S$# 014 Electric Light Orchestra | Everyone's Born To Die

I like bonus tracks on CDs. I think it's fun to listen to outtakes, alt versions and other rarities. Often they don't quite measure up to the previously released songs, but they offer insight into the artist's creative process.

Sometimes you come across a real winner - a fantastic song that reinvigorates your appreciation for that artist. Everyone's Born To Die is just that type of gem.

Issued in 2003 on the British two-CD remaster of Electric Light Orchestra's second album, ELO 2, this song blew me away. Jeff Lynne presented a song that was very different song than the archetypal ELO numbers of 1973. For one thing, it has no strings. (The first released stringless ELO song was Don't Bring Me Down in 1979.) Howling twin lead guitars by Jeff and friend Marc Bolan, plus Jeff's raw vocals, provide the high-octane drive to the track. EB2D ends with a bouncy little piano coda, which suggests one shouldn't take the song too seriously.

The lyrics are sort of Dylanesque. I'm not quite sure what the song is about; it certainly doesn't seem sad or morose, as the title might suggest.

Here are the lyrics in full:

I see that look of old
Good tidings they are comin'
Wake up that pretty face
And tell me all that you know
Just see the difference now
You're back in front of the show
Such a big deal
How does it feel?

The world is watchin' you
Your troubles now are over
Just see the people stare
They love you don't you know

You drive a Thunderbird
to every single show
If you gotta go,
Go now

And when you cry
All the world will cry
If you should laugh
Well, they'll all fall down
You'd better make it soon
Your sins have been forgivin'
When you start fallin'
There is no one there to hold

You trade your life in for a bag of shiny gold
Something to hold
Something to hold

And when you cry,
All the world will cry
If you should laugh
Well, they'll all fall down

Nothing is better than
Going home without a reason
I look into the sky
And see the reason for life
Everyone's born to die.

This song is truly a treasure, and I'm so glad it was finally issued after sitting in the vault for 30 years. It's now firmly in my top five ELO tracks.

EB2D is also featured on the new single-disc release of the remastered ELO 2, out recently in the USA.