“Faith” by Stevie Wonder (ft. Ariana Grande)

The song “Faith” can logically be interpreted as a love song but, considering it features Stevie and all, can also be understood as an ode to friendship. Indeed in the chorus the singers celebrate the persons they are singing to as being ‘good friends’. So what actually looks like the case is that this track centers on relationships that started off platonic, but then the singers fell in love with their respective addressees “somehow”.

And their feelings for these individuals are culminated in the artists having “faith” in them. Now the word faith is one that usually has some sort of religious connotation. Indeed the artists use an even more-spiritual word, “hallelujah”, as an expression to encapsulate their feelings towards their romantic interests. So within the context of this song, the singers exclaiming that they ‘have faith’ is basically akin to them saying that they’re in love. Or we can say, through the aforementioned friendships, they have tremendous trust in the addressees. So now they are not afraid to attempt to take their relationships to the next level.

This idea is perhaps most evident in the song’s bridge. It is here where Stevie and Ariana put forth that they think about the addressees “morning, noon, night and day”. And regardless of how strong a normal friendship may be, those are the types of expressions that are usually reserved for a romantic interest.

And whereas Stevie and Ariana give a shoutout to each other in their verses, considering their age difference and the fact that Grande is singing about a “boy”, it doesn’t seem as if they are actually talking about each other. In other words they are not portraying the role of lovers on the opposite side of a romance. But whoever it is that has caught their respective attention – i.e. “the girl with the diamonds in her shoes” or “the boy with the Stevie Wonder swag” – it is clear that they not only have “faith” in these individuals but also have come to form some sort of emotional dependency (i.e. “love”) on them.

Facts about “Faith”

Stevie Wonder co-wrote “Faith” along with Francis Farewell Starlite and Ryan Tedder.

And Ryan, of OneDirection fame, also produced the track along with Benny Blanco.

This song is part of “Sing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” and in fact was, unlike the rest of the album, written specifically for the animated film. And “Faith” was released as the album’s lead single on 3 November 2013.

It went on to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2016 in the category of Best Original Song.

“Faith” marks the first collaboration between Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande, who is more than 40 years his junior. And Grande has expressed a sense of awe in having worked directly with an artist of Wonder’s caliber.

The song charted in seven countries, including scoring a number one via the Media Forest listing in Israel.

And “Faith” has also been certified Gold in Italy.