“Sweet Talkin’ Woman” – ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

Written by: Jeff Lynne
Released: 1978

US Charts: #17
UK Charts: #6
Other Charts: #38 (Australia), #6 (Canada)

Put simply, Electric Light Orchestra or ELO, is one of the most underrated bands in music history. If there ever was a band that deserved wider recognition and critical acclaim, it is ELO. Jeff Lynne, who was the leader of the group and wrote, composed and produced all the band’s songs, is a musical genius. For some reason, he is generally not considered to be one of the gods of music, and it bewilders why Jeff Lynne has not yet been knighted by the Queen in his native United Kingdom. His contribution to music has been nothing but enormous.

“Sweet Talkin’ Woman” is one of their most well-known songs and one of the best examples of the unique blend of rock and classical music ELO created during the time they were together. Before ELO, no other band, let alone rock band, had dared or attempted to mix typical rock music with classical music. ELO did just that and did so well. Their style of music has since rarely been produced giving them a unique place in music and making their music all that more memorable.

Lyrics-wise, the song is about a man who is confused by the way a woman he adores acts. The man does not quite understand the way the woman acts and asks her to slow down and tell him what’s going to happen with their relationship. The singer then concedes that it’s possible that it was just a one-off fling which will be a sad ending according to him. Such a song relates well to a person who has one nightstand and who isn’t sure whether the relationship will continue afterwards. I’m sure many people out there can relate to this.

This song charted reasonably well in both the UK and US, although it probably deserved to be more popular. As I said earlier, this is just one of various great underrated songs made by this very underrated band. Other songs, I strongly recommend that you listen to are “Livin’ Thing”, “Evil Woman” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” I will be covering these songs in future posts but for the time being, I hope you enjoy this classic song from ELO.

Lyrics can be accessed here.

Chords can be accessed here.

Feel free to comment on this song and/or my review below.

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Tagged as: classic songs, hit songs, pop songs, rock songs