Has there ever been a musical artist that enjoyed a streak of commercial success and critical acclaim quite like the run Stevie Wonder put together in the ’70s? That stretch peaked with his massive 1976 double album Songs in the Key of Life. Wonder released the endlessly funky and slyly revealing “I Wish” as lead single, and it shot to No. 1 on the pop and soul charts.
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What was the song about? What inspired it? And why did Wonder take so long with the album that included it? Let’s go back and find out all the important details on the origins and meaning of “I Wish,” one of Stevie Wonder’s very best.
Worth the Wait
It’s funny now to think that it was news when it took Wonder a little more than two years to follow up Fulfillingness’ First Finale in 1974 with Songs in the Key of Life. These days, top artists regularly take longer than that between long-players. But considering Wonder had cranked out six albums in the first five years of the decade, the wait for the new record probably seemed interminable at the time.
Wonder had recently re-signed with longtime record label Motown, and had to be feeling the pressure of delivering again and again for his fans. His previous two records had both won the prestigious Album of the Year award at the Grammy Awards, and his lucrative new contract only upped the spotlight on his work.
After taking some time off, he began the process of recording Songs in the Key of Life, which took him to both coasts in the U.S. He also took an extra amount of time in the remixing process. When this music finally did arrive in September 1976, Wonder made it worth the wait with a double album full of goodness, including a firecracker of a lead single in “I Wish.”
Wish Fulfillment
Oddly enough, Wonder created the ebullient “I Wish” while he was physically ailing a bit, as he remembered in an interview with Musician magazine:
“The day I wrote it was a Saturday, the day of a Motown picnic in the summer of ’76. God, I remember that because I was having this really bad toothache, it was ridiculous. I had such a good time at the picnic that I went to Crystal Recording Studio right afterward and the vibe came right to my mind, running at the picnic, the contests, we all participated. It was a lot of fun, even though I couldn’t eat the hot dogs—that was around the time of the creation of those chicken hot dogs. And from that came the ‘I Wish’ vibe.”
The nostalgia evoked in Wonder initially came forth with a more melancholy edge when he first tried the lyrics. But the music of the track, which included Nathan Watts’ unforgettable bass line and some feverish horns, gave out more of a joyous vibe. Thus, Wonder adjusted the tone of the lyrics for a better fit.
What is the Meaning of “I Wish”?
Wonder does a great job of harping on the details in “I Wish,” which lends his remembrances of his youth as a nappy-headed boy legitimacy. It also makes his pleas in the refrain (I wish those days could come back once more / Why did those days ever have to go?) hit ever harder emotionally than they otherwise might.
“I Wish” also presents a side of Wonder as the mischievous, troublemaking child that likely surprised some folks. Within the song, he disobeys his parents and spends time with his hoodlum friends, gets caught playin’ doctor with that girl, smokes cigarettes, and trades his Sunday school money for candy. It lands him in the principal’s office and, potentially, a whooping from his folks.
But the song makes clear that he wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything: You grow up and learn that kind of thing ain’t right / But while you were doing it, it sure felt outta sight. “I Wish” managed to push Stevie Wonder’s music even further forward, even as the lyrics looked back with humor and wonder.
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Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
