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.
If She Breaks Your Heart
Stevie Wonder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We had a love for all seasons
At least that's how it used to be
There was no time, space, or reason
More special to us than we
My love continued to flourish
Then you tried to play love for silly
But the loser is the fool who doesn't play
Love by the rules
If she breaks your heart
I will send a robin to sing happy tunes for you
'Cause I may not be around to do the things
I used to do
And if you awake to find you're lost
I will send a glad star to lead you on your way
'Cause the love I felt inside
Has gone away with yesterday
My love is gone with yesterday
There was a time when forever
Was common-place for me and you
Laughing, loving, sharing, caring
Seemed to be made just for us two
But I kept on building the dream world
That I thought was you and I
Sorry, I'm sadly mistaken
'Cause our castle in the sky
Has turned into a mere goodbye
Well if she breaks your heart
I will send a robin to sing happy tunes for you
'Cause I may not be around to do the things
I used to do
And if you awake to find you're lost
I will send a glad star to lead you on your way
'Cause the love I felt inside
Has gone away with yesterday
The song "If She Breaks Your Heart" by Stevie Wonder is a heart-wrenching ballad about a lover whose relationship has ended, and he is struggling to come to terms with it. The song expresses the emotions of a heartbroken lover who is wishing to offer support to his former partner in the event that she is hurt by someone else in the future. The lyrics are full of vivid imagery, which amplifies the emotional impact of the song.
In the first stanza, the singer laments the loss of love which was once shared and how they both were so special to each other. He talks about how his love continued to thrive, but things changed when his partner tried to play love for silly, and he tries to advise her that the loser is the one who doesn't play love by the rules. In the second stanza, he reminisces about their happier times and how they shared a dream world together, and how he made the mistake of building a fantasy castle, which has now come crashing down. The chorus speaks to his wanting to offer comfort and support to his ex-lover in the event of her heartbreak.
Overall, the song is about the mourning of a love that once was, the struggles of moving on, and the heartfelt desire to comfort one's ex-partner and offer them support even in the aftermath of a break-up.
Line by Line Meaning
My love is gone with yesterday
The love that I had for you has vanished and is now a thing of the past.
We had a love for all seasons
Our love used to be strong and enduring, no matter what obstacles we faced.
At least that's how it used to be
This is how we used to feel about our love, but things have changed.
There was no time, space, or reason
Our love defies explanation; it was just there, without any justification needed.
More special to us than we
Our love was so unique and extraordinary that it was greater than the two of us individually.
My love continued to flourish
Despite the passage of time, my feelings for you only grew stronger.
As a flower blooms in spring
My love for you was like the natural progression of the seasons - it blossomed like a flower in the springtime.
Then you tried to play love for silly
You treated our love like a game, without taking it seriously.
But the loser is the fool who doesn't play love by the rules
In matters of the heart, the one who disregards the rules of love is the real loser.
If she breaks your heart
If the woman you love hurts you and leaves you with a broken heart
I will send a robin to sing happy tunes for you
I will try to lift your spirits by sending you a sign of hope and happiness.
'Cause I may not be around to do the things I used to do
I may not be physically present to comfort you and show you love as I had done before because of your pain.
And if you awake to find you're lost
If you feel alone and confused about what to do next.
I will send a glad star to lead you on your way
I will guide you towards a path of peace and joy even if I am not there to assist you.
'Cause the love I felt inside has gone away with yesterday
Because the love I once felt for you has diminished and now feels like it is from yesterday, clear of my mind.
There was a time when forever
We once envisioned our love lasting an eternity.
Was common-place for me and you
We both shared the same desire for a love that never fades.
Laughing, loving, sharing, caring
The essence of our relationship that gave it meaning and purpose.
Seemed to be made just for us two
It was a relationship that was tailor-made to our personalities and desires.
But I kept on building the dream world
I held onto a fantasy of what our love should be.
That I thought was you and I
I believed that we both shared the same hopes and dreams for our relationship.
Sorry, I'm sadly mistaken
Regrettably, my perception of what our love should be has been misguided.
'Cause our castle in the sky
The idealistic unreality of our love that lived in our imagination.
Has turned into a mere goodbye
Our love has now turned into a painful memory of what we once had.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cheryl Rowland Hall
on Isn't She Lovely
Dedicated to my lovely daughter, Amy Kathleen Rawson, the lovely child who helped mom to grow up!