"The Way Life's Meant to Be" is a song written by Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

 and performed by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

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The song is track five on the 1981 album Time

Time (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Time is a concept album by Electric Light Orchestra released in 1981 through Jet Records. The album tells the story, through its songs and lyrics, about a man from the 1980's finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new...

and was the last track to be released as a single from the album in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It starts with gentle violins, and continues with flamenco

Flamenco

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

-like guitar playing, and castanets. The south Mediterranean sound continues throughout the vocal and choiring on the refrain.

It was the first single since "Nightrider

Nightrider (ELO song)

"Nightrider" is a song from Electric Light Orchestra's album Face The Music.The song's title is a titular tip of the hat to Lynne's first major band, The Nightriders. This was the second single released from the album after "Evil Woman", in 1976. The B-side on the single was a live version of ...

" in 1976 that failed to chart in the UK. The B-side was "Wishing" taken from the Discovery

Discovery (Electric Light Orchestra album)

Discovery is a 1979 album by Electric Light Orchestra.-History:Discovery was the band's first No. 1 album in the UK, entering the chart at that position and staying there for five weeks...

album.

The song was recorded at the Polar Studios

Polar Studios

Polar Studios is one of the most famous recording studios in Scandinavia. Originally located in a former movie theater from 1934 at Sankt Eriksgatan 58-60 on Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden, Polar Studios was founded by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA in 1977 and had its grand opening on...

 in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, unlike the majority of the songs of the album that were recorded at Musicland Studios

Musicland Studios

Musicland Studios was a recording studio located in Munich, Germany. It was established by Italian record producer, songwriter and performer Giorgio Moroder in the late 1960s...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

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