One would think that by 1984, Wonder had made enough money not to have to score his songs with a Casio keyboard that one’s parents would buy as a Christmas gift at the music store at the MacDade Mall. The music of “I Just Called to Say I Love You” sounds hopelessly rooted to the early-mid-‘80s, with painfully dated and unspeakably cheap synthesizers. Two holidays together get the same face time as birds flying south. He crams both holidays into one line: “No giving thanks for all the Christmas joy you bring.” These are the two biggest holidays on the calendar, at least in America, and they get a rote mention. Then for Halloween, the one holiday people do celebrate (more so than harvest moon or Libra sun), Wonder glosses right over with two words: “No Halloween.” Every other occasion gets some poetic description but Halloween is just “No Halloween.” Couldn’t he have come up with some catchy lyrics about bobbing for apples, pumpkins or trick or treating?Įven worse is Wonder’s treatment of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It would be much more economical to sing both as one line. How lovely”? Furthermore, he doesn’t need to note the autumn breeze and falling leaves in two lines, considering one causes the other. But who ever looks at the sun between Sept. Who even cares about the Libra sun? Harvest moon, I can see, since it’s a larger than usual moon and recognizable in the sky. I think it’s excessive for Wonder to mention both the sun and moon. harvest moon to light one tender August nightįive lines is a whole lot to devote to August, September and October.Then Wonder spends way too much time noting the days between August and late October. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day. Perhaps this is why he did not mention St. Perhaps this was so the song would translate well in other countries. He makes it through April and May and then completely ignores the Fourth of July. As the song begins, he hits the big days on the calendar: New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, the first of spring. I liked this song when I was little because of the way Wonder ticked off a list of the holidays of the year. The following is a scholarly analysis of both the lyrics and music of the 1984 hit. After years of listening to my legions of readers crying out for an analysis of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” I am crying uncle.
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