Journey through the Secret Life of Plants
Encyclopedia
Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" is an album
by Stevie Wonder
, originally released on the Tamla Motown label on October 30, 1979 (see 1979 in music
). It is the soundtrack to the documentary The Secret Life of Plants, directed by Walon Green
which was based on the book of the same name
by Peter Tompkins
and Christopher Bird
.
The film was seen by few people, severing whatever connection the music may have had to actual visual images. Motown decided to release the album on its own as the long-awaited sequel to Stevie Wonder's 1976 Grammy Award
-winning Songs in the Key of Life
. Journey through the Secret Life of Plants was panned by many critics and was confusing to many fans, who didn't know what to make of the conceptual, mostly instrumental double album. Yet some took Wonder's ambitious attempt seriously. "At this point," one review read, "he looks to be the most effective and powerful composer to wed classical Western music with the Afro-American basis for most American pop music today."
Wonder, whose sense of syntax is the main flaw in many of his earlier songs, bravely attempted to translate the complex information of the book and film into song lyrics, with often disturbing results. "Same Old Story," for example, tries to convey the scientific findings of Jagadish Chandra Bose, who developed instruments to measure plants' response to stimuli, and the breakthroughs of African-American agriculturalist George Washington Carver
. The result, according to one reviewer, has "the painful awkwardness of a barely literate sidewalk sermon." Yet Wonder's musical genius "manages to transform even the worst of this drivel into a spiritual jargon that's virtually a different language; his very inarticulateness clears the way for us to tune in to the ineffable, nonrational flow that's his obsession."
Such was Wonder's commercial appeal at the time that Journey went all way up to number four in the Rock and R&B Billboard charts in 1979, with the single Send One Your Love
also reaching number four. It is now considered by many to be a classic in its own right, and has been cited by Wonder himself as one of his three favorite albums: "'Secret Life' was an experimental project with me scoring and doing other things I like: challenging myself with all the things that entered my mind from the Venus's Flytrap to Earth's creation to coming back as a flower." It is also considered, in many listeners's minds, to be one of the earliest New Age
albums of all time, mainly in part because of the nature and instrumental songs on the album.
The album cover contained some braille, and when you unsealed and opened it, you smelled a flowery perfume.
Although written mostly by Stevie Wonder, a couple of songs were collaborations with former wife Syreeta Wright
and with Michael Sembello
.
Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" contained unusual synthesizer
combinations including the first use of a digital sampling synthesizer, the Computer Music Melodian, used in virtually every track of the album. Journey is also notable for being an early digital recording
, released three months after Ry Cooder
's Bop till You Drop
, generally believed to be the first digitally recorded popular music album. Stevie Wonder was an early adherent of the technology and used it for all his subsequent recordings.
Stevie's moderate-hit song "Overjoyed
" was left off this album and rewritten and re-recorded for his 1985 album In Square Circle
.
The cover of the album was chosen as the 53rd greatest album cover of all time by Rolling Stone
in 1991.
Side one
Side two
Side three
Side four
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, originally released on the Tamla Motown label on October 30, 1979 (see 1979 in music
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
). It is the soundtrack to the documentary The Secret Life of Plants, directed by Walon Green
Walon Green
Walon Green is an American documentary film director and screenwriter for both TV and films. He is currently the showrunner/executive producer for the USA Network television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Career:...
which was based on the book of the same name
The Secret Life of Plants
The Secret Life of Plants is a book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, described as "A fascinating account of the physical, emotional, and spiritual relations between plants and man."...
by Peter Tompkins
Peter Tompkins
Peter Tompkins was an American journalist, World War II Office of Strategic Services spy in Rome, and best-selling occult author....
and Christopher Bird
Christopher Bird
Christopher Bird was a best-selling author, specialising in unconventional beliefs. His notable works included The Secret Life of Plants which was co-authored with Peter Tompkins and The Divining Hand: The 500-Year-Old Mystery of Dowsing...
.
History
Wonder created the film score through a complex process of collaboration. The film's producer, Michael Braun, described each visual image in detail, while the sound engineer, Gary Olzabal, specified the length of a passage. This information was processed to a four-track tape (with the film's sound on one of the tracks), leaving Wonder space to add his own musical accompaniment. The result is an underscore that, at times, closely mimics the visual images on the screen.The film was seen by few people, severing whatever connection the music may have had to actual visual images. Motown decided to release the album on its own as the long-awaited sequel to Stevie Wonder's 1976 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning Songs in the Key of Life
Songs in the Key of Life
Songs in the Key of Life is the 13th album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released September 28, 1976, on Motown Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. An ambitious double LP with a 4-song bonus EP, Songs in the Key of Life became among the best-selling and...
. Journey through the Secret Life of Plants was panned by many critics and was confusing to many fans, who didn't know what to make of the conceptual, mostly instrumental double album. Yet some took Wonder's ambitious attempt seriously. "At this point," one review read, "he looks to be the most effective and powerful composer to wed classical Western music with the Afro-American basis for most American pop music today."
Wonder, whose sense of syntax is the main flaw in many of his earlier songs, bravely attempted to translate the complex information of the book and film into song lyrics, with often disturbing results. "Same Old Story," for example, tries to convey the scientific findings of Jagadish Chandra Bose, who developed instruments to measure plants' response to stimuli, and the breakthroughs of African-American agriculturalist George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....
. The result, according to one reviewer, has "the painful awkwardness of a barely literate sidewalk sermon." Yet Wonder's musical genius "manages to transform even the worst of this drivel into a spiritual jargon that's virtually a different language; his very inarticulateness clears the way for us to tune in to the ineffable, nonrational flow that's his obsession."
Such was Wonder's commercial appeal at the time that Journey went all way up to number four in the Rock and R&B Billboard charts in 1979, with the single Send One Your Love
Send One Your Love
"Send One Your Love" is a 1979 soul single by American and Motown musician and singer Stevie Wonder. The song reached number four on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1979 and was the lead single off of Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants", which was a mostly instrumental...
also reaching number four. It is now considered by many to be a classic in its own right, and has been cited by Wonder himself as one of his three favorite albums: "'Secret Life' was an experimental project with me scoring and doing other things I like: challenging myself with all the things that entered my mind from the Venus's Flytrap to Earth's creation to coming back as a flower." It is also considered, in many listeners's minds, to be one of the earliest New Age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
albums of all time, mainly in part because of the nature and instrumental songs on the album.
The album cover contained some braille, and when you unsealed and opened it, you smelled a flowery perfume.
Although written mostly by Stevie Wonder, a couple of songs were collaborations with former wife Syreeta Wright
Syreeta Wright
Syreeta Wright , who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was a Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter most notably known for her work with Stevie Wonder and Billy Preston.-Early life and career:...
and with Michael Sembello
Michael Sembello
Michael Sembello is an American musician and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Career:Sembello was born and raised in Philadelphia. He studied with jazz great Pat Martino and began his career as a professional musician by becoming a session musician, working increasingly with...
.
Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" contained unusual synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
combinations including the first use of a digital sampling synthesizer, the Computer Music Melodian, used in virtually every track of the album. Journey is also notable for being an early digital recording
Digital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
, released three months after Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
's Bop till You Drop
Bop till You Drop
Bop till You Drop is Ry Cooder's ninth album, released in 1979 . This was the first major-label digitally recorded album of Pop music...
, generally believed to be the first digitally recorded popular music album. Stevie Wonder was an early adherent of the technology and used it for all his subsequent recordings.
Stevie's moderate-hit song "Overjoyed
Overjoyed (Stevie Wonder song)
"Overjoyed" is a 1985 hit single released by American and Motown music legend Stevie Wonder on the Tamla label. The single peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1986, remaining in the Top 40 for six weeks. In addition, "Overjoyed" was a No...
" was left off this album and rewritten and re-recorded for his 1985 album In Square Circle
In Square Circle
In Square Circle is a 1985 album released by Grammy Award-winning American R&B/soul singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder...
.
The cover of the album was chosen as the 53rd greatest album cover of all time by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
in 1991.
Track listing
All songs written, produced and arranged by Stevie Wonder, except where noted.Side one
- "Earth's Creation" – 4:06 (Instrumental)
- "The First Garden" – 4:48 (Instrumental)
- "Voyage to India" – 6:29 (Instrumental)
- "Same Old Story" – 3:44
- "Venus' Flytrap and the Bug" – 2:25
- "Ai No, Sono" – 2:06
Side two
- "Seasons" – 2:53 (Instrumental)
- "Power Flower" – 5:29
- Lyrics by Michael Sembello.
- "Send One Your Love (Music)" – 3:05 (Instrumental)
- "Race Babbling" – 8:51
Side three
- "Send One Your LoveSend One Your Love"Send One Your Love" is a 1979 soul single by American and Motown musician and singer Stevie Wonder. The song reached number four on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1979 and was the lead single off of Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants", which was a mostly instrumental...
" – 4:01 - "Outside My Window" – 5:29
- "Black Orchid" – 3:47
- Lyrics by Yvonne Wright.
- "Ecclesiastes" – 3:42
- "Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye" – 3:03
- "Come Back as a Flower" – 4:59
- Lead vocals and lyrics by Syreeta WrightSyreeta WrightSyreeta Wright , who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was a Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter most notably known for her work with Stevie Wonder and Billy Preston.-Early life and career:...
.
- Lead vocals and lyrics by Syreeta Wright
Side four
- "A Seed's a Star/Tree Medley" – 5:53
- "The Secret Life of Plants" – 4:16
- "Tree" – 5:47 (Instrumental)
- "Finale" – 7:01 (Instrumental)