Stevie Wonder's A Time to Love Has Universal Meaning for All Listeners
Published April 21, 2008
Another interesting song, “Shelter in the Rain,” originally addressed the death of Wonder’s ex-wife. After Hurricane Katrina, the song gained new meaning about providing shelter from adversity; consequently, Wonder donated proceeds from the single to the Wonder Foundation for Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts. This track is nicely balanced with “Positivity,” a perfect summarization of Wonder’s eternal optimism. Once again, daughter Aisha provides backup support as he describes his life philosophy: “I'm not saying sometimes life can't be rough/But never to the point of me saying I've had enough/Long as my heart beats I ain't giving up.” An infectious beat punctuates these words, making the track irresistible.
A Time to Love ends with a tour de force: the title track, a rallying cry for peace. Dueting with India Arie, Wonder speaks out against the war with lyrics such as the following:
"Not enough money for / The young, the old and the poor / But for war there is always more / When will there be a time to love."
The song gradually escalates into a hand-clapping, gospel-like prayer for peace, and then ebbs into Indian percussion. Paul McCartney plays guitar on the track, although he does not particularly stand out; after all, the song truly belongs to Wonder (although Arie admirably keeps up with the legend). Best of all is when Wonder talks over the song, stating that when “wives don’t want to see their husbands, sons, or brothers die anymore, the wars will stop.” Like classics such as “You Haven’t Done Nothin” or “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” Wonder conveys both sorrow and hope, anger and activism, apathy and empathy, all in one song. “A Time to Love” provides a stunning conclusion to an already memorable album.
As you can probably tell, I’m a huge Stevie Wonder fan. But A Time to Love’s themes are so universal, and the music so different than anything else on the music scene today, virtually anyone can appreciate this special album. While it’s understandable to reminisce about past masterpieces, it’s important to realize that a legend like Wonder can still create music that still has something to say. Treat yourself to this thoroughly enjoyable, and enriching, listening experience.
“The Cutout Bin” is going on vacation for three weeks, but will return in late May. Until then, thank you as always for reading.
- Stevie Wonder's A Time to Love Has Universal Meaning for All Listeners
- Published: April 21, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Pop
- Part of a feature: The Cutout Bin
- Writer: Kit O'Toole
- Kit O'Toole's BC Writer page
- Kit O'Toole's personal site
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It's a sad commentary on where pop music has ended up when Stevie Wonder is out of fashion ...
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Unfortunately, the fate of "A Time For Love" is pretty typical of new albums by senior/heritage artists, as hard as it is to think of Stevie Wonder as an older artist. The kind of terrestrial radio stations that might play this would rather just play Stevie's old hits and, as Kit mentioned, when Stevie did the traditional radio promotion tour, the deejays barely gave this album lip service while clearly preferring to talk about Stevie's past glories. Next time, he might well want to use the non-traditional venues Paul McCartney used last year to market his "Memory Almost Full" album. Quality-wise, that album was comparable to "A Time For Love" but was a much bigger seller.