"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song written,
produced, and performed by Stevie Wonder. The midtempo song
expresses how simply telephoning someone to tell them you love
them can make even a very unremarkable day rewarding. It is one
of Wonder's most simplistic and sentimental songs, and, with
its quintessentially mid-1980s synthesizers and drum machines,
is very different from his more organic and experimental 1970s
music. For those reasons it was deprecated by critics. However,
it was one of Wonder's most commercially successful singles to
date. On June 27, 2009, two days after the death of Wonder's
friend Michael Jackson, he was at a public event, and changed
the words to the song so that it said: 'Michael knows, I'm
here, and I love you'. While singing, his voice cracked several
times, and at the end of the song he pointed to the sky, and
quietly said 'We love you Michael'.
The song was first featured in the 1984 comedy
The Woman in Redalong with two other songs by Wonder and
scored number one on the Hot 100 for three weeks from October
13, 1984 and also became Wonder's first solo UK number-one
success, staying at the top for six weeks. It also became his
tenth number-one on the R&B chart and his fourth number-one
on the adult contemporary chart. In addition, the song won both
a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
There is a dispute between Wonder and his former writing
partner Lee Garrett over authorship rights. Garrett claims to
have written the song years prior to its 1984 release. [1]
The song has two verses and a chorus, with each of the
verses divided further into two half-verses. Each half-verse
and the chorus have sixteen measures. The protagonist of the
song reinforces the message of the song's title (and chorus) by
negating all major special times of the year. The song
concludes with a triple-chord, or cha-cha-cha, ending.
The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie ·
Tribute to Uncle Ray ·
With a Song in My Heart ·
Stevie at the Beach ·
Up-Tight ·
Down to Earth ·
I Was Made to Love Her ·
Someday at Christmas ·
Eivets Rednow ·
For Once in My Life ·
My Cherie Amour ·
Signed, Sealed & Delivered ·
Where I'm Coming From ·
Music of My Mind ·
Talking Book ·
Innervisions ·
Fulfillingness' First Finale ·
Songs in the Key of Life ·
Hotter than July ·
In Square Circle ·
Characters ·
Conversation Peace ·
A Time to Love
Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius ·
Stevie Wonder Live ·
Natural Wonder
Journey through the Secret Life of Plants ·
The Woman in Red ·
Jungle Fever
Looking Back ·
Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium ·
At the Close of a Century ·
The Definitive Collection ·
The Complete Stevie Wonder
"Fingertips - Part
2" ·
"Uptight (Everything's
Alright)" ·
"Blowin' in the
Wind" ·
"A Place in the
Sun" ·
"I Was Made to Love
Her" ·
"For Once in My
Life" ·
"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" ·
"My Cherie
Amour" ·
"Yester-Me, Yester-You,
Yesterday" ·
"Never Had a Dream Come
True" ·
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered
I'm Yours" ·
"Heaven Help Us
All" ·
"If You Really Love
Me" ·
"Superstition" ·
"You Are the Sunshine of My
Life" ·
"Higher
Ground" ·
"Living for the
City" ·
"He's Misstra Know it
All" ·
"You Haven't Done
Nothin'" ·
"Boogie On Reggae
Woman" ·
"I Wish" ·
"Sir Duke" ·
"Send One Your
Love" ·
"Master Blaster
(Jammin')" ·
"I Ain't Gonna Stand for
It" ·
"Lately" ·
"Happy
Birthday" ·
"That Girl" ·
"Do I Do" ·
"Ebony and
Ivory" ·
"Ribbon in the
Sky" ·
"
I Just Called to Say I Love You
" ·
"Part-Time
Lover" ·
"That's What Friends Are
For" ·
"Go Home"
Discography ·
Syreeta Wright ·
KJLH ·
Motown ·
Soul music
