This was one of the first songs Wonder worked on with the engineers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, who invented the TONTO synthesizer and recorded an album with the instrument in 1971 called Tonto's Expanding Head Band. Wonder, who had recently negotiated a new deal with Motown that gave him his own production and publishing companies, tracked down Cecil and Margouleff, and enlisted them to build a TONTO and assist with his recordings. The partnership was extremely productive, with the pair acting as engineers and associate producers on Wonder's albums Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale. On "Superwoman," Wonder played the TONTO along with Fender Rhodes, drums and Moog bass. He also handles all of the vocals; the only other musician on the track is Buzz Feiten on electric guitar.
The song is divided in two. The first part tells the story of Mary, who tries to make her dreams of stardom come true. The second part is from the perspective of the singer, wondering why didn't she come back when he thought she would.
Stevie Wonder performed the song live with Mary J. Blige on a VH1 Diva's Duets special. Appropriate, since the first line in the song is: "Mary wants to be a superwoman."
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