Confusion (Electric Light Orchestra song)

"Confusion"
UK single
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Discovery
A-side	"Last Train to London" (UK)
B-side	"Poker" (US)
Released	8 October 1979 (US)
Recorded	1979
Studio	Musicland Studios, Munich
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:42
Label	Jet
Songwriter(s)	Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Don't Bring Me Down" (1979) "Confusion" (1979) "Last Train to London" (1979)
Discovery track listing
9 tracks Side one "Shine a Little Love" "Confusion" "Need Her Love" "The Diary of Horace Wimp" Side two "Last Train to London" "Midnight Blue" "On the Run" "Wishing" "Don't Bring Me Down"
Music video
"Confusion" on YouTube

"Confusion" is the second song from the 1979 Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) album Discovery. It features 12-string acoustic guitar and vocoder.

It was released in the UK as a double A-side single with "Last Train to London". It peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, making it the fourth consecutive top 10 single to be taken from the Discovery album.[1] In the United States the song was released as a single with "Poker" on the B-side becoming a more modest hit, reaching number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]

Billboard rated "Confusion" as "a superbly crafted single," describing it as "a mid-tempo rock track that mixes a Beatlesque sound with a hint of disco."[3] Cash Box called it a "bubbly Lynne concoction, mixing glossy pop melody with alternately grandiose and circus-like keyboard fills" and praised the song's hook and craftsmanship."[4] Record World called it a "mellifluous, pop disc with the everpresent falsetto vocals & keyboard gymnastics."[5]

I'd just got hold of the very latest synthesizer, the Yamaha CS-80. The song is based entirely on the sound it made.

— Discovery remaster (2001), Jeff Lynne

Charts

Chart (1979–80)	Peak position
Austrian Ö3 Austria Top 40[6]	5
Canadian RPM Top Singles[7]	20
German Media Control Singles Chart[8]	6
Irish Singles Chart[9]	9
New Zealand (RIANZ)[10]	19
South African Singles Chart[11]	10
UK Singles Chart[1]	8
US Billboard Hot 100[2]	37
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[12]	41
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles	47

References

1. "Electric Light Orchestra". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
2. "Electric Light Orchestra - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
3. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. 13 October 1979. p. 85. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
4. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 13 October 1979. p. 22. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
5. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 13 October 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
6. "Electric Light Orchestra - Confusion - austriancharts.at". Retrieved 22 March 2009.
7. "RPM Top 100 Singles - December 8, 1979" (PDF).
8. "charts.de - Electric Light Orchestra". charts.de. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
9. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2013. Enter Electric Light Orchestra in the Search by Artist field, then click Search.
10. "The Official New Zealand Music Chart".
11. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Acts (E)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
12. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 79.

External links

• Electric Light Orchestra - Confusion (Audio) on YouTube