"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released as the third single from his sixteenth studio album, ''

Innervisions ''Innervisions'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has bee ...

'' (1973). It reached number 16 on the US ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart, number 10 on the '' Cash Box'' Top 100, and number two on the R&B chart. The song's lyrics convey a positive message, focusing on taking things in one's stride and accentuating the positive. In 1992, British band

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Danish film * ''Incognito'' (1997 film), an American crime ...

had a European hit with their cover of the song.

Music and lyrics

The tune is in E minor, starting with a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

piano intro. The opening melody is reminiscent of

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sc ...

's "

Song for My Father ''Song for My Father'' is a 1965 album by the Horace Silver Quintet, released on the Blue Note label in 1965. The album was inspired by a trip that Silver had made to Brazil. The cover artwork features a photograph of Silver's father, John Tava ...

", over which Stevie engages in an English-speaking dialogue with a woman, trying to impress her with talk of worldliness of having been to "Iraq, Iran, Eurasia" before changing to Spanish, using the phrase "''Todo 'stá bien chévere''", which loosely translates as "Everything's really great," continuing with an attempt to impress the woman.

Reception

Describing the song for the "Stevie Wonder: 20 Essential Songs" feature in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', Chris Harvey said:

With its playful Latin-piano-and-street-jive intro ... and its uplifting, upward-spiralling chorus, Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing easily takes its place among the works of pure joy that the musical prodigy has effortlessly poured out throughout his career. Showcased on the 1973 Innervisions album that came from the period in which Wonder ... was experimenting with synthesized sounds with producer
Robert Margouleff Robert Margouleff is an American record producer, recording engineer, electronic music pioneer, audio expert, and film producer. Career The Birth of TONTO Margouleff was an early customer, friend and collaborator of fellow New Yorker and music in ...
, it's a back-to-basics song (although it does feature a
Moog bass The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music, originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less popular re ...
, played by Wonder) that relies on the interplay of piano, percussion and that ecstatic voice. It sounds and feels like a burst of summer happiness.

'' Billboard'' said that the song is a "strong ballad with gentle arrangements". '' Cash Box'' called it an "interesting Latin flavored disk," going on to say that "the vocals are soft and perfectly accented by some fine piano by Stevie and great backing percussion."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Incognito version

In 1992, British acid jazz band

covered "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" on their third album, ''Tribes, Vibes and Scribes'' (1992). It features vocals by American jazz singer

Maysa Leak Maysa Leak (born August 17, 1966) is an American jazz singer better known by her mononym Maysa. She is well known by fans of smooth jazz both for her solo work and her work with the British band Incognito. Early life and career Leak attended ...

and was a hit in Europe. The single was successful especially in the Netherlands, where it peaked at number six. Additionally, it was a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom, a top 30 hit in Belgium and a top 40 hit in Sweden. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced to promote the single. It features the band performing the song in a blue Triumph Herald 13/60 Convertible, while driving in the streets of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Other scenes show them in a

multistorey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

. A re-issue of the single was released in 2005.

Critical reception

Paula Edelstein from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described the song as a "killer cover". Another editor, David Jeffries, called it an "effervescent cover". Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' viewed it as "

-tinged commercial

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

funk". Sam Wood from ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' deemed it a "killer version" that "springs off this disc with flourishes of bright, brassy

Miami Horns The Miami Horns are an American horn section best known for touring and recording with Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven and The Max Weinberg 7. They have also toured, performed or recorded with, among others, Diana Ross, Ga ...

, a suncopated house-styled piano figure, and Maysa Leak's stunning voice." James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update, stated that Stevie Wonder's "brassily strutting 1974 US hit is here wailed by new girl Maysa".

Track listing

* 12" single, UK (1992) #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (LP Version) – 5:17 #"Colibri" (Remix) – 5:39 #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (Frankie Foncett Mix) – 6:38 #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (Frankie Foncett Underground Instrumental Mix) – 5:35 * CD single, Europe (1992) #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (Edit) – 4:09 #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (LP Version) – 5:18 #"Colibri" (Remix) – 5:40 #"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" (Frankie Foncett Mix) – 6:40

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing 1973 songs 1974 singles 1992 singles Stevie Wonder songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder Tamla Records singles Talkin' Loud singles Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder