Desiderata is a 1971 album by
Les Crane with music by
Broadway composer Fred Werner and concept and various lyrics by David C. Wilson. It is a
spoken-word album with sung refrains and instrumental accompaniment. The title and title track come from the widely circulated poem "
Desiderata", which was widely perceived as ancient wisdom and not known to be a 1927 poem by Indiana lawyer
Max Ehrmann.
The album includes well-known poetry such as
Henry David Thoreau's "Different Drummer" (retitled "Independence" on the track list) and "Wilderness" (retitled "Nature") as well as original compositions such as "Friends."
The title track poem "
Desiderata" had already been recorded by drummer
Brian Davison's project band Every Which Way on the 1970 album Brian Davison's Every Which Way as "Go Placidly", with music by keyboardist and singer
Graham Bell. "Go Placidly" was also released as a single.[3][4] The music on Crane's album was performed by Broadway composer Fred Werner, whose music publisher Robert Bell of Crescendo Publishing identified the original source of the poem on the poster as Max Ehrmann.[5] Werner's arrangement features repeated singing of the refrain "You are a child of the universe, No less than the trees and the stars: You have a right to be here."[2][6][7]
Lindsay Planer, in her review of the album for
AllMusic, wrote: "Crane's dulcet-toned reading became an anthem for those wishing to perpetuate the message of peace and love that had seemingly been abandoned in the wake of the '60s" and called the album "an inspired timepiece with an ageless message, rather than the one-hit wonder novelty that history will undoubtedly remember it as."[1]