By Marcus Norris

Stevie Wonder is a man who needs NO introduction! He’s one of the greatest artists of all time, and has created the best album of all time in Songs in the Key of Life. My personal favorite song from this album is called, “As”.

“As.”

This song feels like a warm hug. Stevie starts with a soft voice, saying, “As around the sun the earth knows she’s revolving and the rosebuds know to bloom in early May. Just as hate knows love’s the cure, you can rest your mind assure that I’ll be loving you always”. This is such an amazing start. Just like the facts of nature, it is a fact that I will love you, always. One of my favorite tidbits is the phrase, “Just as hate knows love’s the cure”. Most of Stevie’s music was about love and happiness, so it is fitting that he starts the song out leading with that. I love how his voice starts so soft and starts sounding different as the song goes on. We’ll discuss more after the refrain.

Refrain.

I love this! The refrain feels like angels coming in singing as a choir, and they strengthen how much you will be loved. “Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky” starts this, and you keep hearing these… impossible things that can’t happen (hopefully). It all just strengthens that nothing will change that love.

Verse 2.

In this verse, Stevie’s voice becomes more… emphatic. Not aggressive but he wants to be firm. He wants us to understand that true love asks for nothing, and he won’t regret death if it means he has given someone the experience of unconditional love. The refrain changes slightly as well.

Stevie Wonder/photo credit: Dan Garcia

Instead of, “Until the rainbow…”, it’s “Until the day is night and night becomes the day”. In my opinion, this tells us Stevie is about to get serious. Rainbows burning stars and dolphins flying are nice and funny to get the point across, but the day becoming the night and the entire ecosystem changing? He needs you to understand the love he has.

Bridge.

Before we get to the bridge, it’s important to recognize how much time there is between the second verse and the bridge. There’s about 1 minute and 30 seconds where Stevie is saying, “Always”, and the backup vocalists are harmonizing. You feel this buildup, and Stevie delivers.

Stevie’s voice is not calm here. There is this growl, and it never fails to give me goosebumps. It feels like there’s this pent-up anger where he knows how troubled we are, but he’s aggressive in reminding us that we are here for a reason. One of my all-time favorite lines here is “Change your words into truth and then change that truth into love, and maybe our children’s grandchildren and their great-grandchildren will tell!”. Stevie is telling us about the power of the tongue, and he’s almost begging us to create lasting love with others while we are here. 

Damn!

I can’t lie, this song never fails to make me tear up. When Stevie starts singing that refrain, I find it hard to keep it together. His voice fluctuates, and another great part is when he pauses before saying, “Mother Nature” again. He’s exhausted, but he will not stop until we know his love. This song is one I will always interpret as God talking to us. There’s unconditional love, and there’s not just a soft voice telling you about it. God wasn’t sunshine and rainbows, sometimes He had to tell us things in a harder way, and it’s all out of love. Now, tell me… ain’t that loving you!?

Overall.

I don’t think y’all understand how much I love this song. It is one of the greatest of all time, and it will never fail to make you feel good. Like I said before, this song is a warm hug. It is also a firm hug, and a reminder that you will always have unconditional love. You all should listen to this, it’s beautiful and you will feel an emotional relief come over you.