Eldorado (song)

Song infobox
Name = Eldorado


Artist = Electric Light Orchestra
Album = Eldorado, A Symphony
Released = 1974
track_no = 9
Recorded = Feb - Aug 1974
Genre = Rock music, Symphonic rock
Length = 5:17
Writer = Jeff Lynne
Label = Jet Records, United Artists
Producer = Jeff Lynne
prev = "Illusions in G Major"
prev_no = 8
next = "Eldorado Finale"
next_no = 10
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Flashback
Type = Box Set
prev_track = "Can't Get It Out of My Head"
prev_no = 8
this_track = "Eldorado"
track_no = 9
next_track = "Eldorado Finale"
next_no = 9

Eldorado is the title track from the 1974 album of the same name by the Electric Light Orchestra.

According to the songs composer Jeff Lynne "This song is where the dreamer wakes up to reality, then decides he likes his dream world better and tries to get back to Eldorado."- "Eldorado (remastered)" liner notes by Jeff Lynne, 2001

The title track gained a certain notoriety when it was claimed by some Christian Fundamentalists that "Eldorado" contained some "satanic messages." Purportedly, the line in the song that went "I'll sail away; On a voyage of no return to see; If eternal life is meant to be" was claimed to sound something like "He is the nasty one - Christ you're infernal - It is said we're dead men" when played backwards. Jeff Lynne denied these allegations, then further asserted his point to his accusers — in his typical tongue-in-cheek manner — by inserting an obviously and deliberately backmasked segment into ELO's next album ("Face The Music"), within the opening portions of the famous "Fire On High" track. He further satirized it by releasing an entire album strewn with backmasking.

The song was used as the B-side of their UK hit "Wild West Hero."

The song was also covered by Fleming & John in the tribute compilation "Lynne Me Your Ears".