All in Love Is Fair
"All in Love Is Fair" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder recorded for his sixteenth studio album, Innervisions (1973). Written and produced by Wonder, it was released as a 7" single in Brazil in 1974.[3] The song is a pop ballad with lyrics that describe the end of a relationship through the use of clichés. Critical reaction to the song has been varied: Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic wrote that it was among Wonder's "finest ballad statements",[4] but Robert Christgau felt that the singer's performance was "immature".[5] Wonder has included it on several of his greatest hits albums, including the most recent, 2005's The Complete Stevie Wonder.
American vocalist Barbra Streisand released "All in Love Is Fair" as a single in 1974 for her fifteenth studio album, The Way We Were (1974). Tommy LiPuma handled the production for the 7" single release by Columbia Records. Among music critics, Greenwald called her version "unforgettable",[4] and Rolling Stone's Stephen Holden wrote that it was "almost as interesting" as Wonder's original.[6] Commercially, the song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States at number 63, and Canada's Top Singles chart at number 60. The song has been recorded by a number of other artists, including Brook Benton, Nancy Wilson and Cleo Laine.
Release and composition[edit]
"All in Love Is Fair" is taken from Stevie Wonder's sixteenth studio album, Innervisions, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla Records.[7] Despite not being released as a commercial single in his native country of the United States, Tapecar Records and Tamla released it as a 7" single sometime in 1974, exclusively in Brazil. It was paired alongside the opener track for side one of Innervisions, "Too High", a song about drug abuse.[8]
The song is composed in the key of C-sharp minor and features vocals that range from B3 to C♯6.[9] The vocal is accompanied by Wonder himself on Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano and drums, and by Scott Edwards on electric bass. The lyrics of the composition describe two people who are nearing the end of their relationship; Wonder purposely uses "cliché lines" to get his point across and to prove the clichés true.[5]
A pop ballad,[1] "All in Love Is Fair" was compared to the works of Johnny Mathis by Lenny Kaye of Rolling Stone and the editors at Playboy.[10] Lawrence Gabriel, author of MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, described the track as a "classic" pop song.[11] Janine McAdams from Billboard found "dramatic intensity" within the lyrics, "I should have never left your side / The writer takes his pen / To write the words again / That all in love is fair".[12] Author Herb Jordan included the track's lyrics in his book Motown in Love: Lyrics from the Golden Era; they were placed under the section for songs in which the lyrics detail "lessons of love".[13]
Reception and further promotion[edit]
AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald found "All in Love Is Fair" to be among Wonder's "finest ballad statements", which contained "one of the most graceful and memorable hooks from the era".[4] Brian Ives of radio.com described it as a "beautiful and sad piano ballad" that he thought could have come from the Broadway stage.[14] Robert Christgau disliked Wonder's balladry singing in "All in Love Is Fair", and considered his performance to be "immature".[5] In contrast, author James E. Perone wrote that there was "no better example" of a "pure, autobiographical-sounding vocal showpiece for Stevie Wonder".[5]
After its initial release in 1973, Wonder placed "All in Love Is Fair" on several of his later albums. It was included on the Motown compilation Baddest Love Jams, Vol. 2: Fire & Desire in 1995.[15] Wonder's fourth box set, At the Close of a Century (1999), also featured the song.[16] In that same year it was featured on Ballad Collection,[17] and in 2005 it was selected for inclusion on The Complete Stevie Wonder.[18]
"All in Love Is Fair"
Medley: "My Buddy"/"How About Me"
March 1974
December 14, 1973; United Recorders
(Los Angeles, California)
3:50
Stevie Wonder
Works cited