Prince's pop life, song by song, in chronological order.
-
The Belle of St. Mark
While “Glamorous” sounded tailor-made for Sheila’s particular talents (even if it wasn’t), “Belle” is well-crafted but faceless, embodying the essentialist cynicism of the publishing imprint Prince used for his female side projects: “Girlsongs.”
-
1999
What set Prince apart from his early-’80s peers was his insistence on greeting Judgment Day, not with solemn gravity or mordant gallows humor, but with a seemingly irony-free display of millenarian ecstasy.
-
No Call U
It isn’t entirely clear whether “No Call U,” recorded toward the end of the 1999 sessions on July 23, was intended for Jill Jones, another side project, or Prince himself; more likely than not, given the “crazy blur” of recording sessions during this period, it wasn’t even clear to the participants at the time.
-
Lady Cab Driver (Rearrange)
What keeps “Lady Cab Driver” distinct from 1999’s other transportation-themed erotic fantasies, “Little Red Corvette” and “International Lover,” is its pervasive sense of angst.