This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, Jim Adams gave us “cruel,” “evil,” “horrible,” and “monster” as our theme. I guess Jim was having a bad day when he came up with this week’s theme words. Anyway, my choice was pretty obvious. I chose “Evil Woman” from Electric Light Orchestra (aka ELO).

“Evil Woman” was written by Electric Light Orchestra’s lead vocalist, Jeff Lynne. It was first released on the band’s fifth album, Face the Music, in 1975. The song became ELO’s first worldwide hit. Originally intended as a filler song for the album, Lynne admitted it was the quickest he had ever written, in thirty minutes. He explained that one morning, while the rest of the band was out, he sat at the piano and played the opening piano riff, which became the basis of the song. Later that same day, the rest of the band came in and recorded the backing track. The song placed in the top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic in early 1976. The lyric “There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in,” according to Lynne, is a tribute to The Beatles’ song “Fixing a Hole.”

The song is a simple tale of love gone wrong. It’s the story of a man who was used by a woman and who made a fool of him. Once he recognized that, he dumped her and told her to hit the road.

You made a fool of me
But them broken dreams have got to end

Hey, woman, you got the blues
‘Cause you ain’t got no one else to use
There’s an open road that leads nowhere
So just make some miles between here and there
There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in
You took my body and played to win
Ha, ha, woman, it’s a cryin’ shame
But you ain’t got nobody else to blame

Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman

Rolled in from another town
Hit some gold, too hard to settle down
But a fool and his money soon go separate ways
And you found a fool lyin’ in a daze
Ha, ha, woman, what you gonna do
You destroyed all the virtues that the Lord gave you
It’s so good that you’re feelin’ pain
But you better get your face on board the very next train

Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman (hey hey hey)

Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman

Evil woman, how you done me wrong
But now you’re tryin’ to wail a diff’rent song
Ha, ha, funny, how you broke me up
You made the wine, now you drink a cup
I came runnin’ ev’ry time you cried
Thought I saw love smilin’ in your eyes
Ha, ha, very nice to know
That you ain’t got no place left to go

Evil woman
Evil woman
Evil woman (evil woman)
Evil woman

Evil woman (what an evil woman)
Evil woman (such an evil woman)
Evil woman (what an evil woman)
Evil woman (such an evil woman)

Evil woman (what an evil woman)
Evil woman (such an evil woman)
Evil woman (what an evil woman)
Evil woman (such an evil woman)