Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)


"Superwoman " is a 1972 soul track by Stevie Wonder. It was the second track on Wonder's Music of My Mind album, and was also released as the first single. In essence a two-part song, there is a coherence in that it tells a story of the singer's relationship with "Mary". The first part covers her desire to be a star, and to leave behind her old life to become a movie star. The second part covers the narrator's wondering why she hadn't come back as soon as he had hoped. The second part of the song is also a reworking of the song "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" from the 1971 album Where I'm Coming From.
The song, both in its sound and length, was a change of pace for Wonder, who was trying to establish his own identity outside of the Motown sound. Besides its floaty ambience, it featured the singer as a virtual one-man band.
The song reached a peak of #33 on the Billboard Pop charts.
"Superwoman" chronicles the relationship Stevie had with his first wife, Syreeta Wright, a Motown singer and composer who entered the company as a secretary. The lyric "trying to boss the bull around" references the woman trying to control Stevie who is a Taurus.

Personnel