Although the song is excellent, its commercial success was provoked by the misunderstanding of the lyrics. The music contains strong gospel tunes and was recorded in 1995. Maxwell is a native New Yorker, deeply influenced by 70s soul classics, especially the falsetto of Marvin Gaye, and I think that he conceived "ascension" for an uncommon partner, hypothetically sent to him by the Highest of the High. On the 31st of May 1996, the popular father of psychedelia, Timothy Leary, died, and so someone had the brilliant idea to realease "ascension (don't ever wonder)" as a single, done on the 30th of July 1996. This single was immediatly interpreted as a satire about Leary, and its gospel tunes as comical. As you can see, it is not always the Highest of the High to determine the success of soul songs, but sometimes the Lowest of the Low.
Although the song is excellent, its commercial success was provoked by the misunderstanding of the lyrics. The music contains strong gospel tunes and was recorded in 1995. Maxwell is a native New Yorker, deeply influenced by 70s soul classics, especially the falsetto of Marvin Gaye, and I think that he conceived "ascension" for an uncommon partner, hypothetically sent to him by the Highest of the High. On the 31st of May 1996, the popular father of psychedelia, Timothy Leary, died, and so someone had the brilliant idea to realease "ascension (don't ever wonder)" as a single, done on the 30th of July 1996. This single was immediatly interpreted as a satire about Leary, and its gospel tunes as comical. As you can see, it is not always the Highest of the High to determine the success of soul songs, but sometimes the Lowest of the Low.