They Won't Go When I Go
| "They Won't Go When I Go" | |
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| Song |
| "They Won't Go When I Go" | |
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| Song |
"They Won't Go When I Go" is a song co-written and performed by Stevie Wonder from his 1974 album Fulfillingness' First Finale.
This song is the only one on the album that Wonder did not write by himself. His co-writer was Yvonne Lowrene Wright, who co-wrote songs with Wonder for other albums.[1] Wright's sister, Syreeta Wright, was Wonder's first wife.
Wonder performed this song, along with "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer", at Michael Jackson's memorial service on July 7, 2009.
Composition
The song has been considered a "retro composition" comparing the piano to that of Beethoven and Chopin. The song also noted to have a "funeral march" like tone to it.[2] Critics noted that the song takes a more dramatic tone than most of Wonder's other compositions. The fact that the song specifically says "They won't go when I go" was said to imply the friends Wonder is talking about may get to heaven eventually, just not before he does.[3] Many consider this song to be a dark consequence of Stevie's 1973 car accident. The harmonic progression is very similar to Chopin Op.10 #4 measures 5 and 6.
Covers
- George Michael covered the song for his second solo album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 in 1990.[4]
- Kevin Max recorded it for his fourth studio album, The Blood in 2007.
- Josh Groban recorded it for his fifth studio album, Illuminations in 2010. It is featured as a bonus track on the Fan edition, and the Japanese edition.
- Camille recorded it for her second studio album I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder Songbook in 2014, which received an Independent Music Awards nomination for Best Tribute Album.[5]
References
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- ↑ James E. Perone, The Sound of Stevie Wonder, p 61
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