ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - EVIL WOMAN

Released: October 1975 (US)  January 1976 (UK)

Charted:  UK: #10   US: #10 

"Evil Woman" was released as a single in England on Jet Records, one of the first on the new label, with a “10538 Overture” on the B-side. In the US, it is the seventh single and was released on United Artists Records and the same edition of “10538 Overture” on side B. It was also released as the third track on side 1 of the album “Face The Music” in September 1975 in the US and in November 1975 in England. Interestingly, both individual versions are edits of the album version, with the UK version simply editing out the intro and the US version having several interesting edits. The B side in many other countries was “Nightrider” and “Poker” in Spain.

The song became Electric Light Orchestra's first true global hit, reaching the top ten in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It's since regarded as one of their essential songs, and has been sampled countless times over the years. This single was the first ELO platinum-selling record in the United States.

"Evil Woman" is a song about a woman whose deceit and manipulation has been destructive in a relationship. The song has a quite literal meaning, referring to a woman that has played with the singer's emotions and his somewhat pleasure in seeing her 'feeling pain'. This can be heard in lyrics like: "You made a fool of me", "you broke me up", and: "You destroyed all the virtues that the Lord gave you, it's so good that you're feelin' pain". The song's chorus is essentially a warning to this woman to stop her wicked ways - "Evil woman, evil woman, evil woman, evil woman..." The verses tell the story of someone who had hopes and dreams of a successful relationship but found themselves tricked and fooled by the evil woman, who only used the person for her own gain. Despite knowing that she is just using him and has nowhere else to turn, Jeff also alludes to the fact he will always be there for her when she cries. The lyrics read: "You made the wine, now you drink a cup. I came runnin' every time you cried, thought I saw love smilin' in your eyes. Ha, ha, very nice to know that you ain't got no place left to go". The song's message is one of caution and reflection on how a person's actions can have far-reaching consequences.

Jeff said: I wrote this in a matter of minutes. The rest of the album (Face the Music) was done. I listened to it and thought, "There's not a good single." So I sent the band out to a game of football and made up "Evil Woman" on the spot. The first three chords came right to me. It was the quickest thing I'd ever done. We kept it slick and cool, kind of like an R&B song. It was kind of a posh one for me, with all the big piano solos and the string arrangement. It was inspired by a certain woman, but I can't say who. She's appeared a few times in my songs. Playing concerts in those days wasn't fun. The sound was always bad and we were still playing theaters and town halls, the occasional dance hall. After "Evil Woman," we got more gigs, but it didn't change my life all that much. You can't buy a palace or anything after just one hit.

“Evil Woman” follows in the footsteps of rock mythology: Jeff Lynne supposedly borrowed the three-chord structure from the end of Led Zeppelin's “Stairway To Heaven” and developed it. Also paid tribute to The Beatles' “Fixing A Hole” with the lyric: ‘There's a hole in my head where the rain comes in’.