For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me/
Not like it’s hurt me before.
Just like David Gray’s “This Year’s Love”, in “For Once in My Life”, Stevie Wonder is facing the prospect of a new relationship. Stevie seems like he’s in a much better place emotionally than Gray is.
Wonder realizes that he’s been hurt before but his enthusiasm over the woman lets him recognize that she is special, not just “this year’s love.” What is his is hers and he is excited that he has found someone who truly needs him. We can hear it in his voice and the melody and tempo of the song.
This song is a Motown record and features a band with a full brass section, a gospel choir background group and a harmonica solo. You don’t hear this combination very often, but it works here perfectly. “For Once in My Life” is one of Stevie’s early and biggest hits.
For Once In My Life Lyrics
For once in my life I have someone who needs me
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once unafraid I can go where life leads me
Somehow I know I’ll be strong
For once I can touch, what my heart used to dream of
Long before I knew
Oh someone warm like you
Would make my dream come true, yeah yeah (For once in my life)
For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me
Not like it’s hurt me before (Not like it’s hurt before)
For once I have someone I know won’t desert me
I’m not alone anymore (I’m not alone anymore)
For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love I can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me (Someone who needs me)
Hey hey hey, yeah (Someone who needs me)
Oh baby, Lord baby
For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me
Not like it’s hurt me before (Not like it’s hurt before)
For once I have something I know won’t desert me
I’m not alone anymore (I’m not alone anymore)
For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love I can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me (Someone who needs me)
For once in my life (Someone who needs me)
Somebody that needs me (Someone who needs me) Oh baby, for once in my life
Songwriters: Ronald N Miller / Orland Murden