(Featured Image: Official artwork for the Originals version of “You’re My Love”; © NPG Records/Warner Bros.)

Got something today for the patrons: an exclusive post on “You’re My Love,” the most surprising–and arguably the most controversial–track on last month’s Originals. For those who haven’t yet become patrons, here’s a taste:

Last month’s Originals had plenty of surprises for even dedicated Prince collectors–but none quite as surprising as “You’re My Love,” a track recorded in March 1982 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail home studio and later gifted to, of all people, country music crooner and rotisserie chicken mogul Kenny Rogers. Most reviews of the collection greeted the song with mild (or not-so-mild) bafflement. Paste’s Zach Schonfeld intimated that “there’s a reason” Prince didn’t keep “You’re My Love” for himself. PopMatters’ Chris Ingalls panned it as a “bland-yet-serviceable 1980s pop song” that “sees Prince almost veering into parody with a Vegas-style croon.” In her excellent piece for The Quietus, Soma Ghosh dismissed the song as “schmaltzy.” Even Michael Howe, the A&R professional in charge of Prince’s posthumous Vault releases, described it as a “full-on Holiday Inn lounge vibe” in an interview with The West Australian.

To hear what I have to say about the track, it will cost you a buck a month–but that buck a month also helps make it possible for me to post regular blog posts each week, and will entitle you to more exclusive content in the weeks to come. If that sounds like a good deal to you, then check it out here:

Patreon Exclusive: You’re My Love

Otherwise, I’ll be posting my next regular piece on “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” tomorrow, which will cost you–to coin the phrase–not even one lousy dime. See you then.