Who Did It Better

My Cherie Amour

My cherie amour, lovely as a summer day
My cherie amour, distant as the Milky Way

My Cherie Amour 0:30 is a schoolboy crush that never quite became anything more. She is lovely as a summer day and distant as the Milky Way. He watches from across the room, loving someone who does not know he exists.

That distance is the whole song. Not every love gets returned. Some loves live entirely in the space between wanting and never having the courage to say it out loud.

Original or Cover

The Original -- 1969

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder was born prematurely and lost his eyesight shortly after birth due to retinopathy. A detail that made him unforgettable to anyone who ever heard him sing.

Floating Player

The Cover -- 1970

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. A singular talent who left a mark on every note she ever recorded.

Floating Player

Image Credits

1,414 artist portraits across 5 genres (Rock, Jazz, Soul, Blues, Folk). 1,363 sourced from Wikipedia (Creative Commons / Public Domain), 50 from Deezer (promotional artwork).

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Who Did It Better

My Cherie Amour

Written by Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy

My cherie amour, lovely as a summer day
My cherie amour, distant as the Milky Way

This song is about...

"My Cherie Amour" is a schoolboy crush elevated to a pop standard. Stevie Wonder wrote it as a teenager and the song sounds like it was written by someone who had not yet learned to hide his feelings. He sees her across the room. He watches her from a distance. She does not know he exists. The song captures the specific agony of loving someone who has no idea you are alive. Stevie's harmonica solo is the sound of a young man sighing. The melody is the sigh set to music.

Stevie or Aretha

Stevie Wonder

1969

Stevie Wonder was born prematurely and lost his eyesight shortly after birth due to retinopathy. A detail that made him unforgettable to anyone who ever heard him sing.

Aretha Franklin

1970

Aretha Franklin was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. A singular talent who left a mark on every note she ever recorded.

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