"Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" is a 1972 soul track by Stevie Wonder. It was the second track on Wonder's ''

Music of My Mind ''Music of My Mind'' is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with Motown that allowed him full artist ...

'' album, and was also released as the first single. The song reached a peak of number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Background

In essence a two-part song, there is a coherence in that it tells a story of the singer's relationship with "Mary". The first part covers her desire to be a star, and to leave behind her old life to become a movie star. The second part covers the narrator's wondering why she had not come back as soon as he had hoped. The second part of the song is also a reworking of the song "

Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" is a 1971 song by Stevie Wonder, featured on his album ''Where I'm Coming From''. The song is a ballad, describing a failed relationship using the metaphor of changing seasons. Co-written by Syreeta Wright a ...

" from the 1971 album ''

Where I'm Coming From ''Where I'm Coming From'' is the 13th album by Stevie Wonder. The album was released by Motown Records on April 9, 1971 and peaked on the Billboard Pop Albums at #62, and on the '' Billboard'' R&B Albums Chart at #7. All nine songs were writ ...

''. The song, both in its sound and length, was a change of pace for Wonder, who was trying to establish his own identity outside of the Motown sound. Besides its floaty ambience, it featured the singer as a virtual one-man band. '' Cash Box'' said of the song "Superwoman, superproduction, supersong, superhit: AM and FM, pop/soul and MOR."

Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Rhodes piano, drums, Moog bass, T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer *

Buzz Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instrument ...

– electric guitar

Chart performance

Notable covers

*In 1973, R&B group The Main Ingredient covered the song in their album, "Afrodisiac". In 1997, soul vocalist

Eric Benet The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

covered the song in an arrangement by keyboardist George Duke which was featured on the soundtrack of US sitcom ''

Living Single ''Living Single'' is an American television sitcom created by Yvette Lee Bowser that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993, to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who shared personal and profes ...

''. Duke again covered the song from his 2005 album ''Duke''.

References

1972 singles Stevie Wonder songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder 1970s ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder {{1970s-single-stub