What does Superstition mean?

Stevie Wonder: Superstition Meaning

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Album cover for Superstition album cover

Song Released: 1972


Superstition Lyrics

Very superstitious, writings on the wall,
Very superstitious, ladders bout to fall,
Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin glass
Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past.

When you believe in things that you dont...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Feb 5th 2010 !⃝

    Not very much "hidden meaning" here. It's all in the chorus, "When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer"

    It isn't just religion versus superstitions, it's anything. If you believe in your car but don't really understand how it works, it's going to break down at the worst possible moment. If you believe in the reliability of your job/the economy but don't really understand how business works, you're going to be downsized at some point when you least expect it. If you believe in the government but don't really understand how it works, you're going to become a slave. If you believe in money but don't understand it, you're not going to have any. If you believe in your relationship with your spouse but don't understand it or them, you're in for a nasty surprise one day.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 5th 2012 !⃝

    Not very much "hidden meaning" here. It's all in the chorus, "When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer"

    It isn't just religion versus superstitions, it's anything. If you believe in your car but don't really understand how it works, it's going to break down at the worst possible moment. If you believe in the reliability of your job/the economy but don't really understand how business works, you're going to be downsized at some point when you least expect it. If you believe in the government but don't really understand how it works, you're going to become a slave. If you believe in money but don't understand it, you're not going to have any. If you believe in your relationship with your spouse but don't understand it or them, you're in for a nasty surprise one day.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 23rd 2020 !⃝

    Then why do they call them the mysteries of faith? Does Stvevie have insight that other don't?

  4. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2018 !⃝

    My thoughts lead down more towards a religious path. I think that the masses are taught something to believe in, weather it be in Jesus or Buddha or Mohammad etc. we’re all taught to believe in something that we all think we understand but the truth of it is we only understand what is taught to be understood and in most cases usually the teacher is teaching what best benefits their own interest, the world uses religion to control the masses and given the opportunity to manipulate the words to best fit their needs at any specific time in history, weather it be used to control the way people dress, eat, act or behave they all use religion to justify their actions and even the targeted fallen believers are subdued into submission by believing “one day someone will save them from their transgressors”.

  5. anonymous
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    Jan 1st 2017 !⃝

    My husband played this song today for me just the first of it and it made me wonder why was he trying to tell me something he works out of town and I have been down about this and thinking something is going on and he keeps telling me it's ok or it is what it is this new job he says ride with it He tells me he loves me what am I suppose to think is something going on or should I chill

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    May 14th 2016 !⃝

    The genius of STEVIE WONDER, wrote, compose and rearranged this song that originally was given to and meant for Jeff Beck for his version of the song to go out first. Out of the friendly collaboration deal they had for his guitar works. Anyway this song came out at the right time to educate and influence their fans and us the people in a positive way to question the superstitious beliefs that we didn't understand about ourselves to believe are true to sometimes suffer unecesaraly that left some mental scars in the long run. This was a time in the late 60's and 70's when many people started more than ever to be influenced by the dark and negative superstitious beliefs and rituals of the old and new cults that were popping up all over, promoting and selling all kinds of black and white magic that was conjured up for us and our youth to dabble with and to believe it. Even with cult movies they've made to start it all with Rosemary's Baby and The Excorsist that opened up a lot of crazy eyes and gave birth to too many negative superstitious beliefs and fears that gave The Devil a rebirth of growing power that was on the loose, and ''By this song STEVIE WONDER was WARNING US about what was coming after us'' that were reborn superstitious beliefs that wanted to influence us to become worried and neurotic, now and in the future if we let ourselves to believe in such things.

  7. anonymous
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    Mar 19th 2012 !⃝

    To me this song means that you shouldn’t let the smallest of details get in your way, it isn’t worth it. Since this song was written in an era when being superstitious was “in,” Wonder was trying to get a point across by saying just relax, it doesn’t matter if you walk under a ladder or break a mirror. Superstitions are meant to be for fun, you shouldn’t take them very seriously.

  8. anonymous
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    May 13th 2008 !⃝

    The first interpretation is true! I am a huge Stevie fan and I know he totally wrote the song so there.

  9. BUGSYSON
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    Jul 15th 2006 !⃝

    I beleive this song was originally done by Jeff Beck. He performed it a few times with his band called bba but didn't see it as a good rock song and passed it along to Stevie Wonder, at least that's what it says on the inner notes of the bba album.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. kamododude
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    Jul 1st 2006 !⃝

    I will say in laymen terms what stevie said through his song: don't be so stupid and get worked up over superstitous beleifs you dontt understand, most likely they're not true, so shut up and don't believe in things you don't understand.


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