I had the chance to be managed by Stevie’s management company and the dream was getting to jam with him in front of a huge crowd as he wrote a original song! He is no doubt one of the most gifted musical genius ever! Thank you for doing his song the honor it deserves - BTW -You Rock that bass man! ❤
The F minor in the chorus functions as what's called a "tritone substitution." That's when instead of playing the V of a chord you want to get to, you play a chord a flat fifth away from that V chord. So since the third chord in the progression is E, normally you'd play a B to lead into it. But Stevie already played a B. It would be a bit boring to play it again. And so he substitutes the F -- which is the chord a tritone away from B. It's a bit unusual that he makes it minor. But otherwise, it's yet another reference to common jazz theory in a song about jazz.
This is not just the best Stevie Wonder song. It's one of the best songs of all time. It has everything you could want in a pop song. Meaningful lyrics, catchy melody, interesting chords, complex orchestration, cool riffs, etc. Stevie Wonder did something all musicians should aspire to. He wrote music that was simultaneously accessible and innovative.
Wow! I just watched your breakdown of ABBA’s Dancing Queen which was amazing and now this! Just brought my love of this song to another level because of hearing you point out the various influences which this song encompasses and it just flows all together perfectly. The best part of this video for me was the way you focused on the busy part (I’m pretty sure you called it differently, can’t recall what though), and then when you went through the final portion and I’ve always loved that part of the song because of the unique way Stevie mixes in a varied vocal rhythm and now I learn that the same is happening with the bass and you explained it so well, especially when you pointed out the arpeggio that is brought in. Loved the way you commented that it’s like the band just really lets loose and really puts it all out. So totally hear that and it’s not that I haven’t always, it’s now I can identify and know why it is that portion of the song is so damn good 😊 Thanks for another amazing video.
