***Update*** I got quite a few factual errors wrong when I first wrote this post, and I’d like to thank Vaid Bharath for pointing those out in the comment below. I’ve since editing the content and to my knowledge everything below is correct.
Stevie Wonder’s contribution to Michael Jackson’s memorial service was a beautiful, hauntingly appropriate tribute. “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” is a track off Wonder’s 1971 Motown album Where I’m Coming From. Wonder’s late ex-wife Syreeta Wright wrote the lyrics to “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”. Wright is also responsible for the lyrics to Stevie’s hit “Signed, Sealed and Delivered I’m Yours” among a number of other songs on Wonder’s Where I’m Coming From, Music of my Mind, and Talking Book. Stevie also mentioned a demo a song he wrote that Jackson sang, called “I Can’t Help It”. Michael included the track in his Off the Wall album.
Talking to Michael, Stevie said today:
“I never, ever imagined that I would write a song that would be sent to Quincy Jones, and he would hear it, and my sister Renee would give me the cassette and here it back and be amazed that you [Micahel Jackson] did this song. And so incredibly so, you did this song.”
Below is a YouTube photo montage featuring Michael singing “I Can’t Help It”:
“I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” Lyrics:
I never dreamed you’d leave in summer
I thought you would go then come back home
I thought the cold would leave by summer
But my quiet nights will be spent aloneYou said there would be warm love in springtime
That is when you started to be cold
I never dreamed you’d leave in summer
But now I find myself all aloneYou said then you’d be the life in autumn
Said you’d be the one to see the way
You know I never dreamed you’d leave in summer
But now I find my love has gone awayWhy didn’t you stay?
Here’s Stevie Wonder singing the beautiful, jazzy tune along with 1974’s “They Won’t Go When I Go”:
Download the mp3 of Steve Wonder’s “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”
Thanks starcasm for remedying my confusion and for putting me onto Christiana. I will certainly be paying more attention to her…she has a beautiful voice
When Stevie Wonder mentioned Michael Jackson had sung that song I youtubed it immediately. There was a beautiful photo montage of Michael and him singing the song. There were only 300 posts when I looked and listened. I posted it to my facebook page but it wont replay from there for some reason. This morning I looked again on youtube and it had over 4000 hits but this evenning it is gone.
I first heard the song on one of Roberta Flacks albums and it has remained a favourite of mine. I have a strong feeling that Stevie Wonder had posted it himself then removed it the day after the memorial service
Is this what you’re talking about? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvYfmyf-zc8
I actually originally thought this was Michael, but it is Christina Perez singing. The author has since prominently placed her name in the title, it wasn’t in the title of the YouTube video two days ago.
To my knowledge, Michael did not actually record “I Never Dreamed . . .” Stevie made it confusing the way he set it up because he played a riff of the real song that Michael covered “I Can’t Help It” before he launched into singing the beautiful “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer.”
Is there a recording, somewhere, of Michael Jackson singing “I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer?”
Not to my knowledge, no. The footage of Stevie at the memorial is confusing because it sounds like he’s saying that Michael covered “I Never Dreamed . . .”, but in fact Stevie plays a little riff of the song he wrote that Michael did cover, “I Can’t Help It”.
A couple errors with this post. The first video is not Michael Jackson singing it is actually ‘ChristiAna Perez’. It’s an error by the person posting on YouTube.
Secondly, when Stevie mentioned he sent a song to Quincy Jones for Michael to record he was referring to ‘I Can’t Help It’ from the ‘Off The Wall’ album, not ‘I Never Dreamed…’ Stevie played a little refrain from that song as he spoke about it and then went on to sing ‘I Never Dreamed…’