On Christmas day, I was driving down to Washington D.C. with my sister and my mother in the car and, as I am wont to do, I had Stevie Wonder’s “As” on the stereo, because it’s just about the best song ever. (It’s off Songs in the Key of Life, which everybody in the whole world ought to own and listen to regularly.) A couple of minutes into the song, as my sister and I were remarking about how much we like it, my mother noted that it sounded like the kind of songs George Michael does, gospel-tinged and groovin’.

George had covered “As” as a duet with Mary J. Blige a few years ago, although of course it’s not the kind of song where you’re going to prefer a cover the original. But my mother didn’t know this, so I found it a particularly astute and charming observation on her part. It’s always nice to be reminded that, while my parents were born on the other side of the world, we really are from the same planet.