Prince’s 1984 album Purple Rain is celebrating its 40th anniversary today, June 25, for everyone out there who wanted to feel old today. The album, Prince’s sixth studio offering, was originally the soundtrack for his movie of the same name. Now, we’ve gathered the wildest moments from the album’s production for fans to relive or learn about for the first time in honor of the 40th anniversary.
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[RELATED: On This Day: Prince Was Born—a Look at His Life and Legendary Career]
Stevie Nicks Was Originally Supposed to Write Lyrics for the 10-Minute Title Track, and Jonathan Cain of Journey Got a Sneak Preview
Allegedly, Stevie Nicks was originally slated to write the lyrics to the title track for Purple Rain. The song started out at a whopping 11-minute runtime, but was eventually cut down to 10 minutes. Still, according to legend, Nicks couldn’t handle the immense pressure of writing a song for Prince.
“I listened to it and I just got scared,” Nicks has allegedly explained. “I called him back and said, ‘I can’t do it, I wish I could. It’s too much for me.’” Prince then wrote the lyrics himself, which brings us back to the cut lyrics which brought the song down to 10 minutes. According to a 2012 article from NME, the theme of money was deemed “inappropriate,” and an original verse was cut.
The verse was, Honey I don’t want your money, no, no / I don’t even think I want your love / If I wanted either one I would take your money and / I want the heavy stuff.
Additionally, Prince was worried that the song was too similar to Journey’s Faithfully. To rectify this, he called Journey guitarist Jonathan Cain and asked if he thought the songs were similar. According to Cain in a 2016 Billboard interview, “I thought it was an amazing tune, and I told him, ‘Man, I’m just super-flattered that you even called. It shows you’re that classy of a guy. Good luck with the song. I know it’s gonna be a hit.’” He paused, then revealed, “And it was ‘Purple Rain.'”
You Can Thank “Darling Nikki” and Tipper Gore for Parental Advisory Warnings
Even years after Purple Rain came out, people were still listening to it. That included Vice President Al Gore’s wife Elizabeth “Tipper” Gore, which led to the national campaign for parental advisory and ended with the black and white stickers that mark albums as explicit.
Tipper Gore was listening to the album with her 11-year-old daughter when they reached the song “Darling Nikki,” which has lyrics alluding to a woman “masturbating with a magazine.” Gore later wrote in her 1987 book Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society, “The vulgar lyrics embarrassed both of us. At first, I was stunned — then I got mad! Millions of Americans were buying Purple Rain with no idea what to expect!”
Gore realized that there should be some sort of disclaimer on certain albums denoting them as explicit so parents would know what their children were listening to. She started the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), which, according to a 2016 report from Time Magazine, had the support of many political wives.
Many artists testified in the Senate against record labeling, which Frank Zappa called “the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.” The Recording Industry Association of America eventually tested out multiple versions of “Parental Advisory” over the next decade, but being on the mothers’ “Filthy Fifteen” list never hurt Prince. He remained a titan of the music industry until his death.
Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
