Dr. Everything'll-Be-All-Right wanted this one to be on time....
Here's a shock--my introduction to this week's tune was when the soundtrack to Purple Rain was released, as both the album and the movie were highly anticipated. The album turned out to be a masterpiece, and the movie, for those not familiar, was actually downright entertaining and one of the better movies about music and musicians that I've seen....
Hard to believe I'm more than ten years into this gig and still haven't featured a Prince song. Yikes--that's almost dereliction of duty (and probably would be were I getting paid to do this....). So...Prince. Writing a paragraph bio seems a little impossible as his career has been nothing short of phenomenal. A few highlights: over one hundred and fifty million albums sold, seven Grammy Awards, six Brit Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe. Critically acclaimed, a true innovator, genius level musically, ultimate performer (twenty-nine tours in his career), one of the greatest guitarists ever, starred in five movies, and his songwriting may be the most prolific in rock and roll history (it's estimated he wrote between five hundred and a thousand songs). And he played baseball, football, and basketball in high school. What didn't he do, for God's sake? He released forty-three studio albums (four #1's and seventeen top tens), thirteen EPs, five live albums, and nine compilations. He also released 117 singles (which don't even include digital downloads or promotional singles) of which five hit #1 and seventeen reached the top ten. Sadly, Prince died of an accidental overdose in 2016. His legacy ranks with the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Bob Marley as one of the true greats/geniuses of rock and roll.
"Let's Go Crazy" was the second single released from Prince's 1984 career changing album Purple Rain. The single would reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also hit #1 on the Billboard 200, as well as Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Zimbabwe (so many cool kids in Zimbabwe!). It was ranked # 8 in Rolling Stone's most recent list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
Fun Fact: Prince is one of only three artists to simultaneously have the number one film, single, and album. The other two? Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Pretty elite company....
Had Prince opened "Let's Go Crazy" with his sermon and then the rest of the song had proved to be just meh, it would probably still be a great song. The intro is one of the greatest starts to a song I've ever heard--and it's mostly spoken word with a funereal organ in the background. That the rest of the song takes it from there to another level is just more proof of the genius that was Prince. Prince has said the song is about fighting the devil (the de-elevator is supposed to be Satan) and letting your and God's love shine through--works for me. Prince fills the song with his energy and a joie de vivre that makes you just want to go, well, uh, crazy. Dynamite work from the band with explosive percussion and swirling synthesizers and screeching guitars. Prince closes it up with a scorching guitar solo that soars into a whirling crescendo. A master work from a master artist at the height of his talents.
Lyric Sheet: "Maybe it's 'cause/We're all gonna die/And when we do (When we do)/What it all for? (What's it all for?)/You better live now/'Fore the grim reaper come knocking on your door..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
No comments:
Post a Comment