He’s eclectically funky. He’s enigmatically prolific. He’s a little purple man. All these are true of one performer: PRINCE. In honor of his 57th birthday on 6/07/2015, I’ve decided to tabulate my own personal list of Top Ten Prince Songs. This list will include songs that he has recorded, as well as songs that he composed and allowed others to record. Let’s start counting these suckers down Casey Kasem style!
10. “Little Red Corvette” – 1999 (1983)
This and “Controversy” fought it out in my head to be the last song to make the list . “LRC” got the nod since I thought it would be wrong (SPOILER ALERT) not to include a song from the famous 1999 album, which was released in 1983 and I’m writing about in 2015.
9. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – The Family by The Family (1985), re-recorded by Sinead O’Connor (1990)
Ahhh… The Family. The band composed of the remnants of the disbanded group The Time that no one remembers. That’s right, they’re the band that The Time forgot…… ok, let’s just move on. This is a good spot to mention that Prince was WAY ahead of the times with what would later be our texting vernacular. “U Got The Look”, “I Would Die 4 U” also prove that out. He also gave us hashtag ready titles like “Anotherloverholenyohead”. Of course, “Nothing Compares 2 U” was made famous by Sinead O’Connor in 1990. I think it still holds up. Let’s all curl into the fetal position and listen, shall we?
8. “Sexy MF” – Symbol Album (1992)
That’s right. I like that stuff! Seriously, the greatest strip club song ever. So I’m told. Allegedly. I wonder what song came in at #7…. Actually, it should be noted that “Sexy MF” was recorded during the silly period that his name was a symbol.
7. “I Wanna Be Your Lover” – Prince (1979)
I almost didn’t include this song on the mere principal that it was on his self-titled Album that has the worst cover of all-time. I mean, c’mon dude!
This is a great song with a bouncy bassline infused with the disco influences of the time. Not The Time, the time.
6. “Gett Off” – Diamonds And Pearls (1991)
I love this song! It’s the precursor to the beloved and aforementioned “Sexy MF”. I think it’s a tie between “Gett Off” and Beastie Boys “Sure Shot” as greatest popular song that uses the flute. Ok, they’re the only two songs that I can think of that meet the flute criteria, but they’re both awesome songs.
5. “I Feel For You” – Prince (1979) re-recorded by Chaka Khan (1984)
While a very good song, truthfully my fondness for “I Feel For You” is due to song association. The original song makes me think of Chaka Khan’s version, which then makes me think “Tell Me Something Good” that she did with Rufus, which makes me think of this Soul Train performance from 1974. The great, bass heavy tune, the sublime dancing in front of the stage, and Chaka Khan’s 1974 body. Mercy.
4. “Raspberry Beret” – Around The World In A Day (1985)
We’re more than halfway through the list now and I think we’ve reached a level of comfort in which I feel free enough to admit something about myself that I’ve kept a secret from even those people closest to me: I love berets. There, I said it. It’s out there now.
I would wear a beret every damn day if I didn’t know it would make me look like a pretentious d-bag. Regardless, if I’m fortunate enough to live until I’m 60, I will follow the lead of one of my favorite all-time entertainers, Groucho Marx, and say “F-It, I’m old, and I’m wearing a beret.”. And Steve Harvey suits, too. It’s all berets and Steve Harvey suits starting on my 60th birthday. Book it!
Huh? Oh yeah, the song. This tune has a lot of things that always make me think of it. Whenever I’ve had trouble with a boss I would think of this song because Mr. McGee seemed like a real dick. Whenever I would see someone go “in thru the Out door” I would think of this song. Whenever I hear the lyric “Thunder drowns out what the lightning sees”, I remember that the lyric was misheard and used as a band name, The Lightning Seeds. They went on to make one of my favorite songs of the 90’s, “Pure”.
3. “Kiss” – Parade (1986) re-recorded by Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones (1988)
I’m a big fan of the original. It’s such a timeless, fun song! I love how he shared the spotlight with Wendy in the video. That famous video also gave us some classic facial expressions.
2. “Pop Life” – Around The World In A Day (1985)
ATWIAD gets lost when folks talk about Prince’s better albums. It has this song, “Raspberry Beret” “Paisley Park” and “America”. “Pop Life” always sounded like a better, Princified version of David Bowie’s “Fashion”, but that might be just me saying that. It definitely is just me saying that.
1. “When You Were Mine” – Dirty Mind (1980) re-recorded by Cyndi Lauper (1983)
Ok, hear me out. With all the great music he has made, I still think Prince’s greatest talent is his ability to make songs that are accessible to other musicians to the extent that they can make it their own. That is a phenomenal asset and speaks to the greatness of his song writing. “When You Were Mine” is the perfect example of this. The original is up-tempo bare bones guitar (I’m not 100% sure that his guitar is plugged in) and synth tune while Lauper’s cover is mid-tempo with a heavier new wave synth sound and drumbeats. She changes the lyric from “Oh Girl, when you were mine…” to “Ohh Ohh, when you were mine..” and keeps the lyric “I know that you’re going with another guy”, which adds an extra layer of ambiguity to the song. Is she still speaking from the perspective of a male as in the original, or is she speaking from the viewpoint of a female in which her male partner is now dating another guy?? Lauper is also able to power the song with her exceptional vocals.
That’s right, my favorite Prince song is an album cut that was never a single then re-recorded by Cyndi Lauper and never released commercially as a single. It’s a great song nonetheless. Just ask Tegan and Sara.
Still here? OK, here’s one more treat. Princess, the female Prince tribute band led by the lovely Maya Rudolph (with Wendy playing behind her).