LIVIN' THING

"'Livin' Thing'" is a song written and performed by Electric Light Orchestra.

Contents

Overview

Meaning

Chart performance

Covers

Livin' Thing - CD1

Livin' Thing - CD2

Trivia

Overview

The song was written by Jeff Lynne and appears on ELO's 1976 platinum-selling album ''A New World Record''. In August 2006, it was named by the UK's ''Q magazine'' as the number one 'Guilty Pleasure' single of all time – a list designed to celebrate 'uncool' but excellent records, and which received considerable publicity.[1].The original single had the added bonus of having ''Fire On High'' on the flip side, a song that became the band's most popular instrumental piece.

Meaning

The repeated chorus of the song:
:''It's a livin' thing.''
:''It's a terrible thing to lose.''
:''It's a given thing.''
:''What a terrible thing to lose.''
… has been subjected to frequent interpretation, because the lyric never explicitly identifies what ''"it"'' is. This has led to the mistaken impression by some that the song was intended as an anti-abortion (alluded to in the liner notes of the Beautiful South cover, see below) or a pro-environmentalist statement. Lyrical imagery elsewhere in the song may also give support to these impressions.
However, a straightforward reading of the lyrics identifies ''"it"'' as:
:''You and your sweet desire.''
Jeff Lynne has confirmed that the song was intended to be about love and the loss of love.

Chart performance

It reached #4 in the UK Charts and stayed there for 12 weeks. It peaked at #4 on the Canadian charts for three straight weeks (the final week in 1976 and the first two weeks of 1977). In the United States, the song peaked at #13, during Christmastime of 1976.

Covers

In 2004, The Beautiful South covered the track for their covers album ''Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs''. It reached #24 on the UK charts.

Livin' Thing - CD1

Livin' Thing [3:17]

I'm Living Good [4:00]

(Sony Music UK; 6753711)

Livin' Thing - CD2

Livin' Thing [3:17]

Lovin' You [2:53]

Another Night With The Boys [3:32]

(Sony Music UK; 6753712)

Trivia

★ ELO's original ''Livin' Thing'' plays over the closing credits of P.T. Anderson's film ''Boogie Nights'', used tongue-in-cheek, since the song starts to play when we see Dirk Diggler's penis. The track is featured on Volume 1 of the film's soundtrack.

★ JCPenney used ''Livin' Thing'' in its 2005 Christmas commercials.

★ In Australia, the New South Wales Government uses the song in its "Our Environment, It's A Living Thing" campaign commercials.