Journey through the Secret Life of Plants

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Journey through the Secret Life of Plants
Soundtrack by Stevie Wonder
Released	October 30, 1979
Recorded	February - April 1979
Genre	R&B, pop, New Age
Length	88:23
Label	Tamla
Producer	Stevie Wonder
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone (mixed) 1980 Rolling Stone 2004 Yahoo! Music (mixed) link
Stevie Wonder chronology
Looking Back - Anthology (1977) Journey through the Secret Life of Plants (1979) Hotter than July (1980)

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.

Coming after Stevie Wonder's 1976 Grammy Award-winning Songs in the Key of Life, Journey through the Secret Life of Plants was panned by most critics and was confusing to many fans, who didn't know what to make of the conceptual, mostly instrumental double album.^{[citation needed]} Even so, 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. It is now considered by many to be a classic in its own right.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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. ^[1]

Track listing

All songs written, produced and arranged by Stevie Wonder, except where noted

Side one

1. "Earth's Creation" – 4:06
   • Instrumental.
2. "The First Garden" – 4:48
   • Harmonica-based instrumental.
3. "Voyage to India" – 6:29
   • Instrumental, featuring two movements. One orchestral, the other citara-based.
4. "Same Old Story" – 3:44
5. "Venus' Flytrap and the Bug" – 2:25
   • A jazz-comedy piece, with Stevie Wonder playing the role of bug.
6. "Ai No, Sono" – 2:06
   • Japanese chant-

Side two

1. "Seasons" – 2:53
   • Instrumental piece.
2. "Power Flower" – 5:29
   • Lyrics by Michael Sembello.
3. "Send One Your Love (music)" – 3:05
   • Instrumental rendition of the main single.
4. "Race Babbling" – 8:51

Side three

1. "Send One Your Love" – 4:01
   • The main single.
2. "Outside My Window" – 5:29
3. "Black Orchid" – 3:47
   • Lyrics by Yvonne Wright.
4. "Ecclesiastes" – 3:42
   • A religious, choral piece.
5. "Kesse Ye Lolo De Ye" – 3:03
6. "Come Back as a Flower" – 4:59
   • Lead vocals and lyrics by Syreeta Wright.

Side four

1. "A Seed's a Star/Tree Medley" – 5:53
2. "The Secret Life of Plants" – 4:16
3. "Tree" – 5:47
4. "Finale" – 7:01
   • Instrumental, a reprise of several songs from the album.

References

External links

• IMDB