I know we will, because our hearts tell us so.” As they do this, Stevie is heard saying “we’ll make the dream become a reality. It finishes with a modulated chorus and a coda in which at least two or three groups of background singers sing layered arrangements of “Happy Birthday” on top of one another’s vocals before the song fades. The Stevie Wonder song starts off lyrically by questioning how anyone could take offense at honoring a man whose credo was peace and love for his fellow-man. Although, unlike the more traditional Happy Birthday Song, it’s considered completely unacceptable to sing Wonder’s tune off-key. Instead, it was a rousing, soulful dance number with a chorus that’s as easy to sing as the traditional number (“HAP-py birthday to ya!). In 1980, while recording the Secret Life of Plants follow-up, Hotter Than July, Wonder wrote and recorded a song dedicated specifically to the King holiday cause, simply titled “Happy Birthday.” The song offered a completely different take on the happy-birthday singing tradition, sounding nothing like the Happy Birthday song we all grew up singing. Of course, it had the unenviable task of following his crowning moment, Songs in the Key of Life, the 1976 album whose legendary status has been cemented nearly 40 years later with a highly successful three-leg world tour dedicated to it. Wonder was just coming off his most disappointing album performance of the 1970s when his 1979 album, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, failed to generate more than one hit single ( “Send One Your Love”). So it naturally followed that when it came time for a celebrity to lend his name and stature to the cause of creating an MLK holiday, Stevie Wonder stepped to the plate. “Cash in Your Face” from 1980’s Hotter Than July spoke of housing discrimination. Classics like “Living for the City” and “You Haven’t Done Nothin'” spoke of oppression and corruption, while the lesser known, but still powerful “Black Man” (from his Songs in the Key of Life album) was an uplifting reminder that Africans and other minorities had contributed as much to world history as the white man.

The list also included pop and soul music superstar and social activist Stevie Wonder, who had already made a name for himself throughout the 1970s with music that touched on spiritual and political themes. That list of fighters included various politicians (bills were introduced as early as 1968, but first went to a vote – unsuccessfully – in 1979) and the King Center, started by Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.įrom King’s assassination in April 1968 to the day it was signed into law as a national holiday in November 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, many had lobbied and campaigned in vain to make January 15 a federal holiday.

When you read this one, I want you to play Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” really loud.Īs we celebrate the Martin Luther King Day holiday this year, I’m reminded of the 15-year struggle and the persistence of many to make this country’s recognition of the civil rights martyr’s birthday a reality.

Happy birthday song stevie wonder