The Saturday briefing

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

- by CAROLINE FORD

Is there anything you’re yearning to know? Send your questions, on any subject, to the contacts given below, and we will do our best to answer them...

On the song Rockaria! by ELO, who is the lady that sings opera at the start and what is she singing?

Kevin P O’Connor, West Mids

Rockaria! is a song written by Jeff Lynne for the Electric Light Orchestra. It was the second single from their A New World Record album and went to No.9 in the 1977 UK singles charts.

The song tells the story of an opera singer who learns to sing rock and roll and references Wagner, Beethoven, Puccini, Verdi, and Chuck Berry.

In the introduction to the song, the operatic voice of Welsh soprano Mary Thomas can be heard. She sings the lines, “Fern die wieder in die ferne man hort, man hort musik,” which roughly translates from German as “Far away in the distance, one hears, one hears music”.

On the first take of the song, Thomas began the vocal too early and said “Oops!” after the error. However, Lynne kept the false start in the song along with her interjection, making it a memorable part of the track on the album version.

Rockaria! is notable for one other reason — it was the first ELO single to be released in the UK with a picture sleeve.