harmless wrote:The problem is they're generally kinda sexist.
"Superwoman" I can give a pass, because the intention is there, but it sort of is.
"I Love Every Little Thing..." is absolutely perfect until the end, when that little voice says "You want candy?" (What do you think he's trying to achieve there, and does it not sound totally creepy?)I certainly don't "know", but it came off as comedy to me. Whether it has a place here would thus be debatable, but I can laugh this off. The "big ole piece of cake" part actually makes me chuckle
"Sweet Little Girl" again sounds stalkery / creepy. I get it, but I have sensed this is mostly humor, though I could be wrong. It's just too obvious to be genuine creepiness. Especially when he starts to "act like a nigga" at the end. I think it's some sort of social commentary/self mockery.
"Keep On Running", ditto, and this is sort of the worst offender. The bit about jumping out the bushes makes me feel icky.the song is so good I may have te blinders on but I just hear a guy with the hots for a girl that has been playing hard to get. But what I'm perceiving as a sense of humor and goofiness is also a bit of foolishness/creepiness.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:40 am
by Lament
I just look at it as an extension of them using all of those food euphemisms back and forth. I don't read it as being an explicit sexual metaphor.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:42 am
by Kaius
Sorry I'm on my phone, I hope that made sense
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:44 am
by Lament
I think it did.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:48 am
by harmless
Kaius wrote:
harmless wrote:The problem is they're generally kinda sexist.
"Superwoman" I can give a pass, because the intention is there, but it sort of is.
"I Love Every Little Thing..." is absolutely perfect until the end, when that little voice says "You want candy?" (What do you think he's trying to achieve there, and does it not sound totally creepy?)I certainly don't "know", but it came off as comedy to me. Whether it has a place here would thus be debatable, but I can laugh this off. The "big ole piece of cake" part actually makes me chuckle
"Sweet Little Girl" again sounds stalkery / creepy. I get it, but I have sensed this is mostly humor, though I could be wrong. It's just too obvious to be genuine creepiness. Especially when he starts to "act like a nigga" at the end. I think it's some sort of social commentary/self mockery.
"Keep On Running", ditto, and this is sort of the worst offender. The bit about jumping out the bushes makes me feel icky.the song is so good I may have te blinders on but I just hear a guy with the hots for a girl that has been playing hard to get. But what I'm perceiving as a sense of humor and goofiness is also a bit of foolishness/creepiness.
I'd like to think you're right about this stuff. It's hard to know how self-aware he'd have been back then, which parts are satire / self-mockery etc.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:49 am
by Lament
If Marvin Gaye had written them they'd bother me far more. But I really think Stevie was just naive, and the lyrics he was writing just a few years later I think to a certain extent attest to that.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:52 am
by Kaius
Satire. I was looking for that word.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:53 am
by Kaius
You and I
Wow
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:56 am
by harmless
Lament wrote:I just look at it as an extension of them using all of those food euphemisms back and forth. I don't read it as being an explicit sexual metaphor.
I just realised it's meant to sound like two people in some food foreplay situation, not just Stevie. Yeah, that makes it better actually.
But this spoken word part in Sweet Little Girl is a bit awkward:
Come on baby, you know your baby loves you,
I've given you cookies and candy, and the woofer, and you
still don't wanna be good. Come on now honey-sugar, you know
your baby loves you, more than I love my clavinet.
So baby, do me good, do me good baby.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 12:59 am
by harmless
Just spotted that "Don't let me get mad and act like a nigga" at the end... that's gotta be mockery, right?
I think it is too, but that's the one line that does make me uncomfortable in the case that it's not. All the "do me good" stuff just strikes me as a guy begging a girl to reciprocate his affections, not a guy actually begging for her to do him in exchange for those gifts.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 1:08 am
by harmless
By the way, I struggled so much to "get" Secret Life of Plants that I stopped at track 3. I'm now picking random tracks. Highlights?
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 1:13 am
by Lament
Send One Your Love was the big hit off of it. I dunno, I enjoy it. Ai No, Sono is probably my favorite song on it. It's a challenging record, but in the right mood I find it to be a very rewarding listen. A Seed's A Star/Tree Medley is pretty great. So is the title track. It find I enjoy that album the most when I listen to it first thing after I wake up. I don't know why, but that seems to be the case.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 1:20 am
by harmless
It's definitely interesting. So far I like Ai No, Sono and Race Babbling (which seems way ahead of its time, reminded me of I Feel Love).
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 1:29 am
by Lament
Race Babbling is another good one, yeah.
It's not an album you'll play regularly, but it's one I'm always glad I listened to when I do make time for it.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 1:31 am
by harmless
Black Orchid is nice.
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 2:13 am
by harmless
I literally just found out that Journey Through... is the soundtrack to this (or maybe you told me Lament and I just forgot).
Re: Stevie Wonder
Posted: Wed February 05, 2014 2:29 am
by Lament
Oh, nice find! Y'know, I've never actually seen the movie. I should definitely watch this.
