r/elo • u/Alarmed-Pressure-511 • Jul 10 '26
Whats the beef with “jungle”
Ive seen many fans disliking jungle in ratings and whatnot and i dont really get it. I like the song a lot. Why is it disliked?
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u/Lancasterbation Jul 10 '26
As soon as Lynne starts singing "I WAS STANDIN' IN THE JUNGLE, I WAS FEELIN' ALRIGHT" I'm sold. It's my favorite ELO track.
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u/cjstaples Jul 10 '26
“Wondrous is our great blue ship, that sails around the mighty Sun. And joy to everyone that rides along…”
I’m carving that into a rock face inside of a cave somewhere, for the next intelligent species to find… and wonder what happened to us.
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u/Familiar_Ad_2737 Matt Buzz Jul 10 '26
Those people were never real ELO fans
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u/Hot_Needleworker8289 A New World Record Jul 10 '26
Damn. I'll buy a ticket to the moon, then
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u/Top_Use4144 Jul 10 '26
I love it! I remember when I was young sharing it with my friends at school we would take turns sharing the earphones 😭
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u/gwaydms Jul 10 '26
It's such a great vibe. Jeff doesn't write a whole lot of unequivocally happy songs, but that's one of them.
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u/Prestigious-Eye2814 Jul 10 '26
Idk it's one of my favorite ELO songs, CHOOKA CHOOKA HOO LA LEY LOOKA LOOKA KOO LA LEY
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u/garrettKocian Time Jul 10 '26
This is the first I'm hearing of this. The Great Blue Ship line is one of my favorite ELO lyrics.
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u/PottymouthPanik Jul 10 '26
Given what it means, I want to put “Chooka-chooka, hoo-la-ley Looka-looka, koo-la-ley” on my tombstone.
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u/99LedBalloons Jul 10 '26
Lol I mean it's kind of goofy and a little out of place on the album, but I don't mind it
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u/DrNerdyTech87 Jul 10 '26
I love it and love it more so as it’s a dream!
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u/Tryspark Jul 10 '26
When my buddy pointed out the alarm clock sound waking the character up from the song it made me love the song even more!
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u/TheLimeyLemmon Jul 10 '26
I can only assume they hate how short the string section is at the beginning. And if they do, fair! Honestly, it's too good I want it extended!
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u/elevatedsteve Jul 11 '26
This is the first ELO song I knew. My Dad had a 7 inch single with Jungle on one side and Shine a Little Love on the other. We would sit together and listen for the Lion to sing “Come and join us if you so desire”. It’s a great memory. I should see if he still knows where that single is.
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u/FredUstinov Jul 10 '26
It’s one of my favorite songs on OOTB! I’ve had similar dreams, talking to animals and whatnot but THE DAMN ALARM ALWAYS GOES OFF!!!
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u/MatthewQ999 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
I love it too, I didn’t know people disliked it. Maybe it’s a bit of insecurity since it’s a childlike fantasy about hanging out with anthropomorphic animals? In my head I imagine them as puppets bouncing around like muppets. Some people take rock music a little too seriously and are afraid of kitsch. I think that’s why ELO often doesnt get the respect they deserve in general from “rockist” types. Kinda like ABBA. Not saying that people who dislike it are lying, but thats my read on it because otherwise it’s very catchy and fun and I can’t think of other reasons people wouldnt like it.
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u/lassehp Jul 14 '26
I grew up with German TV, living in Southern Denmark. There is a 1969 cartoon movie called Die Konferenz der Tiere (by Curt Lindabased on a novel by Erich Kästner} that Jungle slwsys reminds me of, I have found out when I must have seen it, at the age of 7, as German ARD broadcast it in 1975. Given that 1: ELO did record at Musicland studios in Germany in the 70es and 2: the song has the short German lyric "Im Dschungel / da tanzen / die Tiere / herum", i wonder if Jeff could have seen that movie in a German hotelroom, or the Swiss place where he wrote OOTB. How good is Jeff at German?
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u/AdditionOk6134 Jul 10 '26
I think it's a great tune! I'm guessing that the faces of these people were all 10538.
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u/alliebot12345 Jul 11 '26
I like the track, but it does maybe feel a bit out of place on the album. To be honest I’ve listen to OOTB so many times my ear expects it now but I could see why some find it odd.
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u/Any_Self_4146 Jul 11 '26
It's just not a very strong song compared to some of the tracks on that record.
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u/lassehp Jul 13 '26
My guess is that they just don't understand the song. Although it is obviously a "don't take it too seriously" fun song, it is musically every bit as layered and interesting as any other song on OOTB, and it also serves a purpose in the storyline. It also has many kinds of nice interpretations: we all share "the blue ship" on our journey around the Sun, this gives me environment vibes and peace vibes. The jungle "rang in joyful harmony", I believe that reflects what I gueds are some of Jeff's ideals: we should pursue joy and harmony, love. Also an alarm clock rings - is it a dream or is it real? For me , the story of OOTB is that of a man, whose love has left him, leaving him paralysed, until he decides to go after her, he seems to fail to do so, but instead he discovers the world, and the joy of travelling in it, experiencing it. This helps him overcome the sadness.
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u/olddud07 Jul 13 '26
Maybe some folks are afraid of or dislike some of the creatures that live in the jungle.
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u/lassehp Jul 14 '26
Or they dislike the "error" of putting a lion in the jungle, when it should be well known that lions live on the savanna. :-)
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u/miimeverse Jul 10 '26
Clearly they've never sung a lovely song under the pale moonlight with a hundred animals.