I Just Called to Say I Love You

“I Just Called to Say I Love You”
Single by Stevie Wonder from the album The Woman in Red soundtrack
Released	1984
Genre	Soul
Length	7:08 (album version) 6:16 (single version) 4:16 (video version)
Label	Motown
Writer(s)	Stevie Wonder
Producer	Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Frontline" (1983) "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (1984) "Love Light in Flight" (1984)

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"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a song written, produced, and performed by Stevie Wonder as part of the soundtrack to the 1984 film The Woman in Red. The midtempo ballad expresses how simply calling someone to tell them you love them can make even the most unremarkable day of your life magical. It is one of Wonder's most simplistic, jingly and sentimental songs, and, with its quintessentially mid-80s synthesizers and drum machines, is a far cry from his more organic and experimental 1970s material. For those reasons it was savaged by critics upon its release. However, the public were seduced by its simple charms, making it one of Wonder's most successful singles to date.

The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from October 13, 1984 and also became Wonder's first solo UK number-one hit, staying at the top for six weeks. It also became his tenth number-one on the R&B chart and his fourth number-one on the adult contemporary chart. In addition, the song won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

There is a dispute between Wonder and his former writing partner Lee Garrett over authorship rights. Garrett claims to have written the song years prior to its 1984 release. [1]

Song structure

The song has two verses and a chorus, with each of the verses divided further into two half-verses. Each half-verse and the chorus have sixteen measures. The protagonist of the song reinforces the message of the song's title (and chorus) by negating all major special times of the year. The song concludes with a triple-chord, or cha-cha-cha, ending.

In other media

• The song was sung by Stevie Wonder and Phylicia Rashad in The Cosby Show episode "A Touch of Wonder" in which Wonder guest starred as himself. In the episode Denise and Theo get into an auto crash with Stevie and he later invites them to a recording session as a gesture of goodwill.

• The song was ridiculed in the major motion picture High Fidelity by Jack Black's character, Barry. When a middle-aged customer requests the song, Barry calls it "sentimental tacky crap". He then goes on to ask the main character, played by John Cusack, "Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?"

Charts

References

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