"Don't Walk Away" is a song by the

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical ...

(ELO). It was used in the 1980

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

'' Xanadu'' in an animated sequence by

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequen ...

and appears on the '' Xanadu''

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

album. It was the last single released from the album. The song was also used in the 2007

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical '' Xanadu''. The song is written in a standard key signature of C Major and was a number 21 hit in the UK.

B side

Across the Border

"Across the Border" is a song written by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

and performed by

. It is track 4 on their highly successful 1977 album ''

Out of the Blue Out of the Blue may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Out of the Blue'' (1931 film), a British musical by Gene Gerrard * ''Out of the Blue'' (1947 film), an American comedy directed by Leigh Jason *'' Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley'', a ...

''. In 1980, the track became the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

to the hit single "Don't Walk Away". The song opens with a steam train and horn sound effect, then switching into a small bridge with the violin and the moog, then switching to an upbeat rock song, with the opening verse being reminiscent of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

track "

Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album ''Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-themed ...

". Mik Kaminski plays

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, one of only three songs he performed on ''Out of the Blue'', and the song also has a Latin

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

style brass section. ''"Listen out for the train noises first, also some Spanish style trumpets. Big finish with much phasing on the drums."'' - Bev Bevan (1977 - Japanese ''Out of the Blue'' LP liner notes)

EP

In 1980, after the release of the UK box set '' Four Light Years'', the song was intended to be the lead track on a proposed ''Across the Border EP'' which also included "

Don't Bring Me Down "Don't Bring Me Down" is the ninth and final track on the English rock band the Electric Light Orchestra's 1979 album '' Discovery''. It is their highest-charting hit in the United States to date. History "Don't Bring Me Down" is the band's ...

", "

Telephone Line A telephone line or telephone circuit (or just line or circuit industrywide) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system. It is designed to reproduce speech of a quality that is understandable. It is the physical wire or oth ...

" and "

Mr. Blue Sky "Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album ''Out of the Blue'' (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto for ...

". For reasons unknown, the EP was withdrawn and the intended EP artwork which matched the parent box set was used as the slip cover for ELO's 1982

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single " Here Is the News/ Ticket to the Moon" instead. The EP version of the song first appeared on the 1997 compilation album, ''

Light Years A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

''.

Personnel

– lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitars,

acoustic guitars An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, keyboards, synthesizers *

Bev Bevan Beverley Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician, who was the drummer and one of the original members of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II. Bevan also was drum ...

– drums, percussion,

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

Richard Tandy Richard Tandy (born 26 March 1948) is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist in the rock band Electric Light Orchestra ("ELO"). His palette of keyboards (including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano) was an important i ...

– pianos, synthesizers, keyboards *

Kelly Groucutt Kelly Groucutt (born Michael William Groucutt; 8 September 1945 – 19 February 2009) was an English musician, best known as the bassist and occasional vocalist for the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1982. Early care ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals ;Additional personnel * Strings by

Louis Clark Louis Clark (27 February 1947 – 13 February 2021) was an English music arranger and keyboard player. He trained at Leeds College of Music. He is best known for his work with Electric Light Orchestra and '' Hooked on Classics''. Clark started ...

* Mack –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Chart positions

Cover versions

A successful foreign version was the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

''Mi mancherai'' ("I will miss you"), recorded in 1981 by Sicilian singer

Marcella Bella Giuseppa Marcella Bella (born 18 June 1952 in Catania) is an Italian pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK p ...

as a theme for a popular TV show, on air on Sunday afternoons for ''Rete Uno'' (today's RaiUno). The Italian text was written by

Giorgio Calabrese Giorgio Calabrese (28 November 1929 – 31 March 2016) was an Italian songwriter and frequent collaborator with French pop music star Charles Aznavour. Calabrese wrote the original Italian lyrics for the popular song " Softly, as I Leave You", an ...

References

Songs about parting 1980 singles Electric Light Orchestra songs Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs from Xanadu (film) Songs written by Jeff Lynne 1980 songs Jet Records singles {{1980s-single-stub