ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - SWEET TALKIN’ WOMAN

Publicació: 22 de setembre de 1978

Llistes: Regne Unit: #6  EUA: #17

"Sweet Talkin' Woman" és el quart senzill (segon a Espanya) de l'àlbum de 1977 "Out of the Blue". És una cançó de quatre minuts d’una melodia meravellosa. Els versos són tan enganxosos com la tornada, que és tan enganxosa com qualsevol tornada que Lynne hagi escrit abans, amb el seu ritme conductor i cordes en espiral transportant a l’oient. Una ruptura de somni abans de la tornada i el pont carregat de vocoder il·lustren la complexitat de la composició de les cançons de Lynne i la seva ambició de convertir les cançons pop en obres d'art. ELO va ser una de les primeres bandes notables a fer ús del vocoder, un instrument de síntesi vocal, i “Sweet Talkin' Woman” és un clar exemple del seu bon ús.

Inicialment la cançó es deia "Dead End Street", però durant la gravació Lynne va decidir canviar el títol i bona part de la lletra. Al començament de la tercera estrofa es poden escoltar algunes paraules derivades d'aquesta versió inicial: "I've been living on a dead end street” (He estat vivint en un carrer sense sortida). Lynne va recordar en una entrevista a Off the Record: "Inicialment va ser una cançó anomenada Dead End Street. Jo havia escrit la lletra i vaig acabar amb la resta. Vaig baixar l'endemà a l'estudi i vaig dir: "Odio això". Esborrem totes les veus.' I’enginyer diu: 'De debò?'  I vaig dir: 'Sí. Treu tot el que tingui a veure amb les veus. I ho va fer. Ho va netejar tot. Vaig estar assegut a l'hotel, que està a sobre de l'estudi, treballant de nit només intentant pensar en una nova melodia i una nova lletra, cosa que vaig fer. I ho vam provar i treballar l'endemà. Va ser una bona feina feta, però també va significar haver de canviar una mica l'arranjament. Així que aquell dia es van utilitzar molts talls de tisores”.

Parlant del significat darrere de la lletra, el tema del títol original es pot sentir al llarg de la cançó. La peça tracta d'un home que intenta trobar una dona que va conèixer anteriorment. Les lletres que fan al·lusió a això inclouen: "I was searchin' on a one-way street, I was hopin' for a chance to meet. I was waitin' for the operator on the line, what can I do? Don't know what I'm gonna do. I gotta get back to you". (Estava buscant en un carrer de sentit únic, esperava tenir l'oportunitat de trobar-te. Estava esperant l'operador de la línia, què puc fer? No sé què faré. He de tornar amb tu). Al·ludint a l'apassionat intent de trobar la seva "sweet talking woman” (dolça dona parlant), canten: "You gotta slow down, sweet talkin' woman. You've got me runnin', you've got me searchin'” (Has de frenar, dolça dona parlant. M'has fet córrer, m'has buscat). En el que es podria interpretar com l'esmentat 'carrer sense sortida', la lletra fa referència a la preocupació de no tornar a trobar la dona, cantant: "Hold on, sweet talkin' lover. It's so sad if that's the way it's over” (Espera, dolça amant parlant. És tan trist si això s'ha acabat). La cançó expressa l'enyorança, ja que l'home intenta omplir el buit creat per l'absència de la dona desconeguda i transmet un sentit d'urgència en la seva súplica perquè freni i torni.

"Sweet Talkin' Woman" va ser plagiada per Robert John "Mutt" Lange quan va escriure la cançó de Huey Lewis and the News "Do You Believe In Love" per al seu àlbum "Picture this" de 1982. Els versos tenen la mateixa melodia i fins i tot els de l’inici de les cançons són notablement semblants. La ironia d'això és que l'any 1984, pocs anys després que la melodia i la lletra de "Sweet Talkin' Woman" fossin plagiades, Huey Lewis and the News van demandar amb èxit a Ray Parker Jr., al·legant que la cançó de Parker "Ghostbusters" era un plagi de la cançó de Huey Lewis and the News "I Want A New Drug".

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - SWEET TALKIN’ WOMAN

Released: September 22, 1978

Charted:  UK: #6  US: #17 

"Sweet Talkin' Woman" is the fourth single from the 1977 album “Out of the Blue”. The song is four minutes of wonderful melody. The verses are as catchy as the chorus, which is as catchy as any chorus Lynne has ever written, with its driving rhythm and spiraling strings. The dreamy pre-chorus breakdown and vocoder-laden bridge illustrate the complexity of Lynne's songwriting and her ambition to turn pop songs into works of art. ELO were one of the first notable bands to make use of the vocoder, a vocal synthesising instrument, and '’Sweet Talkin' Woman’' its a clear example of its good use.

Initially it was called "Dead End Street", but during recording Lynne decided to change the title and much of the lyrics. Some words carried over from that early version can be heard at the beginning of the third verse: "I've been living on a dead end street”. Lynne recalled in an interview with Uncle Joe Benson on Off the Record: "It was a song called Dead End Street. I'd done all the words and everything, finished it. And I came down the next day in the studio and I went, 'I hate that. Let's rub all the vocals off.' And so, he goes, 'Really?' Y'know, me engineer. And I said, 'Yup. Get rid off everything off there. Whatever to do with the vocals.' And he did. He rubbed 'em all off. And I'd been sitting up in the hotel, which is above the studio, working at night just trying to think of a new tune and new words, which I did. And tried it the next day and there they worked. So, it was a good job I did, but it also meant changing the arrangement slightly. So a lot of pairs of scissors were used that day".

When it comes to the meaning behind the lyrics, the theme of the original title can be felt throughout the song. The track is about a man who is trying to find a woman that he previously met. Lyrics alluding to this include: "I was searchin' on a one-way street, I was hopin' for a chance to meet. I was waitin' for the operator on the line, what can I do? Don't know what I'm gonna do. I gotta get back to you". Alluding to the passionate attempt to find his 'sweet talking woman', they sing: "You gotta slow down, sweet talkin' woman. You've got me runnin', you've got me searchin'". In what could be interpreted as the previously mentioned 'dead end street', the lyrics refer to the worry that they might not find the woman again, singing: "Hold on, sweet talkin' lover. It's so sad if that's the way it's over”. The song expresses longing, as the man attempts to fill the void created by the unknown woman's absence and conveys a sense of urgency in its plea for her to slow down and come back.

“Sweet Talkin' Woman” was ripped off by Robert John "Mutt" Lange when he wrote the Huey Lewis and the News song “Do You Believe In Love” for their 1982 “Picture this” album. The verses have the same melody and even the opening lines of the songs are remarkably similar. The irony of this is that in 1984, just a few years after the melody and lyrics of “Sweet Talkin' Woman” were ripped off, Huey Lewis and the News successfully sued Ray Parker Jr., claiming that Parker's song “Ghostbusters” was a rip off of the Huey Lewis and the News song “I Want A New Drug”.