Author: Zachary Hoskins
-
Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)
If “Something in the Water”’s music wasn’t so beautiful, the self-pity and solipsism of its lyrics would begin to feel ugly: an adolescent projection of self-loathing into a spitefully generic female tormenter.
-
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?
“How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” feels in many ways like Prince’s Ur-song: a pure expression of the carnal and emotional longing at his core, drawn from the deep well of the African American musical tradition.
-
D.M.S.R.
“D.M.S.R.” was Prince’s calling card–a four-word (four-letter!) summation of everything he and his music were about.
-
If It’ll Make U Happy
What “If It’ll Make U Happy” lacks in polish, it makes up for in potential: with a little more gloss, its sunny harmonies and glistening arrangement could have been a hit for someone.
-
Roundup: Vanity 6, 1982
It’s been about nine months since the last time we completed an album around here–which, if nothing else, means that we’re just about keeping pace with Prince himself, who released Vanity 6 just under 10 months after his own Controversy. Let’s see if we can finish 1999 by October! In the meantime, here’s how I…