# Don't Bring Me Down
"Don't Bring Me Down" is a 1979 rock song by the English band [Electric Light Orchestra](https://www.edgepedia.org/electric-light-orchestra) (ELO), written and produced by [Jeff Lynne](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-lynne) and released as a single from their album *[Discovery](https://www.edgepedia.org/discovery-electric-light-orchestra-album)*.[1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) It was the first ELO song recorded without a string section, and it became the band's biggest hit in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / writer | Electric Light Orchestra; written and produced by Jeff Lynne[1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) |
| Release | Single from *Discovery* (1979); UK 7-inch on Jet Records, catalog JET 153, B-side "Dreaming of 4000"[1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) • [3](https://www.elosingles.co.uk/_files/ugd/1e5ba6_8dfe7e1c80a047b2977bd4fad512f441.pdf) |
| US peak | No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, ELO's highest-charting US single[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html) |
| UK peak | No. 3 on the Official Singles Chart; first charted 1 September 1979 and spent 9 weeks on the chart[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/electric-light-orchestra-dont-bring-me-down/) |
| Other peaks | No. 1 in Canada; No. 2 in Switzerland and Austria; No. 5 in Germany and the Netherlands; No. 6 in Australia and New Zealand[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html) • [1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) |
| Distinction | First ELO song recorded without a string section[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html) |
| Length | About 4:03 on *Discovery*, where it is the closing track[5](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/117961-dont-bring-me-down/) |
## Background and recording
Lynne wrote the song at the last minute to fill out *Discovery*, ELO's eighth studio album, which was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich in a matter of days between March and April 1979.[6](https://electric-light-orchestra.fandom.com/wiki/Don%27t_Bring_Me_Down) • [7](https://los40.com/2026/06/02/discovery-el-paso-de-the-beatles-a-bee-gees-convirtio-a-la-elo-en-una-cosa-monstruosa/) The band's engineer, Reinhold Mack, is credited with the idea of dropping the strings; by his account he nudged Lynne to simply boogie for a night.[8](https://www.rocklists.com/artists/electric-light-orchestra/don-t-bring-me-down/)
**The drums are not a live performance.** [Bev Bevan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bev-bevan) sat the track out; Mack built the beat from a tape loop lifted from the ELO song "On the Run", slowed down and then sped up again.[8](https://www.rocklists.com/artists/electric-light-orchestra/don-t-bring-me-down/) Lynne described the method in a 2012 Mix interview: he took two tracks of drumming, bass drum and snare with a little hi-hat leakage, wound the tape loop around a mic stand and a pencil, recorded the roughly two-bar loop onto the 24-track machine, and ran the snare through a UREI 1176 limiter "crushed to death" until it was as flat as possible without becoming a fuzz box.[9](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/jeff-lynne-366370) He has also said the track carried eight pianos all playing the same note, which simply made the sound eight times louder.[9](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/jeff-lynne-366370)
The song ends with the sound of a door closing, recorded at Musicland.[6](https://electric-light-orchestra.fandom.com/wiki/Don%27t_Bring_Me_Down)
## Sound and lyrics
The track is one of ELO's rockier songs, driven by electric guitar rather than the orchestral arrangements that defined the band's earlier work.[6](https://electric-light-orchestra.fandom.com/wiki/Don%27t_Bring_Me_Down) Donald A. Guarisco, a reviewer at AllMusic, described a driving uptempo arrangement that alternates between verses swinging in the style of 1950s rockers like [Jerry Lee Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-lee-lewis) and a high-harmony chorus, over Bevan's reverb-drenched drumming, twanging guitar riffs, and layers of keyboard overdubs.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/song/dont-bring-me-down-mt0007940212) The lyrics critique a woman who has abandoned her "nice girl" virtues to spend "crazy nights" with her "fancy friends".[10](https://www.allmusic.com/song/dont-bring-me-down-mt0007940212)
The chanted word after each chorus, widely misheard as "Bruce", is actually "Groos" (often rendered "Grroosss"). Lynne has explained that it began as a placeholder or guide vocal and he kept it after fans latched onto it.[8](https://www.rocklists.com/artists/electric-light-orchestra/don-t-bring-me-down/)
## Chart performance
In the United Kingdom the single entered the Official Singles Chart at No. 38 on 1 September 1979, climbed to its peak of No. 3 on 22 September, and spent nine weeks on the chart, four of them in the Top 10.[4](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/electric-light-orchestra-dont-bring-me-down/) In the United States it cracked the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 on 8 September 1979 and peaked at No. 4, becoming ELO's biggest US hit.[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html) It topped the chart in Canada and charted across continental Europe and Oceania: No. 2 in Switzerland (11 weeks) and Austria (16 weeks), No. 5 in Germany (27 weeks) and the Netherlands, and [No. 6](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-6) in Australia and New Zealand.[2](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html) • [1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) • [11](https://bangagong.com.au/dont-bring-me-down-electric-light-orchestra/)
The parent album *Discovery* was ELO's first UK number-one album and, according to Apple Music's album notes, sold more than 2 million copies in the US alone and produced five hit singles, of which "Don't Bring Me Down" was the biggest.[12](https://music.apple.com/us/album/discovery/1054530378)
## Personnel
The credits listed for the *Discovery* track are Jeff Lynne (lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, synthesizer, piano), [Richard Tandy](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-tandy) (grand piano, clavinet, electric piano, synthesizer), Bev Bevan (roto toms, percussion, drums), and [Kelly Groucutt](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelly-groucutt) (bass guitar, backing and lead vocals), with Louis Clark as conductor and Lynne, Tandy, and Clark handling string and vocal arrangements; Mack was the engineer.[5](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/117961-dont-bring-me-down/)
## Legacy
The song's success without strings changed the band's direction. After recording it, ELO dismissed their string section, leaving four members in the band.[11](https://bangagong.com.au/dont-bring-me-down-electric-light-orchestra/) AllMusic's review notes that the single proved ELO could be just as interesting without strings and paved the way for later string-less hits such as "Hold On Tight" and "Calling America".[10](https://www.allmusic.com/song/dont-bring-me-down-mt0007940212) The Rock Hall's ELO induction essay describes it as the biggest hit of the *Discovery* era.[13](https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ELO_2017.pdf)
The song has been covered by Status Quo, Northern Kings, Axxis, David Hallyday, and others, and it remains a fixture of classic rock radio and all-time countdowns, appearing in stations' Top 500 and Top 1,043 classic rock lists through 2025.[1](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605) • [8](https://www.rocklists.com/artists/electric-light-orchestra/don-t-bring-me-down/)
## References
1. [Electric Light Orchestra – Don't Bring Me Down, hitparade.ch](https://www.hitparade.ch/song/Electric-Light-Orchestra/Don%27t-Bring-Me-Down-605)
2. [How ELO's 'Don't Bring Me Down' Redefined Their Sound and Became a Major Hit, AOL/Parade](https://www.aol.com/articles/elos-dont-bring-down-redefined-223200000.html)
3. [ELO UK Jukebox 7 Singles (2024), elosingles.co.uk](https://www.elosingles.co.uk/_files/ugd/1e5ba6_8dfe7e1c80a047b2977bd4fad512f441.pdf)
4. [DON'T BRING ME DOWN – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/electric-light-orchestra-dont-bring-me-down/)
5. [Don't Bring Me Down – Song Ratings, Album of the Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/117961-dont-bring-me-down/)
6. [Don't Bring Me Down, Electric Light Orchestra Wiki (Fandom)](https://electric-light-orchestra.fandom.com/wiki/Don%27t_Bring_Me_Down)
7. ['Discovery', el paso de The Beatles a Bee Gees, los40.com](https://los40.com/2026/06/02/discovery-el-paso-de-the-beatles-a-bee-gees-convirtio-a-la-elo-en-una-cosa-monstruosa/)
8. ["Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra, RockLists](https://www.rocklists.com/artists/electric-light-orchestra/don-t-bring-me-down/)
9. [Jeff Lynne: ELO Production Secrets & Studio Mastery, Mix Online](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/jeff-lynne-366370)
10. [Don't Bring Me Down Review by Donald A. Guarisco, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/dont-bring-me-down-mt0007940212)
11. [Don't Bring Me Down: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, Bang a Gong](https://bangagong.com.au/dont-bring-me-down-electric-light-orchestra/)
12. [Discovery – Album by Electric Light Orchestra, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/discovery/1054530378)
13. [Jeff Lynne / ELO, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction essay (2017)](https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ELO_2017.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop rock songs › 1960s and 1970s pop rock songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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