Stevie Wonders Songs in the Key of L..., Zeth Lundy
Stevie Wonders Songs in the Key of L..., Zeth Lundy
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Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life

Author: Zeth Lundy

Series: 33 1/3

Narrator: David Sadzin

Unabridged: 4 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/29/2025

Synopsis

Like all double albums, Songs in the Key of Life is imperfect but audacious. If its titular concern - life - doesn't exactly allow for rigid focus, it's still a fiercely inspired collection of songs and one of the definitive soul records of the 1970s. Stevie Wonder was unable to control the springs of his creativity during that decade. Upon turning 21 in 1971, he freed himself from the Motown contract he'd been saddled with as a child performer, renegotiated the terms, and unleashed hundreds of songs to tape. Over the next five years, Wonder would amass countless recordings and release his five greatest albums - as prolific a golden period as there has ever been in contemporary music. But Songs in the Key of Life is different from the four albums that preceded it; it's an overstuffed, overjoyed, maddeningly ambitious encapsulation of all the progress Stevie Wonder had made in that short space of time.
Zeth Lundy's book, in keeping with the album's themes, is structured as a life cycle. It's divided into the following sections: Birth; Innocence/Adolescence; Experience/Adulthood; Death; Rebirth. Within this framework, Zeth Lundy covers Stevie Wonder's excessive work habits and recording methodology, his reliance on synthesizers, the album's place in the gospel-inspired progression of 1970s R'n'B, and many other subjects.

Reviews

Goodreads review by julieta on December 21, 2021

Songs in the key of life is ambitious enough, and holds it´s own in complexity, for it to be explained in such a pretentious way. I suppose Lundy wanted to be as ambitious as the album itself, with the difference that Songs in the key of life is a masterpiece, and this book, although at times is gre......more

Goodreads review by chantel on April 24, 2019

Another dope book in the 33 1/3 series. I absolutely loved geeking out about this record that I’ve heard for years. Songs in the Key of Life, is a Stevie album that holds such a special place in my heart — like it does for so many. Growing up in a house filled with soul, to parents born in the 60s,......more

Goodreads review by Harriett on April 29, 2017

This is a slim volume (151 pages), part of the 33-1/3 series (333.sound.com). Zeth has lots to say about Songs in the Key of Life. He offers opinions about individual songs, how they fit into the Stevie Wonder world and how they fit into the whole world, both in the lyrics and the music. This album......more

Goodreads review by Darrell on September 29, 2022

These are fun and you can learn a lot about these albums. Stevie Wonder is often not recognized as the synth wizard he was, but his synth collaborations in his 3 studio tour to produce this album is one of the coolest things. Strong writing, if not a little collegiate, but still it filled in a ton......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on November 03, 2024

Lundy can certainly write about music, but I’m not sure if he actually likes it. He devotes nearly as much time in this book to tearing down artists as he does complimenting them. And this criticism isn’t limited to Wonder and his contemporaries - Lundy takes pot shots at Rush, Glen Miller, David Bo......more

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