[Western Music Commentary x Peace Studies No.044] Higher Ground - The 3 hours that prophesied himself, to a higher level

🎸Song Introduction

Title: Higher Ground
Artist: Stevie Wonder
Issued in: July 1973 (Single) / August 3, 1973 (Included in the album 'Innervisions')
Album: Innervisions
Chart: #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 / #1 on the Cashbox Singles Chart
Lyrics & Composition: Stevie Wonder

　This is the second day of our Stevie Wonder feature.

　Last time (5/11) we featured 'Master Blaster (Jammin')' from the anchor of Bob Marley's death anniversary.

　Today's theme song, 'Higher Ground,' is a song that Stevie wrote in just 3 hours seven years ago—in 1973. It holds a hard-to-believe episode where the author himself was saved by the song's message.

　Let's analyze this song from the perspective of peace studies.

1. Background: In 1973, a song written in just 3 hours saves the author himself 3 months later

　In May 1973, Stevie wrote 'Higher Ground' in just 3 hours. In a later interview with Q magazine, he spoke about it himself. How many songs in his life could he say, 'I wrote the whole thing in 3 hours'?

　The theme of the lyrics is reincarnation. 'God, thank you for letting me try it again in this world / My past life was covered in sin'—why did 23-year-old Stevie suddenly start singing about reincarnation and 'another life'? Perhaps even he didn't fully understand.

　This song was released as a single in July 1973 and quickly climbed the hit charts. Following that, on August 3, 1973, his 16th album 'Innervisions' was released on the Tamla label, a subsidiary of Motown. It was a time when America was shaken by the Watergate scandal and the Nixon administration was being cornered day by day. The final track of the album, 'He's Misstra Know-It-All,' was written as a dig at Nixon. A sharp gaze at society and an exploration of the inner self coexist—this was the album 'Innervisions' that 23-year-old Stevie presented to the world.

August 6, a log in North Carolina

　Three days after the album's release, August 6, 1973. Stevie was on his way to a radio station in Durham, North Carolina, to promote his new work. Driving the rental Mercury Cruiser was his cousin, John Wesley Harris. Stevie himself was said to be listening to the newly finished 'Innervisions' on headphones.

　The car was driving behind a truck loaded with logs in the suburbs of Salisbury, North Carolina. The truck stopped suddenly. A log came loose from the bed, flew off, smashed through the car's windshield, and hit Stevie directly in the head.

　Four days in a coma.

　Doctors were worried about brain damage, and his family and friends were prepared for the worst. 'He might never sing again,' 'He might not regain consciousness.'

　The catalyst that broke that coma was gospel singer Ira Tucker (lead singer of The Dixie Hummingbirds). He visited the hospital room and sang 'Higher Ground' into Stevie's ear. Then, Stevie, who had shown no reaction until then, started moving his fingers as if playing a keyboard.

　The song he wrote 3 months ago called him back from the depths of consciousness—it's a story that makes you hold your breath, wondering if such things can really happen.

　In an interview after his discharge, Stevie said, 'For those few days, I was definitely in a higher spiritual place. I could see what I needed to do in my life, in my future. To reach a higher level.'

2. Lyrics: He was singing 'Thank you for letting me try again'

　The core of the lyrics is simple. It is a song of gratitude to God, saying, 'Thank you for letting me try it again on this earth' (So glad that He let me try it again).

The opening passage, "People keep on learnin' / Soldiers keep on warrin'" presents the reality of society, followed by "Powers keep on lyin' / While your people keep on dyin'", showing a sharp gaze at American society during the Watergate scandal.

However, in the latter half of the song, the perspective shifts sharply inward. "Gonna keep on tryin' / Till I reach my highest ground"—here, the expression "higher ground" emerges for the first time.

While looking directly at the violence and corruption of the outside world, I still head for higher ground. This is the structure of the song's message. It is not anger or resignation, but a determination to "keep on tryin'".

And the phrase repeated in the chorus, "'Cause it won't be too long"—it is a passage that makes me feel that 23-year-old Stevie might have had a premonition of something at this point. He wrote the lyrics without knowing about the accident, the coma, and the months leading up to his recovery.

3. Music: A new horizon opened up by the synth bass

Musically, this song is also one of the turning points in the history of funk. The key is the synth bass—Stevie's unique sound that makes full use of the Hohner Clavinet and the synthesizer (TONTO: The Original New Timbral Orchestra).

This technique of playing the bass parts, which were traditionally handled by live bass, with a thick, distorted synthesizer tone had a decisive influence on the funk/hip-hop/electro of the later 80s. The Red Hot Chili Peppers covered this song in 1989 and it became a huge hit, which shows that the re-evaluation from the rock side is immense.

And surprisingly, on several songs included in this album, "Innervisions," Stevie played almost all of the bass, drums, and keyboards himself. A blind musician, alone, incorporated the cutting edge of synthesizer technology and created a new sound—musically speaking, this is a miraculous event.

In terms of vocals, Stevie is also unique in this song. Piercing shouts, trembling vibrato, and delicate melisma (ornamentation) are mixed together. A voice where prayer and screaming coexist. That fits perfectly with the spirituality of the title "Higher Ground."

4. Lessons: Two things this song teaches us

Lesson 1: Singing the "other side" of negative peace

In peace studies, negative peace refers to the absence of war or direct violence. The lines sung at the beginning of this song, "Soldiers keep on warrin'" and "Powers keep on lyin'", are passages that look directly at the reality of a world where even negative peace has not been achieved.

However, the core of this song does not end with lamenting that reality. By singing, "keep on tryin' / Till I reach my highest ground", it shows a direction to go beyond the status quo. In Galtung's theory, this is the very will for positive peace.

It is not enough just to have no war. It is necessary to head toward a "higher ground" where structural violence (corruption of power, the structure where people keep dying) is resolved and humans can live with dignity—I am surprised once again that 23-year-old Stevie intuitively put that into his lyrics.

Lesson 2: The core of positive peace, "keep on tryin'"

In my (Rikiya Adachi's) own peace studies theory, which develops Galtung's theory, I define positive peace as "actively creating good". What is important is the direction, not whether it has been achieved.

What "Higher Ground" repeatedly sings about is precisely this direction. It is not a finished form or a point of arrival, but the will to "keep going, toward a higher place". Peace is not a state, but a direction of the heart—Stevie embodied this theoretical core as music in 1973.

And three months later, he was literally saved by that "direction." What brought him back from his coma was the message he wrote himself: "let's keep on trying." A prayer sent outward returns to oneself—isn't this one of the purest forms of the peaceful power that music possesses?

5. In sum: A prayer will surely reach someone

A song written in just 3 hours in May 1973 brings the person who wrote it back from a coma 3 months later. It sounds like fiction, but it is reality.

I think the act of building peace might be similar to this. I don't know where the prayers, actions, and words I send out to the world right now will reach. However, as long as they are directed toward the path of 'keeping on tryin',' they will surely reach someone—or perhaps myself—someday.

Next time (5/15), as the third installment of our Stevie Wonder special, we will feature 'Living for the City.' It is a song included on the same album, 'Innervisions,' and is one of the sharpest indictments of structural violence.

Regarding the concept of 'positive peace,' please also refer to No.015 'Sweet Sweet Smile' (Carpenters) and No.043 'Master Blaster (Jammin')'.

Regarding the theme of 'the coexistence of introspection and social criticism,' please also see No.011 'What's Going On' (Marvin Gaye).

📌 About this series [Western Music Commentary x Peace Studies]—if you are new here, please check this article.