Stevie Wonder, Lately | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 51^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Lately” by Stevie Wonder.

[nx_dropcap]T[/nx_dropcap]he vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 51^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Lately”, performed by Stevie Wonder.

[nx_pullquote]“‘Cause they always start to cry / ‘Cause this time could mean goodbye.”[/nx_pullquote]Those famous, love-troubled lyrics hail from the 1980 Stevie Wonder classic, “Lately”.  Hailing from Hotter Than July, Wonder would keep his hot streak going strong from the 1970s. The ballad is one of Wonder’s most beautiful performances, though the lack of commercial success isn’t indicative.  “Lately” only dinted the pop charts, peaking at no. 64 on the Hot 100.  Hotter Than July performed better overall, eventually peaking at no. 3 on the Billboard 200, and being certified platinum by the RIAA.

On “Lately,” Stevie Wonder admits to worrying about losing her.  Perhaps his paranoia is justified. In the first verse, he sings, “But when I ask, ‘Will you be coming back soon?’ / You don’t know, never know.”  Similarly, in the second verse, there’s more fuel to the fire regarding his premonition mentioned in the chorus: “Just the other night while you were sleeping / I vaguely heard you whisper someone’s name / But when I ask you of the thoughts you’re keeping / You just say nothing’s changed.” Hmm 🤔, very, very interesting.  Clearly, the relationship’s end is inevitable.  Wonder’s love-pained, soulful tenor is our listening pleasure on this more underrated classic.