Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. Wonder's critical success was at its peak in the 1970s. His "classic period" began in 1972 with the releases of Music of My Mind and Talking Book, the latter featuring "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the Hohner Clavinet keyboard. His works Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) all won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making him the tied-record holder for the most Album of the Year wins, with three. He is also the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases. Wonder began his "commercial period" in the 1980s; he achieved his biggest hits and highest level of fame, had increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations (including Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson), political impact, and television appearances. Wonder has continued to remain active in music and political causes.
Wonder is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 100 million records worldwide. He has won 25 Grammy Awards (the most by a solo artist) and one Academy Award (Best Original Song, for the 1984 film The Woman in Red). Wonder has been inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday in the U.S. In 2009, he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and in 2014, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins in Saginaw, Michigan, on May 13, 1950, the third of five children born to Lula Mae Hardaway, and the second of Hardaway's two children with Calvin Judkins. He was born six weeks premature which, along with the oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted in retinopathy of prematurity, a condition in which the growth of the eyes is aborted and causes the retinas to detach, so he became blind.
Ebony & Ivory
Stevie Wonder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev'ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we?
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev'ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we?
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
The song "Ebony and Ivory" is a musical plea for racial harmony that was written and performed by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney in 1982. The song's lyrics describe the idea that people of different skin colors can live together in peace and harmony. The use of piano keys in the metaphor of black and white represents the harmony that can be achieved if people put aside their differences and work together. The song suggests that we can only survive together if we learn to live together and give each other the things we need to thrive. The song's message is that racial harmony can be achieved if people focus on what unites them rather than on their differences.
Line by Line Meaning
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Different races can co-exist in peace and harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?
The black and white keys on a piano keyboard symbolize people of different races living together peacefully, and the singer is asking why this cannot happen in the real world
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
No matter where you go in the world, people are fundamentally the same
There is good and bad in ev'ryone
Every person has both positive and negative qualities
We learn to live, when we learn to give
We can only truly live and coexist peacefully when we learn to be generous with each other
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
We must provide each other with the things we need to live, and only by doing so can we truly thrive together
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we
The singer is still questioning why different races cannot live together in harmony, just like the black and white keys on a piano
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
The phrase is repeated to emphasize the importance of people of all races living in peace and harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
Another repetition of the phrase, adding emphasis and emotion
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Repeating the phrase one more time to emphasize the message of unity
Lyrics © Tratore
Written by: Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@abaladadeflaviosousa
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev'ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we?
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev'ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we?
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
@acmild
Ebony and Ivory
[Chorus]
Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don't we?
[Verse]
We all know that people are the same where ever you go
There is good and bad in everyone
And we learn to live, we learn to give each other
What we need to survive together alive
[Chorus]
Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh Lord, why don't we?
[Bridge]
Ebony, ivory
Living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
[Verse]
We all know that people are the same wherever you go
There is good and bad (Mm, hmm) in everyone
We learn to live when we learn to give each other
What we need to survive together alive
@hmvp6346
Correction
96% of comments: this is a good message and a lesson for many people these days.
2% of comments: I remember when this came out, nostalgia hits me hard.
1% of comments: I think of this at stupid occasions!
1% of comments: Something in Spanish
@drunkenpenguin12
Black Puppy!!! White Puppy!!! Playing in the backyard; why can't we???
@chill3568
lol just watch it
@mielito2699
Amazing episode
@blackadam6445
Someone just showed that to me I didn’t believe it was a parody of a real song🤣
@lincolnloud876
Lol
@PaulieWalnuts1776
And I had never actually heard this song before for real! Now I have!
@onlybyhisgrace...5644
Anyone listening in 2023 to this song, great 🎵🎶...I am listening right now to this song - have it playing quietly in the background while I work 🎧 shhhh ☺️ Blessings to all and do not allow anyone to steal your joy...
Peace and Love 2 ALL!!!
@joshstephens3650
40 years ago this week, this song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It spent seven weeks at #1, from May 15 to June 26, 1982.
@francospecchia9283
HERE'S FOR EXAMPLE, I WOULD SPEAK WITH YOU FOR HOURS AND HOURS, YOU ARE VERY INFORMED ABOUT MUSIC, BUT YOU ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OCEAN, I LIKE PEOPLE INFORMED ABOUT MUSIC AND SINGERS ... EVERYTHING HERE GREETINGS ✋🇮🇹✋ ITALY...
@DevanK-rg3td
it's still in the top 100 of all time