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 secretary turned singer. 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.[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
