Michael Mackay

Karlianne Seri

WRT 102.72

12 February 2018

The Artistry of Superstition by Stevie Wonder

Superstition by Stevie Wonder was a revolutionary song for its time, founding the basis for the revival of  funk music and launching Stevie Wonder into critical success as the then known “King of Funk”. This song was first released along his 1972 album Talking Book which was received with positive remarks. However, the single on that album, Superstition, reached number 1 in the United States music charts and number 11 on the United Kingdoms music charts, causing a sharp incline in album sales for Talking Book, arguably being the reason behind why this album and even Stevie Wonder himself gained so much commercial success. Superstition is a song that delves into the concept of superstition within society and explains Stevie Wonder’s viewpoints on the concept, using his musical abilities and talents to express his opinion on the long-lasting element of superstition in the world. Stevie Wonder uses his upbeat music and easy to understand lyrics to attract any potential listener, appealing to the listener’s pathos and logos, respectively. Through this and his past experiences, he attempts to persuade the listener that superstitions are illogical in society and aims for the listener to abandon such fallacies.

Stevie Wonder uses pathos, or the ability to emotionally appeal to an audience, through the structure of his music within the song. Stevie Wonder uses a “hook approach” to his music style in Superstition, which is an approach where the musician composes one main riff for the song and repeats that motif throughout the entire song.[1] This is evident from hearing the intro riff of the song which was an upbeat clavinet progression that is used throughout the song. For this riff, Stevie Wonder harmonizes his vocals around this riff, maintaining the relevancy of the riff in the song. The reason he does this is that he wants to highlight the upbeat nature of the riff and grab the attention of the listener. An upbeat rhythm is a rhythm that is on the off-beat of the rhythm, making the song sound more energized and giving the song more momentum. Stevie Wonder uses this type of rhythm to entice the listener by affecting the emotions of the listener, causing the listener to feel more eccentric and motivated after listening to the song. Stevie, in this way, methodically chose his musicianship in order to appeal to the listener’s pathos. This type of musicianship is one of the reasons as to why Superstition became such a radio success, the song is the type of song that people would want to listen to in order to motivate them. Therefore, due to his excellent use of the “hook approach” and his expert musicianship, Stevie attracts new listeners easily which in turn causes them to listen to the lyrics of the song, which was his main intention in writing Superstition.

Additionally, Stevie uses logos, or the ability to appeal to people logically, in order to explain the illogical nature of superstitions with the intention of persuading the listener to lose their irrational belief in those superstitions. Stevie Wonder uses allusions to popular superstitions within society in order to reference the idea of them. Additionally, he then exaggerates those superstitions in order to show their flaws. For example, Stevie uses the lyrics “Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin’ glass, seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past” to reference superstitions such as the number 13 and breaking a glass, which are both signs of bad luck in modern Western society. Stevie used these specific superstitions because they were referenced heavily in pop culture such as in movies or TV shows such as Friday the 13^th.  Therefore, Stevie Wonder used logos to relate to the listener by referencing popular superstitions in society, with the aim of gaining the attention of the listener in the process and potentially make a connection with the listener. Through this connection that Stevie builds he attempts to explain that superstitions are negative in society using lyrics such as “When you believe in things that you don’t understand, then you suffer, superstition ain’t the way”. The main message of Superstition is that Stevie firmly believes that superstitions are an unnecessary stress for those in society. By referencing those superstitions and actually delving into what makes them superstitions it seems illogical that there could be any sense of negative impact from those occurrences. As another example, Stevie sings in the first verse of the song “Very superstitious, ladder’s bout to fall” which references the superstition that walking under a ladder will cause bad luck. It is obvious that there is no possible way that walking under a ladder can give you bad luck, there is no logical way that could be proven. Therefore, Stevie is attempting to get his listeners to think about the illogical nature of superstitions and that they are an unnecessary stress to the listener’s daily life. Therefore, using the lyrics he crafted in Superstition, Stevie Wonder’s goal with the song is to convince the average listener to disregard superstitions entirely.

Using ethos, or the ability to relate to a person due to credibility, Stevie Wonder is able to discredit the concept of luck and superstitions using his past life experiences. Due to the fact that Stevie Wonder was blind at birth, he came into this world somewhat unlucky. He became blind at birth due to a premature birth, being born approximately 6 weeks earlier than he was expected to be due. Additionally, he was given too much oxygen in an incubator which resulted in retinopathy of prematurity, a disorder of the eye that caused his blindness.[2] This type of disorder would be seen by many as a sign of “bad luck”, as if the world had malicious intentions for Stevie as soon as he was born. However, by stating with Superstition that he doesn’t believe in luck, he is indirectly disregarding the disorder he was born with as “bad luck”. Therefore, this gives Stevie credibility in a sense, stating that despite his unfortunate circumstances he was able to still find success, showing that “luck” should not be a factor in every day life. Due to this credibility, Stevie has the position to be able to disregard the concept of superstition and luck.

Superstitions are subconsciously engrained in our minds as the legacy of superstitions has been passed down through generations. It is a concept that is casually referenced throughout our lives yet has no real reason for existing. Stevie Wonder with Superstition aimed to rid the world of such unnecessary flaws.  Using his prolific artistry, both musically and lyrically, Stevie Wonder is able to make an instant connection with anyone who listens to his work, and is able to relate his work with the ethos, pathos, and logos of the listener. Superstition is used by Stevie Wonder to project his feelings on superstitions and aims to persuade those who listen.

[1] https://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/2010/07/15/superstition-a-songs-hook-as-a-summary/

[2] https://www.biography.com/people/stevie-wonder-9536078