazy appeal to kids since it’s like a nursery rhyme. I remember writing the words down. I was at a chalet in the mountains of Switzerland, and it was all misty and cloudy all the way around. I didn’t see any countryside for the first four days or so, and then everything cleared, and there was this enormous view forever, and the sky was blue.^[8]

The song's arrangement has been called "Beatlesque",^[9] bearing similarities to Beatles songs "Martha My Dear" and "A Day in the Life"^[10] while harmonically it shares its unusual first four chords and harmonic rhythm with "Yesterday".^[11] The song's piano and drum intro is borrowed from the Kinks' 1968 song "Do You Remember Walter".^[12]

An alternate account of the song's composition was suggested by bassist Kelly Groucutt's 1983 lawsuit against Lynne, in which Groucutt alleged that he had written the song's middle section, but had not been officially credited in this capacity.^[13]

"Mr. Blue Sky" sample

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The arrangement makes prominent use of a cowbell-like sound,^[14] which is credited on the album, to percussionist Bev Bevan, as that of a fire extinguisher.^{[citation needed]}

Describing the song for the BBC, Dominic King said:

Lots of Gibb Brothers' vocal inflexions and Beatles' arrangement quotes (Penny Lane bell, Pepper panting, Abbey Road arpeggio guitars). But this fabulous madness creates its own wonder – the bendy guitar solo, funky cello stop-chorus, and the most freakatastic vocoder since Sparky's Magic Piano. Plus, the musical ambush on "way" at 2.51 still thrills. And that's before the Swingle Singers/RKO Tarzan movie/Rachmaninoff symphonic finale gets underway. Kitsch, yet truly exhilarating.^[15]

The song features a heavily vocoded voice singing the phrase "Mr. Blue Sky", as well as the phrase "please turn me over" at the end, instructing the listener to flip the LP.^[16]

AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco considered "Mr. Blue Sky" a "miniature pop symphony" and a "multi-layered pop treat that was a pure Beatles pastiche", saying that "the music divides its time between verses that repeat the same two notes to hypnotic effect a la 'I Am the Walrus' and an effervescent, constantly-ascending chorus". Guarisco also pointed out other references to the Beatles, such as "the staccato bassline [recalling] the chorus of 'Hello Goodbye' and pounding piano lines and panting background vocals [recalling] the midsection of 'A Day in the Life'".^[17] Music critic Nick DeRiso identified several references to Beatles' songs, including "Hello, Goodbye", "I Am the Walrus", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "A Day in the Life".^[18]

Billboard described the beat as "catchy" and said that the song builds from a "thumping intro" to a "harmonic operatic" ending.^[19] Cash Box said that the song "features a characteristically full sound and effective use of breaks" and that "fast pace, airy singing and strings provide musical dramatics."^[20] Record World said that "this up-tempo tune guarantees Lynne's legend as both writer and producer and shows off ELO's unique sound."^[21]

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated it ELO's best song.^[22] Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as ELO's 2nd best song, highlighting the "bouncing piano groove at the beginning of the song that is one of the coolest rock and pop licks you have ever heard."^[23] Stereogum contributor Ryan Reed also rated it as ELO's 2nd best song, saying that although it was released on the album as part of "Concerto for a Rainy Day", it actually "functions best as a stand-alone art-pop epic, a sort of engorged 'Penny Lane' – built on stomping pianos, manic cowbell...and an octave-spanning choral vocal arrangement."^[24]

In 2022, Lynne listed it as one of his nine favorite ELO songs.^[25]

• Jeff Lynne – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, orchestral and choral arrangements
• Bev Bevan – drums, various percussion instruments, cymbals, backing vocals, fire extinguisher
• Richard Tandy – piano, electric piano, synthesizer, vocoder, orchestral and choral arrangements
• Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Hugh McDowell – cello^[26]
• Melvyn Gale – cello

Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song and other ELO tracks in his home studio in 2012. The resulting album, Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra, was released under the ELO name. The difference in this version is that it does not include the ending orchestral piece.^[56]