B-side "Contusion" Format 7 inch Genre Soul | Released October 1977 Recorded 1974 | |
Length 7:08 (Album version)
3:27 (Single edit) | ||
"As" is a song written and performed by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. It reached #36 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles chart. The song implies that the love the singer has for the object of his love will never diminish by saying he will love until the physically impossible becomes true. The impossible feats include: rainbows burning the stars out in the sky, oceans covering the tops of every mountain, dolphins flying, and parrots living at sea, dreaming of life and life becoming a dream, day becoming night and vice versa, trees and the seas flying away, 8×8×8 equaling 4, this day becoming the last day, the Earth turning right to left, the Earth denying itself, Mother Nature saying her work is through, and "until the day that you are me and I am you."
Contents
One interpretation is that this is a lover singing to his mate. Another interpretation is the song is about the endless unconditional love the Judeo-Christian tradition God has for the listener and the singers part in that. A third interpretation is that it is about the singer's unconditional love for humanity. The verse that begins with "We all know sometimes life's hates and troubles..." would seem to preclude the first interpretation, and the second interpretation would seem precluded by the lyric, "As today I know I'm living but tomorrow, Could make me the past but that I mustn't fear ."
The song gets its name from the first word of the song, which is repeated many times throughout.
Covers
It was covered by pianist Gene Harris on his 1977 album Tone Tantrum, with 30 additional seconds. Sister Sledge covered it and included it on their 1977 album Together. It was also covered by violinist Jean-Luc Ponty on his 1982 album Mystical Adventures. Smooth jazz saxophonist/flautist Najee covered the song for his Stevie Wonder tribute album Songs from the Key of Life. In 2000, singer Nichole Nordeman covered the song on her album This Mystery. Dutch singer Esmée Denters covered the song for Billboard's Mashup Mondays series in 2011. In 2011 the season 2 winners of vocal competition The Sing-Off, Committed, also covered this song on their self-titled debut album. Anthony Hamilton and Marsha Ambrosious make cameos in the 2013 film The Best Man Holiday, in which the singers appear as themselves and perform the song as an R&B ballad at a main character's funeral. The original Stevie Wonder version was featured in The Best Man Holiday's predecessor The Best Man in a more lighthearted scene. In 2014 it was covered by American singer Camille for her Stevie Wonder tribute album I Sing Stevie: The Stevie Wonder Songbook, an album that received an Independent Music Awards nomination for Best Tribute Album. Two dance-oriented versions of the song, both with the title "As Always", have reached the UK Singles Chart Top 75: one in 1989 produced by Farley Jackmaster Funk with Ricky Dillard on vocals; another in 1992 by Secret Life.
George Michael and Mary J. Blige version
In 1999, George Michael and Mary J. Blige covered the song, and worldwide outside of the United States, it was the second single from George Michael's greatest hits album Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael. It became a top ten UK pop hit, reaching number four on the chart. It was not released on the US version of the greatest hits collection or as a single in the US; Michael cited Blige's record company president for pulling the track in America after Michael's arrest for committing a lewd act. The video features Michael getting out of a car and entering a club where many doppelgängers of himself and Mary J. Blige are chilling out and having a drink. Towards the end of the video, most of the people are dancing on the dance floor.
Track listings
UK CD 1
- "As" – 4:42
- "A Different Corner" (live at Parkinson) – 4:28
UK CD 2
- "As" (original) – 4:42
- "As" (Full Crew Mix) – 5:39
- "As" (CJ Mackintosh Remix) - 6:06
US CD Promo
- "As" (Beyond Real Mix) – 7:18
- "As" (Jonathan Peters Remix) – 4:10
- "As" (Maurice's Millennium Mix) - 7:55