Superstition

Album: Talking Book (1972)
Charted: 11 1
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  • Very superstitious, writings on the wall
    Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall
    Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass
    Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past

    When you believe in things that you don't understand
    Then you suffer
    Superstition ain't the way, yeah

    Ooh, very superstitious, wash your face and hands
    Rid me of the problem, do all that you can
    Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin' strong
    You don't wanna save me, sad is my song

    When you believe in things you don't understand
    Then you suffer
    Superstition ain't the way, yeah, yeah

    Whoa, hey, hoo

    Very superstitious, nothin' more to say
    Very superstitious, the Devil's on his way
    Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass
    Seven years of bad luck, good things in your past, mhm

    When you believe in things that you don't understand
    Then you suffer
    Superstition ain't the way, no, no, no Writer/s: Stevie Wonder
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn April 12th 1973, Stevie Wonder, as posted above, performed a funky, 7-minute live version of "Superstition" on the P.B.S. children's program 'Sesame Street'; a little over eleven weeks earlier on January 21st, 1973 the song peaked at #1 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Top 100 chart...
    * And on April 12th, 2017 http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm posted that Stevie Wonder announced that he will get married for the third time on June 17th, 2017. The 66 year-old will marry 42 year-old Tomeeka Bracy in Jamaica. She is the mother of his three year-old daughter. Stevie's nine children will serve as bridesmaids and groomsmen.
  • I Love School from SchoolHey Mr. M! This is a great song! Thanks for showing it to us!
  • Tony from San DiegoHard to believe that is him on the skins cause that is a PROFESSIONAL GROOVE there people. I mean world freaking class !
  • Karlin from Nelson, BcHe did such a WONDERfull arrangement - the LAYERS are patiently added - four whole bars of just a simple-but-solid drumbeat, then that awesome Clav groove [plus bass guitar], then he starts singing and it already feels complete.... but it keeps GROWING.... nearly a full minute has gone by when the horn section starts peeling the paint off the walls with that riff AND the bass guit changes into a jazz-fusion style not heard on radio before then.... My GAWD I am coming out of my SKIN by this point - and it is all one ONE CHORD - that Clav riff is still going on, over and over and somehow never sounding repetitious - it is like a magic carpet that is carrying a freight train full of funk!!

    And THEN he changes chords and lays down the meaning of the song - "when you believe in things you don't understand... then you suffer - superstition ain't the way" - so it really bugged me that the singer in my band in 1976 would get it wrong by singing "superstition is the way". I would go up to him at the break and say "IS the way? No man, superstition AIN'T the way" - but he always got it wrong. He was also the keyboard player and he nailed that Clav riff so I had to admire him regardless. I looked forward to playing this song every night, and after I moved on from that band I took the arrangement to every band I was in and made it part of our set list. [I played sax].

    Ahhh, glory days.... but I could never put this song on for having sex because I would cum too soon - at the one minute mark, obviously.
  • Jim from Chula Vista, CaLoved Philip Philip's AI version! Very upbeat and soulful.
  • Jim from Boston, MaI just wanted to take this opportunity to say that Stevie Wonder is the greatest, funkiest, most talented man ever to have walked the earth. That is all.
  • John from Dublin, IrelandCuriously enough, the funky "guitar" riff that underscores most of the song was generated on a Hohner Clavinet D6 keyboard, a relatively primitive device that is, to this day, still a mainstay among Stevie Wonder's array of keyboard instruments.
  • Ken Sparkes from Sydney, AustraliaBake Beans? Stevie sing "Thirteen month old BabY"
    Imagine dining out on 13 months of bake beans?
    Love the track and it moves baby maves!
  • John from Brisbane, United StatesThirteen months of baked beans.What does this mean?
  • John from Brisbane, United StatesI always thought stevie sang these words,Thirteen years of baked beans,broken looking glass.This is why I do not eat baked beans on friday thirteenth.
  • John from Nashville, TnStevie Wonder got booed offstage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York for playing this then-new song. A few months later, it became his second #1 pop single.
  • James from Gettysburg, PaHe did play it on Sesame Street, I saw it on youtube. It is even better than the studio version!
  • Cameron from Irvine, Cathe BBA version is way better than this.
  • Dylan from Burlington, Vtthats interesting about the jeff beck thing. i wonder if the song would have been as popular had jeff beck recorded it first.
  • Joshua from Twin Cities, MnThis song has also been covered by another Stevie, namely the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan. SRV's live rendition of "Superstition" appears on his Greatest Hits Vol. 2 CD.
  • Don from Newmarket, CanadaThe Stones recorded during that tour and wanted to release an album featuring them and Stevie but the Stones' record company said no. This tour did expose Stevie to white audiences and helped his career progress from Little Stevie Wonder to mature artist.
  • Nate from Newport News, VaI believe he once played this on 'Sesame Street', which is my earliest recollection of him. I remember thinking 'who is that guy'.
  • Charles from Charlotte, NcOpening for The Rolling Stones on their world tour in 1972 exposed Wonder to a white audience that helped propel this song and the followup "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" to no. 1. in the U.S.
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