Stevie Wonder, "Isn't She Lovely?"--Songs In The Key Of Life, meanspeed=118.7 beats per minute, meanemotion=victory

The two charts above represent the mapping out the song “Isn’t She Lovely” as visual speed graphs—the top one in radial form, the one beneath it in classical histogram form. All measurements were taken by and the charts prepared by Meanspeed Music.

Beneath the two charts are an example of how one might use the knowledge of knowing the speed of the song. In the screen shot—the bottom graph above, come from my iTunes program and show me exactly were the song sits in relation to the speed of the other songs I have on iTunes which by hitting the “command + I” keys I have been able to key in—and play with.

"Isn't She Lovely" is a song by Stevie Wonder, from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. In it he celebrates the birth of his daughter Aisha ("less than one minute old") and thanks his girlfriend Yolonda "Londie" Simmons. There are three verses, each ending with the phrase "isn't she lovely, made from love" (or "so very lovely..."). The song opens with Aisha's cry and the lengthy outro features samples of her playing with Wonder and bathing.

The song, musically constructed over a standardized circle-of-fifths, is considered a striking example of the fusion of fundamental jazz and pop elements.


Ian Schneider
meanspeed.com
April 21, 2007