Stevie Wonder’s new single, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart?,” displays the legendary musician’s deeply-felt political and social considerations. Wonder has included these considerations into his music a minimum of since he was 16, when he had a high 10 hit on each the Billboard Hot 100 and Top Selling R&B Singles (because the chart was known as then) with a canopy model of Bob Dylan’s traditional “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

Wonder has additionally written and launched many songs of this nature, together with “Higher Ground,” a 1973 smash that he sang on the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21. He carried out “All About the Love Again” at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Two of his politically-charged songs had been directed at Republican presidents who he felt weren’t representing all of the folks. “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” was a biting assault on President Nixon, launched simply days earlier than Nixon was compelled to resign in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal. Wonder’s 1987 single “Skeletons” was an equally pointed assault on President Reagan amid the Iran/Contra scandal.

Wonder’s “Living for the City,” with its finely-detailed songwriting (“her clothes are old/but never are they dirty”) topped the R&B chart in 1973 and have become his second Grammy winner for finest R&B track. Wonder’s 1980 track “Happy Birthday” helped within the trigger of turning Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday right into a nationwide vacation. (A catchy track can do greater than a thousand speeches.) His 1982 teaming with Paul McCartney, “Ebony and Ivory,” is shiny and candy-coated, however the plea for brotherhood and racial concord was heartfelt.

Here are 18 politically or socially-charged songs that Wonder has written and/or recorded. They are listed in alphabetical order by track title. Which is your favourite? Vote!