Stevie Wonder's Songwriting - Take Two

It's such a shame that when someone (in this instance, Threadbare) does make the effort to try and initiate an intelligent discussion of actual MUSIC around here, it ends up getting derailed by bullshit...

http://prince.org/msg/8/321309?&pg=1

...exits soapbox


An interesting point that did come up was Stevie Wonder's arrangement of I Just Called To Say I Love You.
As a Pop song it's not really that bad at all. Imo, it's the arrangement that takes it to, what some might consider, the hokey/sappy side of the street.

Now take the arrangement, Greg Phillinganes helped to create for the version that appears on Herbie Hancock's Possibilities album...



...vocal/vocalese by Raul Midon


In my opinion, a much more heartfelt interpretation that shows the actual depth the song has given a different presentation.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I really don't get the hate for the song either.

I get that's it's not this macho, uber-brilliant piece of craft that is something like Superstition, Visions, or pretty much any other tune he penned in the 70's, but it's far from "the worst song ever". I mean... really...

I think the standard we hold great artists to is a bit ridiculous sometimes.

Superstition said:

Wow!

This is def a dark/haunting rendition I like and I agree, more heartfelt than that original.

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone


Lady Day

One of the problems with American entertainment is that we feel the need to be action junkies 24/7. There are also stereotypes involved but I won't go there. All I will say is this:
If the Beatles had written this song, it would be a "simplistic genius classic" but because Stevie wrote it, its considered a "throwaway pop song" as has been stated. I see it as proof of Stevie's ability to be subtle and caring. Its simple. He omits occasions in a simple message: "I love you." That's it. Of course how a song is interpreted depends on the execution of it but overall, its obviously meant to be absorbed easily, which is why it was done the way it was. If you start off the chorus - most people can finish it word-for-word, so it worked. Stevie's subtleties are often overlooked but he's brilliant at it. Not everything needs to be a puzzle wrapped in a mystery with subliminals and double-entendres in order to be significant or effective. You don't always have to make a listener work to get the message.
[Edited 10/20/09 9:31am]

Wow... that made me hear Stevie's original in a new light.

BlaqueKnight said:

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone


Lady Day

BlaqueKnight said:

By the way, this was a great interpretation of Stevie's song and I'm an admirer of Raul Midon (I was one of the first on the org to start a thread about him) and of course Greg P.'s rep is without question.

Sidenote:
I swear if they ever make a movie about Herbie's life, Denzel AHS to play him. He HAS to.

It's a nice song, but after writing such classics such as, "You are the Sunshine of my life",and "Super Woman" which sort of displays the same sentiment, the song is a step down. For me, it is just corny 80's pop that sounded just like everything else at that time. This is what had set Stevie apart from everyone....the fact that nothing he wrote, sounded like what was out. This song changed my opinion of him, from that moment on.

shorttrini said:

I think it's actually a clever song lyrically.

"No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring"

He is supposed to be singing to God right?

or Santa!

Timmy84 said:

Marrk said:

Timmy84 said:

IMO, "I Just Called" don't sound too out of step with "Sunshine". Maybe with "Superwoman" but "Sunshine" was a simple pop ditty too. The thing that made THAT stood out was the funky ass horns, lol

you forgot 'Isn't She Lovely' my most skipped on SITKOL. there is a reason for that.

Marrk said:

I think it's actually a clever song lyrically.

"No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring"

He is supposed to be singing to God right?

or Santa!

Timmy84 said:

shorttrini said:

Marrk said:

Timmy84 said:

IMO, "I Just Called" don't sound too out of step with "Sunshine". Maybe with "Superwoman" but "Sunshine" was a simple pop ditty too. The thing that made THAT stood out was the funky ass horns, lol

you forgot 'Isn't She Lovely' my most skipped on SITKOL. there is a reason for that.

"When want 2 hear new music, make it" Prince

Timmy84 said:

Marrk said:

I think it's actually a clever song lyrically.

"No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring"

He is supposed to be singing to God right?

or Santa!

Hahaha, I think he's telling that special SOMEONE, not necessarily God or Santa.

'These Three Words' was cheesey as hell to me awhile back, but since i lost some family, well now it makes me cry for obvious reasons.

Stevie is the only artist that moves me to tears with the beauty of his songs, he has a few from the seventies especially that do that to me.

Marrk said:

P2daP said:

Marrk said:

you forgot 'Isn't She Lovely' my most skipped on SITKOL. there is a reason for that.

Stevie may serve you cheese. But it's often funky cheese. sprinkle a little blue cheese on that salad.

...and we're back to terms like "cheese" and "corny" which says more about us than it does about Stevie. We are action/thrill/excitement junkies as a culture. Part of the beauty of being an artist is to not be encumbered by the restrictions of compartmentalization. In that particular piece, he was trying to communicate a simple message because sometimes people need that.

BlaqueKnight said:

And when I said cheese, I was joking.

Timmy84 said:

And when I said cheese, I was joking.

BlaqueKnight said:

Timmy84 said:

And when I said cheese, I was joking.

I know.
My point is that we've become a thrill seeker society. Also, people always look at songs in retrospect rather than in the context of the cultural climate in which they were written.

IJCTSILY is a good written pop-ballad.

But it's far away from soulful, deeply personal ballads like Where Were You When I Needed You.

If you write a song that can be embraced by Auntie Ethel, you’re going to take heat from the purported keepers of the cool. And it gets even worse when the song gets heavily espoused by those who know little of music outside of the biggest hits.

One of the many powerful things about music, at least for me, is that you can delve into these types of feelings and have a chance of succeeding. If someone said these words in the chorus without music and in a non-ironic way, it might not go down in the same heartfelt, simple way.

But sentimentality is valid human emotion and should be explored like anything else. And that a good majority of it is often mediocre (or worse), doesn’t make it any less important. And the same can be said for depressing, disheartened music. Most of it isn’t anything special. There is no superior key. But if that key fits more with the door to one’s world view, more I think will get heard (processed) in that manner.

To me art is the attempted external reconstruction of the soul. Not my soul, but the person holding the chisel.

That to me means that most things created are far from great, but whole areas of emotion and/or genre classification are seldom the line of demarcation.

um. for me it was the music. the music was really horrible imo. stevie OD'd on synths and midis.

the lyrics are quite clever. (except that one part where it didnt rhyme. it stings to me! )