Say Say Say waste[d] the rest of the album on bathos and whimsy". The "Los Angeles Times" Paul Grein also reviewed the McCartney album and opined that the singer had redeemed himself with the success of the "spunky" song "but plunged back into wimpdom with 'No More Lonely Nights'". Journalist Whitney Pastorek compared the song to McCartney's 1982 duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory". She asserted that "Say Say Say" was a better song, and had a better "though slightly more nonsensical" music video, adding that the song had no "heavy-handed social content". Penn State's "The Daily Collegian" described the track as
Lately (Stevie Wonder song) Lately (Stevie Wonder song) "Lately" is a song by American singer Stevie Wonder recorded for his album "Hotter than July" (1980). The song was covered by R&B group Jodeci and released as a promotional single for the live album "Uptown MTV Unplugged" in June 1993. Jason Elias at Allmusic retrospectively praised the song, believing that unlike some of Wonder's similar material, "Lately" in particular hit all the perfect emotional and musical notes. Of the song's emotional power itself Elias stated, "it's enough to make a listener fall prey to an old-fashioned cry." "Lately" was notably covered by R&B group Jodeci