That weird rhythm-track made up of a synth-pulse, finger-snaps and a strangely-timed acoustic drum. The sweet melodic synth line. The always divine harmony/backing vocals. The spaced-out sounds in the extended version. I was mesmerized in '85, and I still am. And imagine hearing those lyrics at 12 years old. I think it's a perfect B-side. On an album it might be drowned by other great songs, but it's too weird to be a single, I guess. I give it a 5/5, but I might be biased by nostalgia.
The production on Girl is so trippy and lysergic that I was pretty incredulous when I first found out this dated from ‘82. I have not heard the original mix, but I’m assuming he made some serious changes to make it fit in perfectly with the material from ATWIAD. Something about the music itself is highly erotic. I’m not a huge fan of the spoken word passage, but at least it’s playful, and the final few moments of pure instrumental are quite gorgeous. As I mentioned already, I would have preferred this on the album over some of what’s on Side 2. 4/5
Girl is the perfect weird little Prince song. It always reminds me of Movie Star. The approach is similar. It also has playful spoken lyrics over an addictive synth line (spoiler: Movie Star is one of my favorite weird Prince songs and a 5 out of 5). This is a song from 1982 with Vanity on backwards vocals (singing the same basic song replacing Girl with Boy) with unknown changes in 1985. On the surface it just might be a throwaway song, but it's a genius work creating a perfect hypnotic, dreamy sound that is sweet and haunting at the same time. By no means this is your typical pop song, or album track. This is best as a b-side. This is a song for the connoisseurs, the ones who think that the deep-cuts aren't deep enough, giving even more depth to the way Prince sees his music. Prince performed the song a couple times. First in 2007 and 2009 (on acoustic guitar) and after that occasionally on his final tour (on piano). How many people would have recognized it? This is one the songs that I want to give a bonus point for guts, weirdness, playfulness, avant purple and out-of-the-box thinking. So I raise my subjective opinion from a 4/5 to a 5/5. I'm so glad that this is a song Prince dared to release! Not just for the quality, but also for the wide range of musicianship. This is a 5 out of 5
Girl Ugh. I think this is terrible. The lyrics are way too direct which removes all intrigue and interest. The melody sounds like it is out of a child’s toy. Sounds very thrown together. We get it Prince, you’re horny. 1/5
Much respect, really, but the only similarities I hear between those two songs is that Prince is on vocals and that they both contain musical notes. "Girl" ~ It's a good song, but it's not this gem: 3.7/5 for the B-side "Girl."
"Girl" is another strong b-side. Unlike "She's Always In My Hair", I can't see this one on ATWIAD, however. The synth hook seems to belong to a slightly earlier period. It's a song of unbridled lust. The 12" extended version (which seems to be the same mix as the regular 7" b-side except much longer) is the one for me given that the song's languorous mood evokes a respite from the daily world - a respite in which our two protagonists hump each other silly (as evidenced by the sex sounds on the outro of the long version). That's a lovely thing and I find the song quite peaceful. In this context, bigger is better. 7" edit: 3.8/5 12" full version: 4.0/5
Selectively quoting the post right above me. I had just put on the song and gone into this thread to post my thoughts on it. And then I see that the post right above mine already says everything I want to say about it. 4.5/5
Albums discussed so far ranked: Purple Rain 5 1999 4.6090 Dirty Mind 4.4281 What Time Is It? 3.8316 Controversy 3.8237 Around the World In a Day 3.6095 The Glamorous Life 3.58 Prince 3.3762 Piano and a Microphone 3.333 Vanity 6 3.2 Ice Cream Castles 2.925 For You 2.85 The Time 2.6547 Apollonia 6 2.5857
I love "Girl." I can see how it might have fit on disc 2 of 1999, but the subsequent rearrangement and production really make the track. If we stretch the bounds of "ballad" to accommodate "Girl," then it's certainly one of my fave Prince ballads. 4.5/5
Today's song is "4 The Tears In Your Eyes", written and produced by Prince, (officially credited, as many of these songs are, to Prince & the Revolution.) There are two versions of this song. The first one was recorded by Prince and the Revolution in a mobile recording studio outside the Superdome in New Orleans, on February 2nd, 1985. It was released on the Various Artist compilation album We Are the World on April 12th, 1985. Lyric. Prince: vocals and instruments except: Wendy Melvoin: guitar, backing vocals Lisa Coleman: keyboards, backing vocals Matt Fink: keyboards Brown Mark: bass, vocals Bobby Z (Rivkin): drums The second version was recorded for the video version of the song; it was basically recorded live in the SIR studio in Hollywood and filmed. This version was also released on The B-sides in 1993. I'll put a video link on the next post. Prince: vocals, guitar Wendy Melvoin: guitar, vocals Lisa Coleman: keyboards, vocals Note: Prince had not wanted to contribute to the "We Are the World" single, due to various problems: scheduling conflicts, hypercompetitiveness with Michael Jackson and, apparently, he didn't care for the song. He offered this song to the album that accompanied the song instead.
Fashion note: The video shows that by the time of the release of this song, Prince had already moved on from the long-haired psychedelic stylings of Around the World of The Day and had adopted the slick, retro look of the Under the Cherry Moon/Parade period, captured in black and white.
4 The Tears In Your Eyes studio version 3/5 acoustic version 3/5 (but a higher 3 than the studio version) The studio version is probably the last of the released studio recordings from the 80's that I got to hear (before any outtakes were released) and it has always been a bit underwhelming to me. I knew the acoustic version first, which I like better, but still don't really love.
A pretty decent song - certainly better than We Are the World itself... I've always liked the backing vocals on the 'video' version: 4/5.
