We didn’t realize it when this song was released on “Talking Book” in 1972, but it was warning us about the coronavirus. Don’t believe me? Then explain these lyrics, which sound like a direct rebuke of Donald Trump’s magical thinking about covid-19 cures:
Very superstitious, wash your face and hands
Rid me of the problems, do all that you can
Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin’ strong
You don’t want to save me, sad is my song
When you believe in things you don’t understand
Then you suffer
Superstition ain’t the way
The song had an unusual genesis. Wonder invited guitar hero Jeff Beck to record some songs for the album. “One day I was sitting at the drum kit, which I love to play when nobody’s around, doing this beat,” Beck said in his autobiography. “Stevie came kinda boogieing into the studio: ‘Don’t stop.’ ‘Ah, c’mon, Stevie, I can’t play the drums.’ Then the lick came out: ‘Superstition.’ ”
In return for playing on the album, Wonder had promised Beck an original song. “Superstition” was going to be it, until Wonder’s bosses at Motown heard it and demanded he keep it for himself. They were right; it hit No. 1. Beck’s version, which was actually recorded first, came out the next year on “Beck, Bogert and Appice.”
