I Wish

A number-one hit reflecting on childhood from the 1950s into the early 1960s.

"I Wish" is a song by American singer Stevie Wonder, released in late 1976 as the lead single from his eighteenth album, Songs in the Key of Life (1976). Written and produced by Wonder, the song focuses on his childhood from the 1950s into the early 1960s, expressing his wish to go back and relive it. The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and soul singles chart. At the 19th Grammy Awards, Stevie Wonder won the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male for this song.

Quick Facts

Artist

Stevie Wonder

Album

Songs in the Key of Life

B-side

You and I

Released

November 1976

Genre

Funk
soul
pop

Length

4:12 (single version); 4:35 (album version)

Label

Tamla

Lore & Background

The music for "I Wish" came to Wonder on a Saturday in the summer of 1976, the day of a Motown picnic. Despite a bad toothache, he had such a good time at the picnic that he went to Crystal Recording Studio right afterward. The vibe came to his mind—running at the picnic, the contests, everyone participating—and from that came the 'I Wish' vibe. The lyrics were more difficult: Wonder originally wanted to address broader topics like 'cosmic type stuff, spiritual stuff,' but he couldn't because 'the music was too much fun.' He said he 'couldn't come up with anything stronger than the chorus, "I wish those days [claps] would [claps] come back once more."' For the television series Classic Albums, Wonder recreated a small section from the song to demonstrate how he composed and arranged it, playing keyboards and drums himself and using most of the musicians who recorded the original.

Reader's Guide

Cash Box said that the song was chosen as the lead single from Songs in the Key of Life after 'radio stations spent weeks determining which... cut the public wanted most' and "'I Wish' came out on top in terms of popularity and editability." Record World said that 'this popular and much requested track should be a major hit.' Tony Parsons of NME said, 'Stevie Wonder fully deserves to be up there at the top of the heap. Sly keyboard lines, clean tight funky rhythm section, Stax yellow-label horns, slurred stoned vocals and much more.'