Stevie Wonder Albums That Show Different Sides of His Songwriting

Pop hooks The title song has the shape of a quick apology and the energy of a party. Wonder sings the promise in short bursts, leaving space for the backing voices to answer. He wrote it with Syreeta Wright, Lee Garrett, and Lula Mae Hardaway.

Breakup ballads In “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer,” Wonder and co-writer Syreeta Wright let the seasons mark the distance between what the singer expected and what happened. Wonder sounds more startled than angry, even as the arrangement swells around him.

Songs in two parts “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)” opens by introducing Mary. The second part shifts to his own sense of abandonment. Listen for the shimmering synthesizer tones as the song changes its point of view.

Funk built from a riff The Clavinet figure in “Superstition” gives you both the hook and the rhythm before Wonder even starts to sing. Try following the gaps in that figure against the drums and the later horn hits. The groove keeps answering the vocal, even between lines.

Character and scene “Living for the City” follows a young man from Mississippi to New York. The sung narrative gives way to a spoken scene that takes him from arrival to arrest and sentencing. When Wonder starts singing again, the rasp in his voice carries the story forward.

Political satire On “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” Wonder gives a blunt complaint a chorus the Jackson 5 can answer with nonsense syllables. That little exchange makes the brush-off funny and sharp. The slow, spare piano of “They Won’t Go When I Go” shows how differently he can write about judgment on the same record.

Arrangements that tell a story On “Sir Duke,” the horns celebrate the jazz musicians Wonder names in the lyric. On “Village Ghetto Land,” the stately sound of synthesized strings sits uneasily against scenes of deprivation. Play the two back to back to hear an arrangement agree with a lyric, then argue with it.

A melody in two settings Wonder wrote this music for a documentary about plants. The album first introduces “Send One Your Love” as an instrumental, then brings it back with lyrics. Hearing the tune on its own makes it easier to notice how much of the feeling is already in the melody.

Songs people can join in on “Happy Birthday” gave the campaign for a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. a chorus anyone could pick up. On the same album, “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” honors Bob Marley with a reggae groove. Both songs put the invitation to join in right at the center.

Sound effects as percussion “Overjoyed” builds a love ballad around piano and small sounds that include birds, crickets, and pebbles in water. Their uneven little accents give the singing room to breathe. Put on “Part-Time Lover” afterward for the rush of a much more tightly paced pop song.

Songs written for a scene On the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s film, “These Three Words” turns the ordinary act of saying you love someone into something urgent. Lee said he used it in a scene about how suddenly the people you cherish can be taken away. The song carries that feeling even when heard on its own.

A duet with room to grow Wonder and India.Arie co-wrote and sing the title song, which closes the album at just over nine minutes. Its slow build gives the two voices room to trade lines before the arrangement broadens. The scale suits a song that asks what people make time for.