Stevie Wonder surprised fans with a new single titled “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” marking his first solo release since 2020.
You can listen to the song below.
“Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” finds Wonder reflecting on a nation torn asunder by strife, miscommunication and sorrow. “Children marching on the boulevard / Tears are streaming down their face / The tension in the air is so bizarre / Love is gone without a trace,” he sings atop delicate acoustic guitars and a languid beat.
He also suggests a solution: “If we listen to different thoughts and point of views / All my brothers and sisters / We don’t have to lose humanity / We’re family / So can we please fix our nation’s broken heart?”
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Stevie Wonder’s Recent Releases and Appearances
Although Wonder hasn’t released an album since 2005’s A Time to Love, he’s issued several singles since then. “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” follows 2020’s “Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate,” a funky, fiery track on which Wonder and rappers Rapsody, Chika, Cordae and Busta Rhymes criticized the glacial progress of racial justice in America. (“You say that you believe that all lives matter / I say, I don’t believe the fuck you do,” Wonder memorably proclaimed on that song.)
“Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” arrives roughly one week after Wonder’s appearance at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where he performed his classic song “Higher Ground.” The themes of the song mirror those in his DNC speech.
“Beyond prayer, I know the importance of action,” Wonder told the audience. “And now is the time to understand where we are and what it will take to win — win the broken hearts, win the disenchanted, win the angry spirits. Now is the time. This is the moment to remember, when you tell your children where you were and what you did. As we stand between history’s pain and tomorrow’s promises, we must choose courage over complacency. It is time to get up and go vote!”
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Was there a better run of albums in the ’70s than Stevie Wonder’s string of classics?
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
