Saw another article, today, about Sinead O'Connor's demise.
Ignored the article, but remembered how striking "nothing compares 2 u" was when it first came out. That brilliant opening
It's been 7 hours and 15 days (since you took your love away)
I go out all night and sleep all day (since you took your love away)
Since you've been gone
I can do whatever I want.
I can see whomever I choose.I can do whatever I want.
But the point of this post isn't Sinead O'Connor, or her wonderful interpretation of this song.
It's that I've never heard Prince's original version of it. Since he wrote it, there must at least be a rough mix somewhere. It must exist somewhere.
It's that I've never heard Prince's original version of it. Since he wrote it, there must at least be a rough mix somewhere. It must exist somewhere.
Found this. It's live, and it's passable, I guess -- but far more recent than I want.
I want a recording of Prince's take on this, pre-Sinead--before it was publicly received. Closer to the time when he conceived it, when there may've been fresh emotional resonance.
In the same way Dylan was influenced by Jimi Hendrix's interpretation of "All Along the Watchtower" (Dylan says after Hendrix covered it, Dylan always performed the song following Hendrix's interpretation because he says he liked it better than his own). Similarly, Prince may have been impacted by O'Connor. Doubtful, but time and critical reception to the song certainly has.
I can appreciate the above, as a musical performance...but it's unremarkable emotionally.
Wish Prince didn't so closely guard his work, and let some stuff slip out of the vault.
Wonder what it'd be like to work on Prince's musical [and individual] archive...? I'd love to do it. It's something I'll be working toward. Probably around 10-15 years from now.
Here's one of my [many] favorite Prince songs.
Minute 3:24: his break from falsetto--until that point the protagonist is beseeching, but also reasonable, in control--at 3:24 the unleashed primal screams are epic and soul-ripping.
That emotional--and musical, stylistic--contrast is one of the best things I've ever heard. Otis Redding was capable of that marked contrast too--but he'd ease in, ramp up, then tear into it--rather than go from 0 to 60, as Prince does.
