Prince’s style was so unique it would be hard for anyone to borrow even a morsel of his musicality without being linked back to His Royal Badness. The pairing of his falsetto and his floor-filling beats created some of music’s most iconic offerings. Prince was a prolific creator and his 39 studio albums leave much to be explored.
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We combed through those records and found five lesser-known songs that capture Prince’s spirit. Revisit these deep cuts, below.
1. “Blue Light”
It’s been well documented that Prince wasn’t one to shy away from raunch. Many of his love songs leave little to the imagination – euphemisms were often swapped for explicit detail. In “Blue Light,” he finds himself with a lover who likes to play it coy. While she wants to keep their love in the dark, he wants it wild again like when they first met.
You say you wish I was shy
I always take a simple thing and push it way too far
But baby, that’s the problem with you and I
You say not in public but I say in the car
Say, we need to get wild again like it was when we first met
Close your eyes and count to ten and when you open them –
I’ll be standing naked with nothing but a smile on
2. “The Question of U”
“The Question of U” features an off-kilter melody that seems to go nowhere. The backing beat for the song is driving but equally as one-note. If this song was done by any other artist, it could be accused of being stale. But with the addition of Prince’s expertly arranged vocals and unmatched guitar prowess, the song becomes something of a marvel.
So what is the answer to the question of you
What do I look for, what shall I do?
Which way do I turn when I’m feeling lost?
If I sell my soul, now what will it cost?
3. “The Future”
Prince contributed to the 1989 Batman soundtrack with the song “The Future.” The tune followed the comic book character’s classic theme song on the soundtrack but, it is truly the curtain opener on the record. It’s a deeply ’80s offering with a floor-filling beat and punchy synths.
I’ve seen the future and it will be
I’ve seen the future and it works
And if there’s life after, we will see
So I can’t go like a jerk
Systematic overthrow of the underclass
4. “The Truth”
Prince leaned hard into the blues world with “The Truth.” The melody is built around a classic blues guitar riff, which is complimented perfectly by his warbling vocals. In the lyrics, Prince asks a series of rhetorical and mind-bending questions like, What if time’s only reason was to give us all something to fear?
What if half the things ever said
Turned out to be a lie
How will you know the truth?
If you were given all the answers
And you stopped to wonder why
But how will you know the truth?
5. “Tambourine”
Aside from “Raspberry Beret,” Prince’s Around the World in a Day is full of deep cuts. Any one of the tracks could be chosen for this list, but we’re going with “Tambourine.” The track is an interesting offering full of layered vocals and harmonies so strange they nearly don’t work. But, Prince somehow manages to pull it off, turning something that could have been nothing more than a clumsy attempt at psychedelia into something that warrants multiple listens in an effort to uncover all of the hidden gems within the production.
Tambourine
Long days, lonely nights
Tambourine
Long days, lonely nights
Tambourine
I don’t care for one night stands
With trolley cars
That juggle seventeen
I just want to settle down and
Play around
My baby’s tambourine
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
