King, Wonder, and Darker Still<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Back in 1980, I saw Stevie Wonder in concert in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was a magical show. Stevland Morris performed for 2.5 hours -- seemingly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2006\/01\/king-wonder-and-darker-still.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"King, Wonder, and Darker Still\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Back in 1980, I saw Stevie Wonder in concert in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was a magical show. 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{"id":1709,"date":"2006-01-16T06:23:00","date_gmt":"2006-01-16T06:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2006\/01\/king-wonder-and-darker-still.html"},"modified":"2006-01-16T06:23:00","modified_gmt":"2006-01-16T06:23:00","slug":"king-wonder-and-darker-still","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/orthodixie\/2006\/01\/king-wonder-and-darker-still.html","title":{"rendered":"King, Wonder, and Darker Still"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Back in 1980, I saw Stevie Wonder in concert in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was a magical show. Stevland Morris performed for 2.5 hours \u2014 seemingly covering nothing but Number Ones. Then, for his final encore, he did \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d \u2014 his song honouring Martin Luther King<\/a>, Jr.<\/p>\n

He tore the roof off.<\/p>\n

I can still see the magical mayhem. It\u2019s one of those moments beyond time and understanding. Stevie\u2019s campaign was omnipresent<\/a> in those days. <\/p>\n

Today, we (as a nation) spend much of our time tearing apart the reps of honourable, though sinful, men. We\u2019ve even dissed most of our founding fathers. We are an ungrateful lot. It seems we\u2019ve lost the ability \u2014 even the will \u2014 to pay respect. In our current society, high-teched and sex-soaked, we\u2019ve lost sight of ourselves, our struggle, others.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a time to love will come again.<\/p>\n

Back in 1980, I knew \u2014 half way through Stevie\u2019s 20-minute King tribute \u2014 that the time had come. It came, literally, right then, right there. It wasn\u2019t a local thing, confined to the Greensboro Coliseum. It just happened to all come together at that very moment, during that show, that song. The people cried out, with happy voices, singing the praises of a fallen leader and hero, a man with a dream<\/a>. <\/p>\n

At the end of the show, black folks and white folks were ecstatic. Together. All smiles. Energized. <\/p>\n

We\u2019d come a long way.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve a long \u2014 long<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 way to go.<\/p>\n

You know it doesn\u2019t make much sense
There ought to be a law against
Anyone who takes offense
At a day in your celebration
\u2018Cause we all know in our minds
That there ought to be a time
That we can set aside
To show just how much we love you
And I\u2019m sure you will agree
It couldn\u2019t fit more perfectly
Than to have a world party on the day you came to be<\/em><\/p>\n

Chorus<\/span>
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
(Repeat)<\/em><\/p>\n

I just never understood
How a man who died for good
Could not have a day that would
Be set aside for his recognition
Because it should never be
Just because some cannot see
The dream as clear as he
That they should make it become an illusion
And we all know everything
That he stood for time will bring
For in peace our hearts will sing
Thanks to Martin Luther King<\/p>\n

Chorus<\/span>
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
(Repeat)<\/em><\/p>\n

Bridge<\/span>
Why has there never been a holiday
Where peace is celebrated
all throughout the world<\/em><\/p>\n

The time is overdue
For people like me and you
You know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God\u2019s children
It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of
all people
So let us all begin
We know that love can win
Let it out don\u2019t hold it in
Sing it loud as you can<\/p>\n

Chorus<\/span>
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday
(4x)<\/em><\/p>\n

(Background Stevie)<\/span>
Happy birthday Ooh yeah
Happy birthday,
To you<\/em><\/p>\n

We know the key to unity of all
People
Is in the dream that you had so
Long ago
That lives in all of the hearts
Of people
That believe in unity
We\u2019ll make the dream become
A reality
I know we will
Because our hearts tell us so<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"