Stevie Wonder's Hurricane Harvey Speech: Music and Speech Together

Hurricane Harvey, NASA

Stevie Wonder gave the opening speech at yesterday's hurricane relief telethon. Like all good speakers, he announced his purpose: "We come together today to love on the people who have been devastated by the hurricanes." He pointed out that their need was not divided by political belief or religion. He criticized the global warming deniers: "Anyone who believes that there is no such thing as global warming must be blind or unintelligent; Lord, please save us all."

Wonder spoke softly and gently, but very clearly. He accompanied himself on the keyboard, playing tastefully with his usual gentle, musical touch. Music and speech both use sound, and they belong together. Remember Obama's Charleston speech?

Wonder didn't just speak; he spoke his words rhythmically, almost like a song. Almost like a poem. This created a style, an effect, that made his speech stand out, that made him hard to ignore. Good speakers take chances; good speakers aren't afraid to be original.

Good for Stevie Wonder: unity, compassion, and a political statement. He spoke gently, but he didn't hold back. Was it right for him to call global warming deniers "blind or unintelligent?" Interesting question. Reason obviously has no effect on conspiracy theorists, so maybe ridicule is the next thing to try. He delivered his insult gently. The gentle speaker is often more powerful than the speaker who yells and screams.


Query: Why do so many people deny global warming in the face of overwhelming evidence? There's some interesting research about the psychology of that kind of irrationality – I'll post about that soon. [Aha! Here's the promised follow-up.]

Beyoncé also gave a couple of excellent hurricane relief speeches. I haven't forgotten her. I'll also post about her soon. [Update. Here's the post.]