Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours

1970 single by Stevie Wonder

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U. S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U. S. Pop chart. In the same year, the song was also released on the album Signed, Sealed & Delivered. The song was arranged by Paul Riser and features an electric sitar played by Eddie "Chank" Willis. In the lyrics, the singer has left his girlfriend but realizes it was a mistake. "I've done a lot of foolish things that I really didn't mean." Now he has returned, making the commitment that he's back, similar to a special delivery package from the post office, "signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours." The song was a series of firsts for the 20 year old Wonder: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" was the first single Wonder produced on his own, and was also the first to feature his female backup singing group composed of Lynda Tucker Laurence (who went on to become a member of The Supremes), Syreeta Wright (who also co wrote the song and later married Wonder), and Venetta Fields. The song gave Wonder his sixth Grammy nomination, with the award that year going to the Clarence Carter song "Patches". Cash Box stated that the song is "polished and powerful enough to maintain an adult market power as well pointing toward giant sales." Billboard called it a "funky beat swinger" with "blockbuster sales appeal." It is ranked number 203 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Chart (1970)PeakpositionUS Best Selling Soul Singles (Billboard)1U. S. Cash Box Top 1001

Chart (1970)RankU. S. Billboard Hot 10031U. S. Cash Box23

During the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama's presidential campaign frequently played the song immediately after Obama's speeches at campaign events. Wonder performed the song live on the final night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado. During the campaign, Obama's chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, used the song as the special ring tone on his cellular phone whenever he received a call from Obama. At Obama's election night rally at Grant Park in Chicago, the song was one of the first of three songs played to warm up the audience for Obama's victory speech upon winning the election. The song was used in the same fashion the Clinton Gore campaign used Fleetwood Mac's hit "Don't Stop." The Obama family came out to the song again on Election Night in 2012 for Obama's victory speech. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the song played after Barack Obama's speech, at which point Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton came out on stage.

In 1977, Peter Frampton recorded the song on his album I'm in You. His version also contains instrumental elements from Wonder's hit "For Once in My Life". Mick Jagger is featured on backing vocals. Frampton's version was released as a single, reaching number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the Cashbox Top 100. His cover also reached number 13 in Canada. In Chicago, the song reached number nine on superstation WLS AM, and in Toronto it reached number one on CHUM.

Chart (1977)PeakpositionNew Zealand (Listener)24U. S. Cash Box Top 10013U. S. Cash Box R&B Singles96

Chart (1977)RankCanada117U. S. Billboard125

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" was covered in 2003 by English boy band Blue. Their version includes vocals from Angie Stone and Wonder. This was the second single from Blue's third album, Guilty (2003), and was released in Australia two weeks before it was issued in the UK. The cover peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 20 on the charts of six other countries. Janet Jackson was originally approached to cover the song with the group but could not proceed due to scheduling conflicts.

RegionVersionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)AustraliaSolo releaseDecember 1, 2003CDVirgin Records, Virgin, Innocent Records, InnocentUnited KingdomDecember 15, 2003Japanwith "The Gift"December 17, 2003