[2] The song takes the form of a mellow ballad with a steady beat, principally a solo performance with Wonder providing lead vocal, background vocal, piano, drums, handclaps and congas.

Towards the end of the song the mood changes to a stronger feel, more strident singing and with hand-claps emphasising the beat, half-beat and quarter-beat.

The song is essentially a long description of a know-it-all confidence trickster character who is a "man with a plan", who has a slick answer to all his critics and who has "a counterfeit dollar in his hand."

It has been alleged that this is a reference to United States' President Richard Nixon, who resigned the same year the song was released.

"You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" – 2:32[7] (Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy)[8] This 1970s single–related article is a stub.