Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
| "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
| from the album Music of My Mind | ||||
| B-side | "I Love Every Little Thing About You" | |||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 8:08 | |||
| Label | Tamla | |||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
| Producer(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
| Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
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"Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" is a 1972 soul track by Stevie Wonder. It was the second track on Wonder's Music of My Mind album, and was also released as the first single. In essence a two-part song, there is a coherence in that it tells a story of the singer's relationship with "Mary". The first part covers her desire to be a star, and to leave behind her old life to become a movie star. The second part covers the narrator's wondering why she hadn't come back as soon as he had hoped. The second part of the song is also a reworking of the song "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" from the 1971 album Where I'm Coming From.
The song, both in its sound and length, was a change of pace for Wonder, who was trying to establish his own identity outside of the Motown sound. Besides its floaty ambience, it featured the singer as a virtual one-man band.[1]
The song reached a peak of #33 on the Billboard Pop charts.
"Superwoman" chronicles the relationship Stevie had with his first wife, Syreeta Wright, a Motown singer and composer who entered the company as a secretary. The lyric "trying to boss the bull around" references the woman trying to control Stevie who is a Taurus.
Covers
- In 1973, soul singing group The Main Ingredient covered the song on their Afrodisiac LP.
- In 1976, jazz saxophonist Phil Woods covered the song on his album Live From The Showboat.
- In 1978, American jazz violinist and record producer Noel Pointer performed an instrumental cover of the song on his second album, Hold On.
- In 1978, American producer Quincy Jones covered the song on his studio album Sounds...and Stuff Like That!![2] The track featured the vocals of Patti Austin.
- In 1990, smooth jazz saxophonist Najee covered the song on his album Tokyo Blue featuring vocals by American singer Freddie Jackson.[3]
- In 1997, soul vocalist Eric Benet covered the song in an arrangement by keyboardist George Duke which was featured on the soundtrack of US sitcom Living Single.
- In 2004, a live rendition by Donny Hathaway appears on the album These Songs For You, Live! a posthumous compilation of live recordings by Hathaway.
- In 2007, 4hero covered the song on their album Play with the Changes.
- Eliane Elias included the song in her 2008 album Bossa Nova Stories.
