parallels: SZA's and Stevie Wonder's "Saturn"

Linking two songs about The Ringed Planet released 48 years apart.

Thanks for checking out my music writing. If you read this entire piece, love it and want to support my future work with a one-time tip/monetary gift, I’ve set up a Buy Me a Tea link here.

Lately, I’ve been finding links between past and modern music on my newsletter. This time, I ponder the parallels between two songs titled “Saturn” by SZA (2024) and Stevie Wonder (1976). When listening, it’s interesting to think of each song as two POVs from the same tale. To me, they’re intergenerational companions.

I'm a big fan of SZA's exploration of existential themes. Songs like "Broken Clocks" (2017) and "Good Days" (2020) have deeply resonated with my soul. Now her latest single, "Saturn," delves deeper into the meaning of life. While on those earlier records, she was ending painful relationship cycles and singing from a micro interpersonal perspective, "Saturn" offers a broader lens. This is SZA’s big-picture record.

Set against a delicate dreamy soundscape, she voices timeless frustrations with the state of humanity while simultaneously soothing herself. Solána yearns to escape to Saturn where she can have a gentler existence than the one here on Earth.

“Saturn” discusses the desire and the longing for things to be better on this planet, and we want to go somewhere else, but we can't, so we have to find something worth saving here.”

— SZA, People Magazine in February 2024.

And just two weekends ago, while revisiting Stevie Wonder’s legendary 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life, I heard his "Saturn" and couldn't help but notice the parallel moods, delivery, and lyrics between his and SZA’s songs. Both Wonder and SZA express their frustration with the state of affairs on Earth and both want to get away to The Ringed Planet. Let's compare the lyrics below:

SZA — “Saturn” 🪐 (2024)

Stuck in this paradigm
Don't believe in paradise
This must be what Hell is like
There's got to be more, got to be more
Sick of this head of mine
Intrusive thoughts, they paralyze
Nirvana's not as advertised
There's got to be more, been here before

Ooh (ooh, ooh)
Life's better on Saturn
Got to break this pattern
Of floating away

Stevie Wonder — “Saturn” 🪐 (1976)

Packing my bags, going away
To a place where the air is clean
On Saturn
There's no sense to sit and watch people die
We don't fight our wars the way you do
We put back all the things we use
On Saturn
There's no sense to keep on doing such crimes.

Both singers have slightly different approaches to their lyrics. SZA uses vivid imagery to describe her emotions, likening her experience to Hell, a place where the good die young and poor. Meanwhile, Wonder provides more specific examples of his grievances, naming pollution and senseless violence.

So why Saturn as a metaphor for freedom instead of Neptune or Mars? While there are no direct quotes from either singer about this, Vedic astrology, which originated in ancient India, suggests that Saturn is the planet representing justice, a meaning that would align with themes in both songs.

It’s also interesting to know that Wonder's song underwent a few iterations before it was released. The original demo was called "Going Back to Saginaw," his hometown in Michigan. However, he handed the unfinished track to singer-songwriter Michael Simbello for further creative insight. Simbello suggested changing the destination in the lyrics to "Saturn" to make it more interesting. They wrote the final song from the perspective of an alien visiting Earth, who was perplexed by all the injustice on the planet. Simbello shared these details in an oral history of Songs in the Key of Life in Okayplayer in 2021:

“I thought to myself what would it be like to be a disgruntled alien that came to this planet to try and do good and help people, and we ended up running him away with our guns and bibles in our hands. So, he sang I’m going back to Saturn. I didn’t think it would ever make it on the album because the record company hated it so much. Thank God for double albums, because if it was a single album, it would have never made it.” —

Michael Simbello, co-writer on Stevie Wonder’s “Saturn”

SZA’s “Saturn” and Stevie Wonder’s Songs In the Key of Life

While reflecting on both “Saturn” songs, they reminded me of the Blues and its strong themes of alienation and search for solace. As I’ve reported in my series “The Blues Lives Through,” these feelings have often been conveyed through Black American music and beyond since its earliest days. Given this context, it’s no surprise that SZA's "Saturn" arrives 48 years after Stevie Wonder’s “Saturn” and we have a new generation coping with similar struggles through song.

When I originally published this piece in April 2024, I did not know if SZA was inspired by Stevie. But we got confirmation that the singer was in fact influenced by Mr. Wonder, after she won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in February 2025. SZA explains how in the quote below:

“It was such a casually written song, inspired by Stevie Wonder, and his reference to Saturn and how he talks about in that place there is less destruction and death and pollution and all these things, and part of me realizing there’s nowhere else to go. There is no Saturn. It’s one of the planets no one’s ever talked about visiting,” she said.

“I think similarly to ‘Good Days,’ I’m constantly living with the escape. I’m the escape personified, so I think I’m just craving escape in all my songs. And that’s what ‘Saturn is about—acceptance of where you are and also trying to escape to somewhere better.”

Even if there was no direct relationship, it's intriguing to think of both songs as two sides in the same tale. You could imagine that SZA is considering escaping with the alien in Wonder's song after hearing about the peace promised on Saturn. But what if SZA’s “peace” comes at a cost? The aftermath of her running off might be similar to the fate of Lilith Iyapo, a fictional character in Octavia Butler’s book Dawn, who has a complicated relationship with aliens promising humans everlasting peace. On the other hand, SZA might decide to stay behind on Earth instead of running away. Maybe she eventually sees Earth transform into the oasis she’s hoping for. Wouldn’t we all love to experience this?

While you’re coming up with your hypotheticals, tell me, are you a fan of SZA or Stevie's "Saturn"? Do you notice any parallels between the songs? I'm curious to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Updated Feb 7, 2025: This piece was updated to include news that SZA was in fact inspired by Stevie to write her own version of “Saturn.”

Thanks for checking out my music writing. If you read this entire piece, love it and want to support my future work with a one-time tip/monetary gift, I’ve set up a Buy Me a Tea link here.