Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally a… Read Full Bio ↴Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.

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.

Heaven Help Us
Stevie Wonder Lyrics

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Heaven help the child who never had a home,
Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone
Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall,
Heaven help us all.
Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day,
Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away.
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl,
Heaven help us all.

Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all, help us all.
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call Oh, yeah!
Heaven help the boy who won't reach twenty one,
Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun.
Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall,
Lord, Heaven help us all.
Heaven help us all.
Heaven help us all,
Heaven help us all, help us all.
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, help us all.

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep.
In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep, keep hatred from the mighty,
And the mighty, from the small,
Heaven help us all.
Oh, oh, oh, yeah!
Heaven help us all
Heaven help us all.
Heaven help us all,

Heaven help us all, help us all.
Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, help us all.

Overall Meaning

Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Help Us" is a powerful song with a meaningful message that tackles various issues plaguing humanity. The lyrics begin with "Heaven help the child who never had a home, Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone," which emphasizes on poverty and homelessness. It highlights how society often neglects these people and overlooks the fact that they too deserve love, shelter and a decent life. The next lines, "Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall, Heaven help us all," bring attention to the presence of war and how it affects the innocent. Even nature is not spared from the horrors of war.

The song then shifts focus to racial injustice, "Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day, Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away." It talks about how segregating people based on skin color does not solve anything and that society needs to unify to find a solution to these issues. The subsequent lines that read, "Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl, Heaven help us all," talk about the abuse of power, how the strong should protect the weak instead of exploiting them.

The song continues to shed light on problems like gun violence, discrimination, and hatred. The lyrics are emotionally charged, and the chorus that repeatedly urges, "Heaven help us all," feels like a plea for help, a call to action. The song concludes with the lines, "Now I lay me down before I go to sleep. In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep, keep hatred from the mighty, and the mighty, from the small. Heaven help us all." This ending feels like a hopeful plea for change; where the singer prays for a better tomorrow, where love and unity triumph over hatred and division.

Line by Line Meaning

Heaven help the child who never had a home
May God intervene to assist the desperate child with a yearning for a place to call home.

Heaven help the girl who walks the streets alone
I pray that the Lord guides and shelters the girl who walks alone on the streets.

Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall
In the event of a war, I pray for the protection of everything beautiful and delicate.

Heaven help us all
May God come to our aid and help every one of us.

Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day
May God assist the black man in overcoming obstacles in his path while enduring ongoing challenges.

Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away
May the Lord offer guidance to the white man who has turned his back on fellow human beings.

Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl
May God aid the perpetrator of violence realize his errors and stop degrading those who have already lost their footing.

Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call Oh, yeah!
May God hear our calls for help and lend us assistance.

Heaven help the boy who won't reach twenty-one
I pray for divine assistance for the young boy who will not make it to age 21.

Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun
May the Lord guide and forgive the man who helped put a weapon in the hands of a young boy.

Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall
In times of crisis, may God offer solutions and strength to those who feel trapped and hopeless.

Lord, Heaven help us all.
I implore the Almighty to come to our rescue and be our salvation.

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep.
As I prepare for sleep, I begin my prayer.

In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep, keep hatred from the mighty
In a world full of turmoil, I ask that God intervenes and prevent the powerful people from spreading hatred.

And the mighty, from the small, Heaven help us all.
May God deal with the powerful people and their oppressive tendencies while supporting the weak and marginalized.

Heaven help us all.
May God intervene and provide help to each and every one of us.

Heaven help us, Lord, hear our call when we call, help us all.
May God hear and answer our calls for assistance whenever we need it.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RONALD N. MILLER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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