First off, I want to apologize for this post being so long. Hopefully you all can get through it!

After my first listen to Somebody's Miracle, there was something I knew right off the bat - it was a great album. Much better than the self-titled (which i had a love-hate relationship with, as many of you did). What irked me about SM, however, was the atrocious sequencing that really did not do the songs any justice. I figured there had to be a reason why these songs were sequenced the way they were (since they clearly do not work sonically in this order). I know liz is better than that.

The first clue that made me realize this album is a concept album was the intro to Giving it all To You. It references several songs on the album:

They can't read my thoughts
or the secrets between us [everything between us]
All of this time you were a part of me [Part of me... written before the lyric change)
Shining like a star in my galaxy [Stars and Planets]

This song was obviously a closer for a reason. I played the CD again to try and find a reasonable progression of the songs, and i realized that the CD is a timeline of events in liz's life between her divorce and falling in love with dino.

This is my reasoning:
1) Leap of Innocence - the album starts with her divorce from john

2) Wind in the Mountain - the obstacles she faced post-marriage. The mountain is a metaphor for her difficult uphill climb in dealing with the dissolution of her marriage. It ends on a positive note ("leave me here now").

3) Stars and Planets - chronicles her experience with the self titled album and wanting to be a star

4) Somebody's Miracle - her realizing that being a star isnt all she wants. She wants love, wants to be in a relationship again. She's still affected by the breakup, but has faith in love.

5) Got My Own Thing - I feel like this song chronicles some of her immediate post-marriage relationships that didnt pan out. Maybe a period of trial, error, and frustration with whoever she dated at the time. The whole "hanging yourself" part makes me think this.

6) Count on My love - I can't really find a reason why this song is here. I dont really think this song should be on the CD anyway.

7) Lazy Dreamer - she meets Dino. He's sort of a young, lazy bum who doesnt know what he wants to do with his life. she isnt really taken by him right away.

8) Everything To Me - The budding of a relationship? Being unsure or nervous about a new relationship that seems like it may be the real thing?

9) Can't Get out of What I'm Into - she's recording her new album, trying to rebuild her carrer..., but has dug herself a whole with the self-titled album that she "can't get out of."

10) Table For One - not sure what the sequencing significance is. Maybe only liz knows this.

11) Why I Lie - again not really sure of the sequencing. Its a fucking awesome song though. Maybe its about Dino questioning her or trying to get into her quirky mind and liz not offering and explanations for the way she acts. She is unapologetically the person she is.

12) Lost Tonight - cute love song. relationship is getting serious.

13) Everything Between Us - obvisously they are really close to one another now and have identified and confided in one another.

14) Giving it all to You - The title says it all. Its a sure thing. Its also has a nice little recap of the cd in the intro.

***i think my case for a concept album is stronger towards the beginning than it is toward the end. who knows, maybe i just pulled this out of my ass. it works for me anyway.

okay, now getting away from the whole "concept album" thing - burn a copy of the CD in this order. i guarantee it will flow better and you will enjoy listening to it more as a whole (if you dont care about the story liz is trying to tell). before i re-sequenced it myself, i found myself jumping around a lot.

1) Leap Of Innocence
2) Everything Between Us
3) Everything To Me
4) Got My Own Thing
5) Somebody's Miracle
6) Count on My Love
7) Lazy Dreamer
8) Giving It All To You
9) Wind In The Mountain
10) Lost Tonight
11) Table for One
12) Can't Get Out of What I'm Into
13) Why I Lie
14) Stars and Planets

I think Stars and Planets is such a great closing song. The whole "we all shine shine shine" is a really great and positive way to end the record. The only song I really found myself having a hard time sequencing was "Lost Tonight." I guess it would be better left off the record. I don't dislike the song, I just feel that maybe it would have served its purpose better as a b-side. Also, I really don't understand the reasoning for changing Part of Me to Count on My Love. I think the new chorus is pretty awful.

-mike

Very possible. I will listen to the album with that in mind and see if it fits.

I was trying to find a new tracklisting too and had trouble placing Lost Tonight. I just put it somewhere random.

off to go try your new tracklisting.......

Posting again to say this tracklisting isn't bad at all. The flow is way better.

Remember, she has said that she was modeling this album off Songs in the Key of Life, so that could be a starting point.

hmm, interesting. i actually don't have a clue how to sequence anything. maybe i'd put the loud, driving pop songs at first, then the midtempo songs, then the slow ones. heh! bad idea.

It depends if there are any more B-sides. If "Closer to you" is the only song that didn't make the cut, and if it was true that Liz said she didn't like the way it was recorded, then you'd think they just needed to make 14 or however many songs and then just slop all these songs anywhere.

The response to Stevie wonder's album was only an original idea. It didn't work and they gave up, remember?

This is what I was about to say. I think they are sequenced the way they are because she was "responding" song by song to another album...but it just doesn't work here the way it worked on EIG.

Interesting analysis of Giving it All to You though.

I like your sequencing except for the fact that I would never put Can't Get Out after Table for one.

Mine might look more like this:

1) Leap Of Innocence
2) Giving It All To You
3) Everything Between Us
4) Got My Own Thing
5) Somebody's Miracle
6) Lost Tonight
7) Lazy Dreamer
8) Wind In The Mountain
9) Stars and Planets
10) Everything To Me
11) Table for One
12) Why I Lie
13) Can't Get Out of What I'm Into

What's that? A track is missing? No, I don't think so. Looks just fine to me.

wow. you really hate the song, don't you? haha. it would have been really good if that umbrella line was taken out. i hope liz had come up with something different.

I don't hate it. I just don't think it belongs on the album...with or without the umbrella line.

"an umbrella when it's raining", the line gives me suicidal thoughts. hearing it is different though. it sounds every bit the mainstream pop hit it has the potential to be.

How is Somebody's Miracle a response to Songs In The Key Of Life? There are too many tracks on the Stevie Wonder album, though I can see how Wind In The Mountain and Having A Talk With God connect, but the rest I can't quite fit together.

Jason! You're alive! Hurrah. Now get on MSN.

I can't babe! I'm at a computer that I "can't download things on." It has Google's GTalk... I think the URL is http://www.google.com/talk or something like that. I'm Jason.on.guy@gmail.com. I'll send you a GMail invite.

I'm off topic.

Well I still don't understand Somebody's Miracle.

There. That's better.

I haven't heard SW's album yet. Someeday I'll have to listen to them side by side.

There aren't the same amount of tracks, that is according to Amazon.com. Weird.

Liz told me at one of the Philly shows that she reocrded about 34+ songs for the record. The original intent was to do a song-by-song response to Songs In The Key Of Life but she nixed the idea. I don't think she wanted to put out a double album.

I read this interview from NY Daily News today where Liz said "Stars And Planets" is supposed to be a response to "Sir Duke" while "Table For One" is supposed to be a reponse to "Village Ghetto Land."

It would be interesting to see the charts and I'd take a double album any day.

Thanks Brett. That had me confused.

the album is not a response to songs in key life.

it started of that way, but liz said she abandoned that idea after working with different producers and the album's sound changing. also she knew the label wouldnt go for a 20 song album.

-mike

Interesting...I wonder why Guyville still used that as a trivia question!

Bumping this up to say I have been using this tacklisting from the first post:



And it makes the album so much better. Liz please change it to this.

right, well I know I said in another post that it didn't really matter what order it was in, but I couldn't resist. here's my order (with BOTH Can't Get Out and Closer To You) :

01 Leap Of Innocence
02 Wind And The Mountain
03 Stars and Planets
04 Can’t Get Out Of What I’m Into
05 Got My Own Thing
06 Lazy Dreamer
07 Everything To Me
08 Somebody’s Miracle
09 Closer to You
10 Table For One
11 Count on my Love
12 Why I Lie
13 Lost Tonight
14 Everything (Between Us)
15 Giving It All To You
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bonus track: Mother’s Little Helper