In 1985, Prince followed his blockbuster album Purple Rain with a creative left turn on Around The World In A Day. He had reached the summit of pop mountain, painted it purple, then slowly walked away from its dizzying height.
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At the peak of his success, a restless Prince ended the Purple Rain tour early to focus on Around The World In A Day. He also refused to release an advanced single or music video in an effort to focus listeners’ attention on the album as a complete work.
To celebrate 40 years of this psychedelic masterpiece, let’s highlight four tracks as an introduction. But in the spirit of Prince’s intentions, it’s worth your time to play the entire album.
“Raspberry Beret”
Prince’s creative left turn isn’t immediately obvious on the album’s biggest hit, which predates Purple Rain. “Raspberry Beret” is as streamlined and pop as anything he’d previously released. The track opens with Prince working a day job. Bored and listless until a girl walks “in through the out door.” He immediately becomes smitten by her beauty, fashion, and gloomy nature. This is Prince on his own kind of Magical Mystery Tour.
“America”
Tough to discern if “America” is a patriotic anthem or a protest song. Like “Born In The U.S.A.”, you understand how one might get confused if you don’t pay close attention to the words. It’s also a spot on the album where Prince cranks the volume on his guitar. On “Let’s Go Crazy”, he sounded like the second coming of Jimi Hendrix. Here, he crafts a psychedelic funk anthem, and judging by America’s history, maybe a protest is the most patriotic thing one can do.
“Pop Life”
“Pop Life” says a lot in its three minutes and forty-four seconds. First, it’s a comment on how uncomfortable Prince became after Purple Rain made him the biggest star on the planet. And it marks the line between his hit-making instincts and the need to experiment, challenge, and evolve as an artist. Though it was a hit, “Pop Life” foreshadowed the unpredictable turns of Prince’s later releases. If Purple Rain had broadened his audience, “Pop Life” initiated the narrowing phase of Prince’s career.
“Around The World In A Day”
Before the release of Purple Rain, Prince had already started recording a new album. It began with a demo created by the brothers of The Revolution band members Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin. David Coleman and Jonathan Melvoin had recorded a sketch version of what became the title track. The use of Middle Eastern instrumentation and psychedelia inspired Prince and gave him a vision for the rest of the album.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
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