LOVE TRAX: Technology’s Changed the Love Game
We’re continuing our THROWBACK LOVE TRAX during the month of February – sharing the stories behind our favorite love songs of the ’80s and ’90s!
Today’s song was a hit in 1984, but it might be written a little differently in 2025!
“I Just Called To Say I Love You” is still Stevie Wonder’s best-selling single. It was No. 1 for three weeks, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (it was on “The Woman in Red” movie soundtrack), and was nominated for three Grammys!
The song is about a spontaneous phone call just to say those three little words, “I love you.” No special occasion, as he sings during the song, the only reason for the phone call is just to say how much he cares!
We got to thinking how this song would be different if it were written today.
Instead of…
I just called to say I love youI just called to say how much I careI just called to say I love youAnd I mean it from the bottom of my heart
It might go something like this…
I just texted to say I love youI just DM’ed to say how much I careI just snapped to say I love youAnd I mean it from the bottom of my heart
It doesn’t quite have the same effect, does it?
Remember the thrill of hearing your phone ring and not knowing who was on the other end? You’d pick it up and say hello, and it was always a surprise to hear who was on the other end of the line! You might stretch the cord as far as it would go, over to the couch, and settle in with the handset perched on your shoulder, as you talked and talked and talked for hours.
It was a simpler time of landlines, no caller ID, no messaging apps.
These days, it’s considered rude to simply call someone up without texting first to see if they’re available. And, there are people who never use their phone to talk... they prefer to text everything!
Reminisce with us as we throw it back and enjoy Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You!”
