Stevie originally performed this at Marvin Gaye's memorial service in 1984.

Bump.

That's a jam! The Jungle Fever album was just a classic...

"I really thiiiiinnkkkk.... we could have made it..."



I love that song and the whole album.

You know, I really thought of this as a love song in the vein of "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" or "Another Star" but you can hear the overwhelming sadness, and how it would fit Marvin Gayes funeral... and his life..

I'd light a candle for Brother Marvin...

Not to hijack, the line "Lighting up the candles reminds me of this...

I love that song tim. it's excellent, especially the melody.

NMuzakNSoul said:

Yeah I love the melody in this.

It's a beacon.

sorry, but that's a lousy tribute.

Nice, upbeat melody!

graecophilos said:

dude smokin again.

A little known fact is that Stevie first recorded this track in a retro vein similar to his 60s stuff. The label didn't like it, hence the re-recording which made the album.

And before you ask, I have that complete "Knocking At Your Door" outtake. I know the person who leaked snippets on Okayplayer. But I may be killed if I leaked that complete track (and the others)...

NMuzakNSoul said:

no, you're just pretending it's one of his "obvious masterpieces". It ain't.

I dislike his MJ tribute song as well.

graecophilos said:

thats all fine man, i do love the song. different taste on this song.

NMuzakNSoul said:

of course, so why do you say I'm smokin again? It's not the weirdest opinion I have. Certainly you would have to wonder if I'd say the Innervisions album sucks, or sth like this.

graecophilos said:

So what?

The song wasn't a tribute, exactly, but rather a song he had written that he performed in tribute to Marvin. Just as "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go" weren't exactly tributes for MJ, but were performed as such.

The only difference here is that "Lighting Up The Candles" was performed before it was released.

Anyways, I don't think anyone here is pretending its a masterpiece. I certainly think "They Won't Go When I Go" is though (that was the second song performed for Jackson's memorial). And I thought it was eerie how much the lyrics fit the occasion. The song was done over 35, 36 years ago and rings true today.

graecophilos said:

i actually put a with it, not so serious.

Jumgle Fever is desperatly underrated. Great album

soulyacolia said:

I agree, it's quite good. I've heard he sampled The Girl Is Mine by MJ and Macca?

soulyacolia said:

Yes it is. Conversation Peace has a handful of great tracks too.

Superstition said:

Exactly.

Timmy84 said:

With the tribute song Id didn't mean the 1970s tracks. Didn't he release a new one?

graecophilos said:

I agree this song was a terrible tribute. Sorry, I love Stevie but the Jungle Fever soundtrack is hit and mostly miss. However, the MJ tribute songs were classics. You're entitled to your opinions but the difference in quality should still be obvious.

graecophilos said:

No.

He didn't do anything new at the Memorial, but in Milwaukee he did a song that some have called "In God's Arms". The lyrics are not complete, so he just sort of hummed some of the words. He said he did the music a long time ago, but decided to put some words along with it for MJ. John Legend joined him.


[Edited 9/20/09 17:07pm]

Superstition said:

Man, makes me wanna hear the promised two new studio albums... The last one was really good!

Timmy84 said:

Oh no, sorry, I got that confused with the Obama song.