By: Jacob Jackson

Stevie Wonder

Steveland Morris Judkins Hardaway was born on May 13th, 1950 in the small own of Saginaw, Michigan.

As a kid, Stevie's eyes developed prematurely which resulted in his permanent blindness.

He was homeschooled for most of his life due to his disability and it was there, at his home where he began to learn to play instruments.

The harmonica was Stevie’s very first instrument and by the age of 12 he had mastered it.

Stevie’s Life

Stevie Wonder first began his career as the golden child, Little Stevie.

His amazing works in Jazz at such a young age attracted many record labels.

At 13, Stevie got his first big gig and realized that he had a future in change the music industry.

Little Stevie

The 1970’s were the biggest year for the world’s new talent, Stevie Wonder.

During this time he changed his name to Stevie Wonder and left Little Stevie behind.

He started to compose songs for other great musicians such as Smokey Robinson, The Spinners and others.

This was Stevie’s era. He swept the awards for Best R&B artist, Best Album, Best Song and Best Male Voice all in the same year.

Stevie Wonder as a Teen

Age 13- “Fingerprints”Age 22- “Superstition”Age 26- “Isn’t She Lovely”When the 1980s hit, Stevie focused his ability

on making songs for others rather than himself.

Such artist include: Smokey Robinson, The Spinners, Jermaine Jackson, Paul McCartney, Prince and Chaka Khan.

Composition History

0:00: Introduction The drums begin to play setting the upbeat mood for the rest of the song

and introducing us to a fast, optimistic song. 0:10 The base enters and sets the beat for the song playing the same repetition

of chords throughout the piece. 0:30: Verse 1 Stevie Wonder begins to sing. His words through lines one and two rhyme

with the use of wall and fall at the end of the sentence. His choice of words portrays that humans often fall for myths set up by our culture. Writing on the wall and Ladder bout to fall are two of the most common signs of bad luck told to our younger generations.

1:08: Chorus The chorus is usually the meaning of the whole song and what the singer

is writing about. In this case, Stevie Wonder is saying that superstition aint the way. To him, believing in things that you don’t fully understand and things that you can’t see are a complete waste of time.

Listening Guide “Superstition”

1:30: Verse 2 As Stevie enters into verse two, he begins to use more examples of

superstitions in society that he finds to be unreal. Although he doesn’t agree, Stevie does his best to put out an optimistic view for the things in life that are often bad. Like many other songs, verse 2 just reiterates what was previously stated in verse one. The same type of mood is used and the only thing we really see change are the lyrics.

2:05: Chorus The Chorus comes again. Using the same words as before, it only

presses you to believe that superstition aint the way. Stevie Wonders choice of words shows that although all this bad stuff happens, superstitions, there is a positive side to life. All you have to do is find it and believe in that rather than believing in superstition.

As the song continues, Stevie Wonder repeats the first verse as well as the chorus. The overall theme of this song is to prove to people that although bad things occur in our life, there is always a positive side.

Listening Guide Continued

Stevie Wonder has faded out of the major music scene. He has stopped producing music as frequently as he did but when he does produce something it is an instant hit.

His most recent event was his receiving of the Library of Congress for Popular Song Award present by Barack Obama.

Stevie Wonder Today