This thread is not a competition. Let’s honor the Artist.
What do you think is the best Prince song. But more importantly, why? What about it musically, or in your life, makes it that way. It will be hard to discuss because the songs are impossible to find online so we can include links, but it is worth a try.
For me, no question, the song is How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore. It is the B-side for 1999 and was only released on his Hits/B-sides compilation on CD.
Her version is good - she is Alicia Keys after all - but doesn’t hold a candle to Prince’s original. It’s just him, a slow-jam piano groove and a bit of studio echo and double-tracked vocals in the bridge. It is basically unplugged - you can either deliver the song on your own, or you can’t - and Prince gets inside and inhabits the lyric of a spurned lover. Oh man, in the wee, quiet hours, putting this song on? Moves me every time.
Maybe Adore. But the thing about Prince songs are, there are so many, many really good ones. I was thinking, what if I wanted to share one Prince song with someone who doesn’t really know his music, to sum up how great he is? It would be hard to pick the one, because there are so many. But I do have a soft spot for Adore. I just like it.
Kiss. Because it’s the first song I performed and really started getting ‘‘out of my shell’’. Really fun song to play and improvise words for (I’m not American so I changed some references). And it was the song that taught me that music could be fun and silly without being crap.
As I have mentioned in the memorial thread, I’m not very qualified to vote in this thread because there are large gaps in my knowledge of his music, but my favorite has always been Raspberry Beret. I can’t really describe why, when it came out I think it was only a relatively minor hit for him for those times, but back then I immediately loved it because it sounded so weird to my ears since I hadn’t worked my way back to 60s psychedelia yet and was instantly fascinated. You don’t hear it very often anymore, but I’m watching a Prince/Michael Jackson documentary on Arte TV right now and it there was a bit of the original video, and I was taken aback thirty years. So the reason is nostalgia ;).
But Sign ‘O’ The Times deserves a special mention, because it’s one of those minimalist songs that are so damned effective and unbelievably funky (and it’s funky and dark at the same time). Always loved it.
“Anotherloverholenyohead” is an example of a perfect song. I will not claim that it is the best Prince song, but it’s definitely way up on my favorites list.
The perfection is sealed by the vocal arrangements in the middle of the song. They are pure magic.
The song is midway through the page. I’ve always loved the instrumental that starts at 2:45 (and listening to it now that he’s gone makes my heart ache). I’m choosing it now because it’s the first song I can remember being my favorite; it’s not much of an exaggeration to say I’ve always loved it because it came out when I was four or five. It takes me straight back to those days when my parents would pull out their albums and the strobe light and play music for hours. Those were happy times for me.
A while ago, Prince performed an acoustic version of this song on a TV show. Can’t remember what show it was. While he was playing the introduction, he gave the audience a sly smile and said, “Takes you back to high school, doesn’t it?” Everyone went wild.
It doesn’t remind me of high school since I was just a little kid when it came out. But if I had been in the audience, I would have been all “OMG YES!”
17 Days was just playing on my Sirius. Made me start crying again.
Yearning, heartache, unrequited love, resignation…the song captures all of that. “Let the rain come down, let the rain come down, let the rain come down, down…”
Who hasn’t felt this way at least once? Man, this song used to get me through so many lonely periods.
I’m going to say Purple Rain. It might look superficial to choose one of his more famous songs, but that’s the song that I’ll pull over the car to listen to (if I still had a car that is). I prefer the long version, with the long twinkling die out at the end. Like an all over massage for the soul.
Don’t know what makes a song qualify as best, but Sexy MF is my favorite all time Prince song. Funky, jazzy, naughty with crazy good solos. Anytime I find a good version of it on the internet to show everyone what I’m raving about, it is soon muted.
There is a thread now asking why Prince should be considered a musical genius. I think now that he has passed his estate should let loose its grip on his internet presence and then everyone can enjoy and see what we enthusiasts know to be true.
