Songs in the Key of Life was Stevie Wonder's longest, most ambitious collection of songs, a two-LP (plus accompanying EP) set that -- just as the title promised -- touched on nearly every issue under the sun, and did it all with ambitious (even for him), wide-ranging arrangements and some of the best performances of Wonder's career. The opening "Love's in Need of Love Today" and "Have a Talk with God" are curiously subdued, but Stevie soon kicks into gear with "Village Ghetto Land," a fierce exposé of ghetto neglect set to a satirical Baroque synthesizer. Hot on its heels comes the torrid fusion jam "Contusion," a big, brassy hit tribute to the recently departed Duke Ellington in "Sir Duke," and (another hit, this one a Grammy winner as well) the bumping poem to his childhood, "I Wish." Though they didn't necessarily appear in order, Songs in the Key of Life contains nearly a full album on love and relationships, along with another full album on issues social and spiritual. Fans of the love album Talking Book can marvel that he sets the bar even higher here, with brilliant material like the tenderly cathartic and gloriously redemptive "Joy Inside My Tears," the two-part, smooth-and-rough "Ordinary Pain," the bitterly ironic "All Day Sucker," or another classic heartbreaker, "Summer Soft." Those inclined toward Stevie Wonder the social-issues artist had quite a few songs to focus on as well: "Black Man" was a Bicentennial school lesson on remembering the vastly different people who helped build America; "Pastime Paradise" examined the plight of those who live in the past and have little hope for the future; "Village Ghetto Land" brought listeners to a nightmare of urban wasteland; and "Saturn" found Stevie questioning his kinship with the rest of humanity and amusingly imagining paradise as a residency on a distant planet. If all this sounds overwhelming, it is; Stevie Wonder had talent to spare during the mid-'70s, and instead of letting the reserve trickle out during the rest of the decade, he let it all go with one massive burst. (His only subsequent record of the '70s was the similarly gargantuan but largely instrumental soundtrack Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.)
Last night I went to my parents 50th Anniversary party. It was a great time. At the end of the night we had a special treat. My sister made a really cool imovie from slides we've had for 30 + years. She projected it on a screen for everyone to see. I was blown away from seeing all those images of my brothers and sisters from the early 60s to the 70s. You don't know how fast time goes by. Anyhoo...
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...it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States and although the current state of affairs on the world stage don't look too promising, I'll try to keep my faith in mankind alive with a little hope...vetoes and political bickering aside, I'll forego the rhetoric and cut to the chase with one of Stevie Wonder's funky joints from the Songs in the Key of Life double-album which contains a grip of S...
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Here is another one of my favorites of all time by my favorite artist of all time on my favorite album of all time. Really the entire albulm is a musical masterpiece but this song seems to stand out to me. Stevie is just a musical prodigy that cant be compared, bottom line. If you don't have Songs In The Key of Life in your collection, something is wrong with you.Honorable mention goes to "As" ...
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Here is another one of my favorites of all time by my favorite artist of all time on my favorite album of all time. Really the entire albulm is a musical masterpiece but this song seems to stand out to me. Stevie is just a musical prodigy that cant be compared, bottom line. If you don't have Songs In The Key of Life in your collection, something is wrong with you.Honorable mention goes to "As" ...
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...it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States and although the current state of affairs on the world stage don't look too promising, I'll try to keep my faith in mankind alive with a little hope...vetoes and political bickering aside, I'll forego the rhetoric and cut to the chase with one of Stevie Wonder's funky joints from the Songs in the Key of Life double-album which contains a grip of S...
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stevie wonder doing i wish and sir duke. need i say more? do you even need to watch the awesome video????
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Deadmandeadman is a new grandpa, with a new baby granddaughter(what did you name her?).Congratulations! Best new baby song I know, Stevie Wonder wrote this for his daughter, Aisha, when she was born. Best Wishes to your whole family, a lttle bigger today!
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From what is one of the greatest albums ever madeJust a really wonderfull song
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Last night I went to my parents 50th Anniversary party. It was a great time. At the end of the night we had a special treat. My sister made a really cool imovie from slides we've had for 30 + years. She projected it on a screen for everyone to see. I was blown away from seeing all those images of my brothers and sisters from the early 60s to the 70s. You don't know how fast time goes by. Anyhoo...
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i don't know why but i gotta keep goin' back for the stuff that made a difference. i'm sure you've heard this one from songs in the key of life but it might have been awhile and i think you needed this today. heehee presumptuous of me? nah you know it's true.
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Just a repost, but another tale of the industry "moving on".By Dan Wilchins Wed Oct 18, 10:46 AM ETNEW YORK (Reuters) - In a sense, the story of the Hit Factory is the story of New York.The Manhattan building being converted into condominiums was built in the 1920s for industrial use but in the 1960's, as manufacturing was becoming less important for New York's economy, and media and finance be...
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Stevie Wonder has received the second ever Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (the first having gone to Paul Simon ). Not only has Wonder been offered this honor, but he's also been offered a commission by The Library to compose original material, placing Stevie alongside other composers who have [...]~~
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and it's not because he smiles so much, it's because of my childhood associations with his incredible songs in the key of life album.
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Here is another one of my favorites of all time by my favorite artist of all time on my favorite album of all time. Really the entire albulm is a musical masterpiece but this song seems to stand out to me. Stevie is just a musical prodigy that cant be compared, bottom line. If you don't have Songs In The Key of Life in your collection, something is wrong with you.Honorable mention goes to "As" ...
More >
Here is another one of my favorites of all time by my favorite artist of all time on my favorite album of all time. Really the entire albulm is a musical masterpiece but this song seems to stand out to me. Stevie is just a musical prodigy that cant be compared, bottom line. If you don't have Songs In The Key of Life in your collection, something is wrong with you.Honorable mention goes to "As" ...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Love's in Need of Love Today |
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| 2 Have a Talk with God |
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| 3 Village Ghetto Land |
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| 4 Contusion |
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| 5 Sir Duke |
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| 6 I Wish |
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| 7 Knocks Me off My Feet |
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| 8 Pastime Paradise |
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| 9 Summer Soft |
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| 10 Ordinary Pain |
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| 11 Isn't She Lovely |
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| 12 Joy Inside My Tears |
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| 13 Black Man |
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| 14 Ngiculela -- Es Una Historia -- I Am Singing |
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| 15 If It's Magic |
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| 16 As |
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| 17 Another Star |
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| 18 Saturn |
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| 19 Ebony Eyes |
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| 20 All Day Sucker |
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| 21 Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call) |
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 "Songs in the Key of Life")
