"Love's in Need of Love Today" is a song written by American singer, songwriter and musician

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( 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 musi ...

. A soulful R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, it is the opening track from his 1976 album, '' Songs in the Key of Life''.

Composition

Wonder conceived the title phrase of "Love's in Need of Love Today" before the rest of the lyrics. In 2015, Wonder said the following of the song's meaning and its personal significance to him:

The concept I had in mind was that for love to be effective, it has to be fed. Love by itself is hollow. ..When I was finished ecording the song I listened to the playback and realized the song was perfect to open the album Songs in the Key of Life''">' Songs in the Key of Life'' to set the entire tone. ..It's still emotional for me. When I performed it in New York recently, I broke down. I've seen people come and go, and live and die, cry and laugh. It all came rushing back.

Wonder began writing "Love's in Need of Love Today" in late 1974 while at a hotel in New York, when his then-partner Yolanda Simmons was pregnant with their daughter Aisha. He recorded a demo of the song in the key of D in his hotel room on a

Fender Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, using a portable

Nakamichi is a Japanese consumer electronics brand that originated in Japan and gained a name from the 1970s onwards for innovative and high quality audio cassette decks. Nakamichi is a subsidiary of Chinese holding company Nimble Holdings. Nakamich ...

cassette recorder. The first lines of the song ("Good morn' or evening friends / Here's your friendly announcer / I have serious news to pass on to everybody") were influenced by church radio programs, 1950s

gospel quartet The term Gospel quartet refers to several different traditions of harmony singing. Its origins are varied, including 4-part hymn singing, shape note singing, barbershop quartets, jubilee songs, spirituals, and other Gospel songs. Gospel quartets ...

s, and singer-songwriter

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

. Author Zeth Lundy described the song's lyrics as being "from the perspective of a DJ or preacher or barker or simply God-possessed vessel— hey are the album'srallying cry, quieting the crowd and disseminating information. It's a self-conscious 'announcement' track in the vein of ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...

'' or ''

The Village Green Preservation Society "The Village Green Preservation Society" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their 1968 album '' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''. Written and sung by the band's principal songwriter Ray Davies, the song is ...

''s title track; the narrator directly addresses the listener and details his concerns about the ongoing battle between love and hate, a topic the album goes on to tote throughout its 105 minutes."

Recording

In 1975, Wonder brought the demo recording of the song to Crystal Sound studio in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, where he further developed its lyrics and chords. Unlike the demo recording, Wonder decided to play the song in the key of E-flat, which he felt better suited his voice and overall "felt better, spiritually". He also developed the song's

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

introduction, which is performed by Wonder using

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

. Wonder provided the song's vocals and played most of the instruments present on the recording: the

Clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

, bass synthesizer, and drums. He also added elements of strings using a

Yamaha GX-1 The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707, is an analog polyphonic synthesizer organ developed by Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths and Electone series organs for stage and home use. The GX-1 has four synthesizer "ranks" or t ...

, drawing inspiration from the string sounds found in the music of

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

. Musician

Eddie "Bongo" Brown Eddie "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American musician born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Brown played congas, Bongo drum, bongos, the gourd and claves for Motown Records' in-house ...

contributed

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

to the track.

Live performances

In 1985, Wonder performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" as a duet with English singer-songwriter

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

for the television special ''Motown Returns to the Apollo''. In 2001, Wonder performed the song with the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music, gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood University, Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received seve ...

during '' America: A Tribute to Heroes'', a benefit concert held in the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. The performance won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the

45th Annual Grammy Awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003 at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002. Musicians accomplishments ...

. From 2014 to 2015, Wonder performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" live during his

Songs in the Key of Life Tour The Songs in the Key of Life Tour was a mini date concert tour by American recording artist Stevie Wonder. The set list for the tour showcases performances of Wonder performing every song from his eighteenth studio album, ''Songs in the Key of Li ...

Cover versions

In 1987, George Michael released a live cover performance of "Love's in Need of Love Today", recorded at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

, as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of his single " Father Figure". Michael went on to perform the song live during his 1988–1989 world concert tour

The Faith Tour The Faith Tour was the first solo concert tour by English recording artist George Michael, launched in support of his multi-million selling debut solo album ''Faith (George Michael album), Faith''. The tour spanned nine months between February an ...

. In 1993, Michael performed the song at the Concert of Hope, held on

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

at Wembley Arena, dedicating the song to those in the audience who had lost someone to

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. In 2020, during the NBA All-Star weekend, American rapper and singer

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

performed a cover of the song at the

United Center United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on the night before the

2020 NBA All-Star Game The 2020 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 16, 2020, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season. It was the 69th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at the United ...

Personnel

–

References

{{Stevie Wonder 1970s ballads 1976 songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder Soul ballads Stevie Wonder songs