"The Diary of Horace Wimp" is the fourth track on the

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

album ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'', written by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

. Released in July 1979 as a single, the song is

Beatlesque "Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists. Definitions To better explain what ...

in nature and became a Top Ten hit in the UK and Ireland. The lyrics describe a week in the life of a repressed man named Horace who wants to express his affection towards a woman he meets, and overcomes his shy nature with the help of " a voice from above." The day Saturday is omitted – this is because, as explained by Jeff Lynne: "The

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match is played on a Saturday". The music video references ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' in its ending, showing a closeup of

saying "Horace Wimp," echoing

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

' character in the film saying "Rosebud" as he dies.

B-side

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

was "Down Home Town", which first appeared on the band's fifth album '' Face the Music''. It also featured as the flip side to the US single " Last Train to London". "Down Home Town" contains an intro with a backmasked message, the backing chorus of another song on the Face the Music album, "Waterfall": "Face the mighty waterfall, face the mighty waterfall." This song includes an orchestral intro (after the "Waterfall" refrain) and a similar ending. These reverse recorded words were only used because of the sound effect.

Chart positions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diary of Horace Wimp, The 1979 singles 1979 songs Electric Light Orchestra songs Jet Records singles Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Jeff Lynne Songs about fictional male characters