Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing



"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" is a single by Stevie Wonder, taken from his 1973 album Innervisions. It reached number 16 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, number 10 on the Cash Box chart, and number 2 on the R&B chart. The song's lyrics convey a positive message, focusing on taking things in one's stride and accentuating the positive.

The tune is in E♭ minor, starting with a Latin piano intro. The opening melody is reminiscent of Horace Silver's "Song For My Father." The song's second chorus begins with Stevie taking the vocals up an octave with two vocal overdubs singing the same line. He also sings two other background overdub vocals, mimicking a horn line with the Spanish phrase "Todo 'stá bien chévere", which, loosely translated, means "Everything's really great."

Covers

 * In 1974 it was covered by Roy Ayers on his album Change Up the Groove.
 * The Main Ingredient on their album Euphrates River (1974).
 * In 1975 it was covered, in Swedish, as a duet between Lill-Babs and Marie Bergman on the album Det våras för Barbro.
 * In 1975 it was covered by American soul jazz alto saxophonist, Hank Crawford, who used it as the title track for his album Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing.
 * In 1976 it was covered by Weldon Irvine on his album Sinbad.
 * Covered by A Certain Ratio in 1983 as a B-side to their single "I Need Someone Tonite" on Factory Records
 * In 1992, it was covered by British acid jazz band Incognito, who took it to number 19 in the UK.
 * In 1992, it was covered by the group First Call on their album Human Song.
 * In 1995 Al Jarreau covered it live at various evenings of Night of the Proms, in Belgium as well as in the Netherlands. This version was recorded twice for a CD release in both countries.
 * In 1997, it was covered by Hiram Bullock on his Carrasco CD.
 * In 1997, Jazz supergroup Fourplay covered it on their album "The Best of Fourplay" with Take 6 on vocals.
 * In 2005 it was covered by John Legend, produced by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.
 * In 2005 American smooth jazz saxophonist Nelson Rangell released a rendition on his album My American Songbook, Vol. 1.
 * In 2013 Kyoto rock band Unchain released a cover of the song on their first compilation album "Love & Groove Delivery".
 * In 2013, multi-instrumentalist and singer Jacob Collier uploaded a vocal and instrumental arrangement of the song to YouTube, singing and playing all parts himself.
 * In 2016, Tori Kelly as the voice of Meena covered the song for the animated movie Sing and its soundtrack.

Soundtrack appearances

 * Wonder's rendition has been featured in the films Holy Man, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins and Silver Linings Playbook in addition to the TV show Scandal.
 * The John Legend version was included on the soundtrack to Hitch (2005).
 * The Tori Kelly version was featured in the film Sing (2016) and its soundtrack.