Purple Rain: The rest of the album

I'm finishing with Prince because:

a. Richard doesn't have a friggin clue what's going on, and

b. All these photos of Prince are beginning to make me feel ill (sort or like looking at pornography with poodles in it... I guess).

When Doves Cry. Here are the three things people write about this song on the internet. They say that:

1. The song has no bass
2. The song doesn’t need to be reviewed because it’s so famous

3. The song is supposed to be semi-autobiographical

I think "semi" is well used here. Infact, perhaps we could replace it with the word imaginary.

I Would Die 4 U. “I’m your Messiah”… “and I would die 4 U”. He’s not a woman, he’s not a man, he’s a dove… so we would have to conclude that he is in fact Jesus. Surprised? It’s a song with a tense feeling; the drum beat is off kilter, delayed, a hand clap added in the chorus.

Baby I’m a Star. This song reminds me of the movie because it has that freaky back-tracked talking in it that sounds so cool. There is a scene in the movie where he takes his girl (Apollonia) to his bedroom which is also a home studio. They listen to a bit of sampled music featuring what sounds like a woman having sex, but is actually a woman crying, backtracked. Then there’s the sex scene. I remember there is pretty obviously no faking in the crotch rubbing department (how did Prince explain the dramatic necessity of crotch rubbing to his co-star?), and because while the woman is very large Prince is very small. You feel he might get crushed if Apollonia rolls over in bed.

Maybe this is why Prince gets away with the whole sex thing in his act. If he were a strapping six-footer covered in hair and tattoos his come-ons would be threatening, but because he’s a well groomed little waif it comes off as cheeky.