Reflecting upon Some of the Greatest ‘Last Songs’ on One of my Favorite Albums.
I do not mention this brilliant man nearly enough… In 1972 once again, before my time ( I seem to always miss the good stuff…) Stevie Wonder created one of many astonishing albums of that era. Let’s face it…those albums from the early to mid 1970s by Stevie Wonder are sheer brilliance. However, ‘Talking Book’ has always been my favorite…(though when you think of his other albums such as ‘Innervisions’ and ‘Songs in the Key of life’ and so many more, it is very difficult to pick a favorite, but the very last song on ‘Talking Book’ grabbed my heart and keeps on doing so all these years later.
‘I Believe (When I fall in Love with You It Will Be Forever’) is a perfect example of Wonder expanding the boundaries of all subject matters in his songs on that album.
“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to say anything except where I wanted to just express various many things that I felt — the political point of view that I have, the social point of view that I have, the passions, emotion and love that I felt, compassion, the fun of love that I felt, the whole thing in the beginning with a joyful love and then the pain of love,” he once explained.
Stevie Wonder played ALL of the instruments on that track! All of them! It starts out pretty melancholy…infact, it seems to be setting us up for the ultimate downer: “Shattered dreams, worthless years/ Here am I encased inside a fragile shell/ Life began, then was done/ Now I stare into a cold and empty well.” But as the music tentatively peeks out of this abyss, Stevie Wonder suggests that “empty souls” can be healed by “merging hearts.”
It wasn’t a ‘radio friendly’ song. It is longer than most songs (especially during a time that just a mere three minutes might not make it to regular rotation on the radio…) and it always shocks me that many do not even know of this brilliant song. I played it often as a very little girl and still do, (I even covered it a few times at some live performances of my own) but it’s the very last verse and refrain that always gets me. It eliminates any fanciness in the wordplay, leaving just a direct proclamation about how indestructible love can be when you find the right person to share it: “I believe when I fall in love with you it will be forever.” The music in the choruses boasts confidently yet with eloquent simplicity, with all of Stevie Wonder’s many keyboard sounds intertwining in a heady embrace. Almost like two lovers dancing in perfect sync. After the triumph of the refrains, the funky coda is the victory lap, for both the song (and in my opinion) the album.
This is just one example (because there are so many ‘last songs’ on various albums that I love,) but this one sticks out in my mind as a perfect end to a pretty damn near perfect album.
https://youtu.be/VfDZNwJ3jVU?si=5skmLwqJGNMY7AQJ
