Top 10 Stevie Wonder Songs

What more can be said about Stevland Hardaway Morris? His musical contributions have been the stuff of legend. He came through Motown records as a child prodigy and was releasing albums before his 13th birthday. He has recorded more than 30 U.S. Top Ten singles, has won 25 Grammy awards (including 3 for Album of the year) and has sold over a 100 million records. But those are just hard numbers. Sometimes the best way to judge an artist as influential as Stevie Wonder is to see how influential his music remains. Still. At 68, he is still touring. In 2018, people are still featuring him on albums. His music is still being sampled. Truth is, trying to figure out my favorite Stevie songs is quite the challenge. After all, he’s not only one of the greatest artists ever, he's in my top 3.

Bonus

That Girl

(from 1982’s Original Musiquarium I)

I have very mixed feelings about this song. On one hand, this new track from Wonder’s first greatest hits album is as good as anything he released in his prime in the 1970s. It’s a ballad dripping with the smooth sensuality of a “Ribbon in the Sky”, “Overjoyed” and “Knocks Me Off My Feet”. Unfortunately for me, I will always associate it with the summer when I had my heart broken by the first girl I ever fell in love with. We weren’t on speaking terms anymore and I wasn’t dealing with it very well. Let’s just say I gained a whole new appreciation for Stevie Wonder’s penmanship during that period. I couldn’t listen to this song without breaking into tears. Like most love songs from Wonder, it is the perfect mix of sincerity and earnestness.

Ten

From the Bottom of my Heart

(2005: A Time to Love)

I’ll put up my hands and admit I have a certain bias about this song. It holds sentimental value for me because it reminds me of my mom and vice versa. There is no getting away from the fact that by 2005’s A Time to Love album, Stevie Wonder had been long past his prime years of creativity. He was no more in the forefront of R&B or soul music and as such, this album is a quite underrated part of his discography. It did produce this sweet ballad that was to win Wonder his 24th Grammy award in 2006. It might come across as a bit schmaltzy and saccharine for some, but that would be an overly cynical view of what is one of his best songs.

Nine

My Cherie Amour

(1969: My Cherie Amour)

Part of Stevie Wonder’s transition from “Little Stevie Wonder”, Motown child prodigy, to the most influential voice in black music in the 1970s, involved him releasing a slew of catchy pop songs that did well in the charts. Songs like “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday”, “I Was Made to Love Her” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” made Wonder a successful singles artist as his songs were concise (usually lasting for 2 -3 minutes) yet catchy. “My Cherie Amour” is arguably the most enduring hit from that transitional period in his career. In this song, Stevie did what he does best and sweetly basks in his love for his “amour”. It not only did well in most worldwide charts, but it is still one of his staples when touring.

Eight

I Wish

(1976: Songs In the Key of Life)

I’ve been a Will Smith fan my whole life. I loved him on Fresh Prince, I loved his movies and yes, I admit it, I loved him as an artist. So imagine my chagrin when I found out that Smith’s “Wild Wild West” was heavily panned by the critics at the time of its 1999 release. Apparently, it heavily sampled a Stevie Wonder song and wasn’t remotely as good as the original. Naturally, my next move was to check out this song. To put it simply, ever since I heard “I Wish” for the first time, I haven’t purposely played “Wild Wild West” again. In this song, Stevie reminisces on the innocent and carefree times of his youth and wonders rhetorically whether he will ever encounter those times again. Nostalgia has never sounded so good.

Seven

As

(1976: Songs in the Key of Life)

There hasn’t been a better love song ever written. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few close contenders. Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”, Prince’s “Adore” and Heatwave’s “Always and Forever” are wonderfully crafted and are undeniably timeless. But there is nothing quite like hearing Stevie Wonder promise undying love. When he says he’ll love her always, you believe him readily. Especially when you consider some of his conditions. Until the day that the earth rotates from right to left? Until Mother Nature says her work is through? Until the day that 8*8*8 is 4? Yep. Always.

Six

Tuesday Heartbreak

(1972: Talking Book)

Part of what made Stevie Wonder such a great writer of love songs is that he recognizes love is akin to a rainbow. It has different shades, tints and colors. That means he was as great at expressing the haunting feelings of pain and regret caused by love as he was at extolling the warmest vibrancy of love. Songs like “Superwoman”, “Ordinary Pain” and “Blame it on the Sun” stand out in his discography. But I am quite partial to “Tuesday Heartbreak” for a couple of reasons. The song clocks in at just over three minutes and as such is concise enough to be replayed over and over again. The song is also exceedingly funky. It’s damn near impossible to hear Wonder’s clavinet blend with the Fender Rhodes and not twist your neck back and forth while tapping your feet.

Five

Creepin’

(1974: Fulfillingness’ First Finale)

It goes without saying that Stevie Wonder is a musical genius. The quantity and quality of his work speaks for itself. His dexterity with multiple musical instruments is astounding. And yet, what I find the most dazzling about Wonder’s talent is his penmanship. For a man who has been visually impaired since childhood, he paints the most lucid pictures in the listeners’ minds with his words. Take “Creepin”. We have all experienced the pain of unrequited love. When the object of your affection doesn’t feel the same way, so many emotions are involved. Regret, hope, hurt, yearning, wistfulness. But this is what I mean by Wonder’s genius. Not only does he paint the perfect emotional picture with his lyrics, but the use of harmonica halfway through the song makes every emotion reverberate. The

song also gets bonus points for featuring the legendary Minnie Ripperton.

Four

Superstition

(1972: Talking Book)

The definitive Stevie Wonder song. This is his “Thriller”, his “Purple Rain”, his “What’s Going On?” When Wonder released the song as the lead single from his 1972 album, Talking Book, he could have scarcely believed the level of success it would bring. Not only did it top the charts – and as such boost the sales of the album – but it won him two Grammy awards. Since then, the song has been covered several times and featured prominently in movies, television shows and commercials. In 2004, Rolling Stone – the definitive music magazine – ranked it number 74 in their "500 Greatest Songs of all Time". There’s no way a list like this gets done and “Superstition” doesn’t make it, it’s just a matter of how high.

Three

Summer Soft

(1976: Songs in the Key of Life)

In 1976, Stevie released his magnum opus, Songs in the Key of Life, a double album where he got to express the full range of his musical gifts. It was an apt name for an album where he sang about a variety of topics like love, religion, race, urban decay, childhood and the weather. That’s right. The weather. In “Summer Soft”, Stevie personifies summer (Summer Soft) and winter (Winter Rain) as he makes a topic as seemingly humdrum as weather sound like the most wondrous thing in the world. In what is one of his most underrated songs, he gets at the root of the relationship man has with the weather. We only seem to notice the weather when it comes and when it abruptly leaves. It’s a simple concept, but put in the hands of a lesser artist it would be a disposable song as opposed to one of his finest.

Two

Send One Your Love

(1979: Journey through the Secret Life of Plants)

It’s a testament to how much momentum Stevie Wonder had in his career in the 1970’s that he decided to follow up his crowning achievement (1976’s Songs in the Key of Life) with a soundtrack. But not just any soundtrack – a soundtrack to a documentary about plants. Only Wonder can answer why he thought the world was ready for a 90 minute album about plants. In any case it’s hard to be too down on this album as it led to the creation of this beautiful song. Although the message is simple – roses are a great way to tell someone you love them – the instrumentation is divine. This song will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first Stevie Wonder song I truly loved. It’s a wonder (no pun intended) that it doesn’t top my list.

One

Golden Lady

(1973: Innervisions)

“Golden Lady” is an interesting choice for my favorite Stevie Wonder song. Not because it isn’t a gorgeous song – it clearly is. But it stands out in a significant way on Innervisions, arguably Stevie Wonder’s darkest album. This album came after Wonder almost lost his life in a car accident and had to spend months recuperating in the hospital. As such, Wonder is especially introspective as he addresses serious topics like drug addiction, politics, religion and urban chaos. But you simply cannot get a Stevie Wonder album without the love songs. If love songs are his stock-in-trade, then “Golden Lady” is his finest product. I could go on about the beautiful instrumentation (that he is mostly responsible for) or the sincerity of his vocal performance. But what I will simply say is that it’s one of the only “secular” songs I have ever heard that has a purifying effect on my soul. It never ceases to put a smile on my face and in my heart. It’s pure Stevie Wonder.

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