This morning, amazingly! my husband, a Rolling Stones' obsessive put on Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life' during breakfast. No idea what motivated him to do this. It's totally out of character. I'm expecting an unreasonable request at any moment. But it never comes. Perhaps his taste in music is as eclectic as mine afterall? I'm delighted as this is one of my favourite albums of all time.
It's raining outside and maybe he's decided that Stevie Wonder's unique stamp of sunny, joyous positivity is the only thing that can stand up to the downpour. Even when he (Stevie) addressed serious racial, social, and spiritual issues (which he did quite often), or sang about heartbreak and romantic uncertainty, an underlying sense of optimism and hope always seemed to emerge. I think I like that the most about his musical style, though he bangs out a good tune too.
Songs in the Key of Life, is without a doubt one of the most played albums of my mid twenties (Please note I discovered Stevie late...ahem). It touches on nearly every issue under the sun and has helped me through break-ups, found and lost friendships, happy and sad days. There is a song for each occasion here. "Another Star," became for me the song for the rejected lover - uh huh, we've all been there. With lyrics like, 'I fell in love with one who would break my heart, but for you there will be another star'...well there is nothing left to do but wash away the sorrow and maudlin with indulgent tears of utter pity for oneself. And how great that feels.
If you heard me incessantly replaying "Knocks me off my Feet", "Joy inside my Tears"and "Summer Soft' then you knew all was well and I was in love again. These three songs are so tenderly cathartic and gloriously redemptive even Moliere's Le Misanthrope would feel compelled to pick a flower and hand it to a lonely looking woman.
"As" is another epic and eminently danceable love song - "just as hate knows love's the cure, you can rest your mind assured that I'll be loving you always..." intensely heartfelt. I think of my dearly departed and much missed mum whenever I hear this song. And then just as you think it can't get any soppier, the delightful "Isn't she Lovely" puts a spring back into your step. I love to play this song for my almost 3 year old daughter, that and "Sunshine of my life" (which isn't on this album but is your duty to track down). She loves it and dances like she doesn't have a care in the world. My own mum used to sing "You are my Sunshine" to me when I was growing up, so in my world, these songs make utter sense and form part of the ever evolving circle of life.
There are 21 songs on this album - an important number in numerology and tarot. Was this deliberate? Don't know and it doesn't matter. They are 21 great songs that are truly in the key of life and I highly recommend them any day of the week.
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