Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: The Gifts of Prince, Part 2

If I may be so bold as to make the following statement, then this might be the "Rave & Favorite Five" that I hate to do the most.  Not because I take any issue with (now) the late, great Prince's illustrious catalog full of masterpieces.  It's only because outside of my all-time favorite three songs of his, I abhorred bumping out or excluding other faves like "Scandalous", "Insatiable", "The One", "Take Me With You", "Purple Rain", "Diamonds and Pearls", "International Lover", "Raspberry Beret" and "Little Red Corvette".  I mean, that was just ten songs right there and there are plenty more where that came from because Prince just made that much dope music.  Furthermore, it was even more difficult leaving off "Computer Blue"--a song that transforms around the 1:45 mark into one of the most awesome portions of music that I've ever heard and that has subconsciously inspired a significant amount of my style as a music producer.  Bloviating aside, it's called the "Rave & Favorite Five" for a reason and, thus, I continue with the second and final part of "The Gifts of Prince" that unveils the five gifts/works of art that he left with me--and perhaps many of you as well...

#5 "U GOT THE LOOK" (Sign o' the Times, Paisley Park/Warner Bros., 1987).  As I will begin to unveil in June, the summer of 1987 was one of my favorites largely due to the prevalence of good music that had us in our apartment in Oxon Hill and glued to our radio.  Although I was so obsessed with The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove" that it became the first tape that I ever purchased, "U Got the Look" had to be in my Top 10 when the warmer weather rolled around.  Even though I was only seven years old and barely understood much of anything when it came to women, I fully comprehended the fact that Prince's object of affection totally broke the Super Duper Badd AF Meter.  Like, so bad that only somebody with as much poetic boldness and charisma as Prince could bag her.  Off the rip, he starts this song off rocking with an edgy groove and drops gems to his lady love like "U walked in, I woke up" and "Color you peach and black/Color me taken aback".  Everything about "U Got the Look" screams "hip as a mugg"--the chick, the brother laying down game, the music, the whole nine.  Throw Sheena Easton in the mix for some extra swagger and a wicked guitar solo per Prince's usual and it's one of those songs that will always live in the recesses of my brain and maybe even give me a rock star's confidence...

#4 "LET'S GO CRAZY" (Purple Rain, Warner Bros., 1984).  If there were a manual on how to begin a classic album, then Prince should have called dibs on being the sole author because "Let's Go Crazy" could be argued as the best opening track to any album in any genre in any era of music.  With a eulogy-style opening complete with a funeral-like organ performance, he builds up the drama for the ensuing onslaught of the Linn drums associated with his sound in the 80s and driving guitars as his epically sonic backdrop.  With lyrics that give a little bit of everything from overcoming the pursuit of the Devil ("de-elevator") and negative thinking to his wittiness about a Beverly Hills shrink named "Dr. Everything'll-Be-Alright", the simplest lines might just be the most profound as evidenced in the second verse:

We're all excited/But we don't know why/Maybe it's cause/We're all gonna die/And when we do (when we do)/What's it all for (what's it all for)/You better live now/Before the Grim Reaper come knocking on your door...

Essentially, to "go crazy" was to go against the conventional view of life as dictated by the world, defeat any attempts of being dragged down to the pits of hell and reach for something higher and more everlasting.  To think...I thought that song took me on such a wonderfully whimsical roller coaster as a kid, not realizing until I was much older that it had such a layered message to it.  In my McLovin voice, "Tight."

#3 "WHEN DOVES CRY" (Purple Rain, Warner Bros., 1984).  Now I don't wanna let the cat out of the bag in terms of my favorite song of all time because there's a "Rave & Favorite Five" post on the horizon to cover that.  However, during the spring and summer of 1984, there were two songs vying for my favorite song in the whole wide world: 1) "Hear It for the Boy" by Deniece Williams and 2) "When Doves Cry" by Prince.  In time, Prince would win that battle handily, although Niecy's song still makes me quite nostalgic.  Much like most of Prince's music at the time, I felt like I had never heard anything like that in my entire four-and-a-half years of life.  There may have been several songs that began my love affair with rock guitars, but "When Doves Cry" sealed the romance with a kiss delivered with aggressive finesse.  Throw in those signature Linn drums and that unforgettable loop in the hook, it really wouldn't have mattered what Prince wrote because the music--all of which he performed--had me hooked IMM-MEED-CHET-LEE.  However, that's how he matched strength for strength as the lyrics (inspired by his relationship with Vanity 6 member Susan Moonsie) were just as intense as the composition:

Dig if you will the picture/Of you and I engaged in a kiss/The sweat of your body covers me/Can you, my darling/Can you picture this?/Dream if you can a courtyard/An oceans of violets in bloom/Animals strike curious poses/They feel the heat/The heat between me and you...

If it was your first time hearing it, then little would you know from that opening number that it would take a dramatic turn by comparing his parents' contentious relationship with his own.  Again, very few artists can capture the drama of love, sex and romance like Prince without needing to make a movie about it--even though he clearly made a movie about it.

#2 "THE BEAUTIFUL ONES" (Purple Rain, Warner Bros., 1984).  Funny thing about this song...I remember being no more than nine years old and seeing a comedian mimic Prince's performance of this song and thinking how hilarious it was.  Then I happened to hear it on the radio not long after the routine and thinking, "Hey...I actually like this song!"  Then I finally saw Purple Rain on HBO five years after it was out of theaters--I think I still have it on VHS--and seeing the scene where "The Kid" performed this in an attempt to woo Apollonia--which was actually one of my favorite parts of the film.  If you just read the lyrics on the surface, they can appear to be a little understated.  However, placed in proper context, Prince is a master of injecting profound amounts of passion and conviction into the simplest of words: "Paint a perfect picture/Bring to life the vision in one's mind/The beautiful ones always smash the picture/Always, every time."  That passionate energy reaches one of the most visceral climaxes of any song in his vault as he convincingly wails, "Do you want him...or do you want me...'cause I want you."  Kinda makes you think that Susannah Melvoin--the woman for whom "The Beautiful Ones" was written--either saw the writing on the wall about him or she was just out of her doggone mind not to requite his advances.  Like seriously...just between the 3:57 mark at the end of the song, did she hear anything that dude said?  "I may not know where I'm going baby...I may not know what I need...but one thing, one thing's for certain baby...I know what I want...and it's to please you baby"?  Now I wouldn't have been trying to break up anybody's relationship, but how do you stay with your man after that?!?!  I'm just sayin'...

#1 "ADORE" (Sign o' the Times, Paisley Park/Warner Bros., 1987).  Although there are other songs that are ahead of this on my list of all-time favorites by any artist for various reasons, you would still have a hard time convincing me that  this is not the greatest song ever written and composed.  Forget being just Prince's best ballad; it's one of the best songs of all time.  It's so good that he made sure that it was the last song of the entire album--a classic double-disc joint that included "Sign 'o the Times", "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Hot Thing", "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" and the aforementioned "U Got the Look".  Basically, those were already tough acts to follow and he put the nail in the coffin with "Adore".  I mean, seriously...pick a lyric...any lyric in this song and it's beating whatever opposing lyric you throw in its direction.  In the chorus alone, he waxes poetic: "If God one day struck me blind/Your beauty I'll still see/Love is too weak to define/Just what you mean to me."  If that ain't dope enough for you, then pick up some of what he's putting down in the second verse:

When we be makin' love/I only hear the sounds/Heavenly angels cryin' up above/Tears of joy pourin' down on us/They know we need each other/They know you are my fix/I know you know I ain't cheatin' baby/They know this is serious/I ain't funkin' just for kicks, no/This condition I got is crucial/You could say that I'm a terminal case/You could burn up my clothes/Smash up my ride, well, maybe not the ride/But I got to have your face all up in the place/I'd like to think that I'm a man of exquisite taste/A hundred percent Italian silk, imported Egyptian lace/Nothin' baby, I said nothin' baby could compare/Nothing could compare to your lovely face/Do you know what I'm sayin' to you/Tryin', tryin' to say, I'm just tryin' to say/That until, until the end of time/I'll be there for you...

Truth be told, this might be where I first learned any bit of genuine "game" that I remotely possess because Prince leaves absolutely nothing to chance in this promissory love note.  What drives home the "sexuality and spirituality are one in the same" theme is one of the best vocal performances in his catalog as it showcases his unique range and ability to deliver such gorgeous sentiments like no one else.  Moreover, he perfectly constructs one of the most soulful pieces of music of the first decade of his career around each vocal and lyrical ebb and flow, making the clear-cut standout of his many masterpieces.


While interviewing legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin hours after Prince's passing, Roland Martin heaped thanks and glowing compliments upon her and said, "We believe in giving flowers while folks are here."  With that said, the likelihood of me running into Prince and giving him the flowers that he rightfully deserved while he was alive was not very high.  However, if that slim chance would've occurred, then I would've made sure to tell him just how much his achievements in elite artistry have influenced my musical tastes as a fan and my approach to music production.  No shade, but he didn't need to form The Revolution as his backing band because he was the revolution all on his own and all of the different genres that he implemented in his sound would never be the same again.  To think that there are people who passed away and never got to experience one of the greatest icons in music history or young folks in this day and age who have no idea who he is outside of a Dave Chappelle/Charlie Murphy skit.  Call it a bit dramatic...call it mourning over a stranger...call it eulogizing a celebrity more than the hundreds of thousands of people who pass all the time.  Call it whatever you must, but make sure that you call it an irrefutable part of my life.  There will never be another Prince Rogers Nelson and I'm blessed to say that he was one of the biggest and brightest parts of my era of music.  Once again, Rest in Paradise...

So what I've come to find is that because Prince has such an extensive library, a lot of people don't share the same favorite song(s).  Therefore, for all of my fellow Prince fanatics out there, PLEASE feel free to share your favorite "gifts" of music that he left with you and join with me in celebrating the Purple Reign!