Tuesday, 24 June 2025

The Beautiful Contradiction at the Heart of Stevie Wonder’s Love Song

I only recently became aware of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)’. It is a song with one of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard, yet its lyrics, while emotionally rich, contain contradictions.

The singer’s refrain, “I believe when I fall in love with you it will be forever”, sounds like a vow from someone ready to embrace lasting love. But looked at closer, it becomes a paradox. How can someone pledge eternal devotion to a person they have not even fallen in love with yet? This assumes not only that love will happen, but that it will last forever. It is a romantic notion, certainly, but it goes beyond what is emotionally and logically plausible.

And far from being a stranger to heartache, the singer has previously known love and its painful aftermath, as seen in phrases in verse one such as "shattered dreams" and "worthless years". Having experienced such devastation from love before, what makes them certain that things will somehow be different next time?

There is also the contrast between belief and feeling. “I believe” implies conviction, but conviction alone does not generate love. Falling in love is not a choiceit happens us. It is not summoned by belief or commanded into permanence by force of will. So to promise love forever in the absence of that love is meaningless.

But perhaps I am being too pedantic, and that the contradictions are not flaws at all, but part of what gives the song its emotional power. Maybe they reflect the messy, often contradictory nature of loving again after loss: of someone trying to reconcile past pain with the determination to believe in love despite everything. And maybe that is what gives the song its power. Not the certainty, but the hope.