| So Serious | |
| Cover: | So Serious .jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Electric Light Orchestra |
| Album: | Balance of Power |
| B-Side: |
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| Released: |
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| Recorded: | 1985 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Length: | 2:42 |
| Label: |
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| Producer: | Jeff Lynne |
| Prev Title: | Calling America |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | Getting to the Point |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
"So Serious" is a song by the rock music group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) from their 1986 album Balance of Power, released in the UK as the second single from the album in 1986.
The song's lyrics hint at Jeff Lynne's growing disenchantment with his involvement with ELO at this point; much like the majority of the songs from the album, the lyrical content was in sharp contrast to the upbeat synthpop of the album.
ELO writer Barry Delve describes it as "a cheerful canter that betrays a darker lyric about the breakdown of a relationship and wanting to 'talk it over'" and a "pleasant enough pop song, reminiscent of something the Cars might have done in their early years but...lightweight by ELO standards."[1]
There was also a UK 12 inch EPIC three-track version with "A Matter of Fact (Alternate Lyrics)" on the B-Side.
Cash Box said it "has a classic ELO melody hook" and "a serious shot for wide radio attention."[2]
Delve says it has "at least four great hooks" but with "one quite irritating hook" and that overall the song is "very much a chorus in search of a song."[1] Biographer and music writer John Van der Kiste called it a "deceptively upbeat number, failing to conceal a sad theme, with the narrator lying awake night after night as he tries to fit it all together."[3]
All songs written by Jeff Lynne.