Talk:Ebony and Ivory

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Stevie Wonder as co-writer?[edit]

The article suggests that Stevie Wonder wrote much of the song, enough for at least a co-writing credit and maybe even the majority of the song, yet asked Paul McCartney to take the sole writing credit due to the song's "bold racial message". Does this seem plausible?

  1. The song's racial message was not an aggressive one which could be considered bold for the year it was released (1982). The lyrics speak of ideas like "people are the same wherever you go" and "there is good and bad in everyone" and the central metaphor alludes to black and white people "living in perfect harmony".
  2. Stevie Wonder had previously recorded and had major hits with songs that dealt with the concerns of black Americans in bolder ways, such as "Living for the City" and "You Haven't Done Nothin'", both of which he released under his own name as artist and songwriter.
  3. Having the writing credits of a song promoting harmonious race relations, titled "Ebony and Ivory" and performed by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, read "-P. McCartney-S. Wonder-" would have been considered perfectly consistent with the message and meaning of the song. The idea that a white songwriter would have had to front for a black songwriter in terms of taking credit for the song would seem to contradict that entirely.

That said, it is still possible that Wonder could have co-written the song but declined credit for other reasons unknown to the public. (After all, McCartney and John Lennon wrote many songs separately but still took joint credit for them in accordance with an agreement they had made.) But the stated reason does not ring true. --Metropolitan90 05:44, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • I am not fully understanding the first part of this comment. McCartney is the writer of this song. That is something that is known and accepted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Relax777 (talk • contribs) 07:30, 29 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    • The claim that Stevie Wonder wrote much of the song was removed in 2008. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 08:18, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Propose removing comments of criticism at close of this article[edit]

Is the criticism necessary or worthy in the closing comments of this article given this song's significance and success in the past? One would think the reporting of Blender magazine and contemporary BBC 6 Music listeners is more significant than the artistic achievements of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rbunnage (talk • contribs) 17:21, 16 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I support this. Wikipedia should focus on facts rather than opinion. Who cares what that magazine thinks, I'm sure there are many people who love the song. This kind if thing only harms the quality of the article, it doesn't contribute anything useful. --Peoman (talk) 09:19, 8 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Scrubs[edit]

the episode of scrubs j.d.'s head was singing karaoke with kim was S05E24 "My Transition (1)" but I am not sure they sang "ebony and ivory". (?)


I don't think that Secret of Evermore or Devil May Cry are "pop-culture references" to this more or less obscure song. Rather, it's simply coincidence. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.189.189.159 (talk) 06:45, August 20, 2007 (UTC)

The opening line of this entry[edit]

The performers of this song are Wonder and McCartney. Yet, the opening line says that Wonder performed it. Why is McCartney not included? Later the entry does say that McCartney is one of the two performers. It must be a simple, yet prominent, omission. I wanted to discuss this before I actually make changes to the wikipedia entry. Relax777 (talk) 07:32, 29 June 2009 (UTC) relax777[reply]

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