“When Doves Cry” - Alex Clare from The Lateness Of The Hour
[excellent cover of the Prince original song from Purple Rain]
Prince - Moonbeam Levels [aka. A Better Place 2 Die](Outtake)
Purple Rain before Purple Rain? I think so. This is a track believed to be an outtake from the 1999 sessions. Prince fans claim it more-than-likely got snubbed for Free.
When I think about it, “Private Joy” is the song that made me fall in love with Prince. Prior to December 2009, I only really knew a few Prince songs that I liked and could never really get into the entirety of the Purple Rain album even though it was constantly praised as his best work. My thought process was something along the lines of “Well, if Purple Rain is the peak and I’m not that into it, why should I look at the rest of his catalog?”
This, of course, was a silly train of thought because the moment I heard the Controversy album, it completely opened me up to the musical masterwork of Prince and “Private Joy” was the specific song that changed my mind.
The keyboard riff is one of the catchiest licks I’ve ever heard and it’s great how it echoes throughout most of the song in various ways. During the verses, you hear the riff played with a bit more subtlety in the first two bars, followed by a repeat up an octave in the third and fourth bars. Also, the pre-chorus is amazing when Prince does that staccato vocal delivery thing over the line “And I ain’t gonna tell nobody, nobody ‘bout my little pretty toy.” It sounds like there are two or three vocal overdubs on each of those parts and each one is delivered with a slightly different inflection which gives this slinky vibe.
The chorus is incredibly catchy but the best part of the song starts at the end of the 4th time through the chorus when Prince sings “Come on, honey baby, get up” right before the break. I LOVE those harmonies on “Get up” so much. Right after the break, it goes into this extra tag section where the man utters one of the greatest lines I’ve ever heard in “If anybody asks you, you belong to Prince.”
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, that line is bad as hell! I fuckin’ love it.
