Four Little Diamonds

"Four Little Diamonds"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Secret Messages
B-side
  • "Letter from Spain"
  • "The Bouncer" (12-inch only) (UK)
ReleasedSeptember 1983 (US)
4 November 1983 (UK)[1]
Recorded1983 Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands
GenrePop rock
Length4:05 (Album version)
3:57 (Single version)
4:12 (Double album version)
LabelJet
Songwriter(s)Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Secret Messages"
(1983) 		"Four Little Diamonds"
(1983) 		"Stranger"
(1983)
Secret Messages track listing
10 tracks
Side one
  1. "Secret Messages"
  2. "Loser Gone Wild"
  3. "Bluebird"
  4. "Take Me On and On"
Side two
  2. "Four Little Diamonds"
  3. "Stranger"
  4. "Danger Ahead"
  5. "Letter from Spain"
  6. "Train of Gold"
  7. "Rock 'n' Roll Is King"

"Four Little Diamonds" is a song by the British rock music group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) from their 1983 album Secret Messages. It was also featured on their compilation albums Afterglow (with a slightly longer intro) and Flashback. The single did not do very well in the US, spending only 2 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaking at number 86.[2][3] It also charted low in the UK, peaking at number 84.

The song refers to the search made by the singer for his cheating lover who also emotionally conned him because of a ring which had 'four little diamonds' set into it.

There was also a UK 12-inch JET 3 Track version with "The Bouncer" on the B-side. A UK 7-inch picture disc was also released featuring a competition to win 1 of 25 copies of the album re-cut from the master.

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 16.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  3. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2013.