Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)"
One of side-A labels of the US single
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album Signed, Sealed & Delivered
B-side"I'm More Than Happy (I'm Satisfied)"
ReleasedJune 3, 1970
RecordedAugust 26, 1969 – April 28, 1970[1]
Studio
GenreSoul
Length2:41
LabelTamla 54196
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Never Had a Dream Come True"
(1970)
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)"
(1970)
"Heaven Help Us All"
(1970)
Audio
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" on YouTube

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S. Pop chart.[2] In the same year, the song was also released on the album Signed, Sealed & Delivered.

The song was arranged by Paul Riser and features an electric sitar[3] played by Eddie "Chank" Willis.[citation needed] In the lyrics, the singer has left his girlfriend but realizes it was a mistake. "I've done a lot of foolish things that I really didn't mean." Now he has returned, making the commitment that he's back, similar to a special delivery package from the post office, "signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours."

The song was a series of firsts for the 20-year-old Wonder: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" was the first single Wonder produced on his own, and was also the first to feature his female backup singing group composed of Lynda Tucker Laurence (who went on to become a member of The Supremes), Syreeta Wright (who also co-wrote the song and later married Wonder), and Venetta Fields. The song gave Wonder his sixth Grammy nomination, with the award that year going to the Clarence Carter song "Patches".

Cash Box stated that the song is "polished and powerful enough to maintain an adult market power as well pointing toward giant sales."[4] Billboard called it a "funky beat swinger" with "blockbuster sales appeal."[5] It is ranked number 203 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[6]

  1. ^ "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours | Stevie Wonder | Recording". Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 635.
  3. ^ Perone, James E. (January 1, 2006). The Sound of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275987237. Retrieved January 29, 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 20, 1970. p. 18. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. June 20, 1970. p. 54. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  6. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | #203 Stevie Wonder, 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours'". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.