Prince

Released: November 29, 2019

Songwriter: Pepe Willie Jesse Johnson

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
If you see me walkin' down the street one day
Don't say nothin' to me
No no, nothin'
'Cause you did me wrong when I was doing bad
So bad, I didn't think I was gonna make it
Now I'm alone, feelin' free
Freer than the butterfly flyin' high now, yeah yeah, baby
I don't claim no riches or any miracles
But I'm doin' better on my own

[Chorus]
So if you see me: walk on by, baby
Don't say nothin': walk on by now
Do yourself a favor: walk on by, yeah
Don't say nothin': walk on by, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Oh yeah
Oh yeah

[Verse 2]
You didn't even try to understand
Just where I was comin' from, no no, baby
Instead of understanding, you gave me your demandings
And I couldn't stand it - uh uh, baby
Now it's much to late and there's no time for me to try
Not anymore - uh uh, baby
Listen: say, I don't feel no pain, it doesn't hurt inside
And I'm doin' better on my own

[Chorus]
So if you see me: walk on by, baby
Don't say nothin': walk on by now
Do yourself a favor: walk on by, baby
Don't say nothin': walk on by, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

[Interlude]
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah

[Non-lyrical Vocalizing]

[Verse 3]
Now it's much too late and there's no time for me to try
Not anymore, uh uh, baby
I don't feel no pain, it doesn't hurt inside
And I'm doin' better on my own

[Chorus]
So looka here, baby!
If you see me: walk on by now
Don't say nothin': walk on by now
Just do yourself a favor: yeah, walk on by girl
Don't say nothin': walk on by - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

[Outro]
Looka here, don't... don't... don't try to talk to me now, baby
I'm doin' OK
I'm makin' it on my own, baby
Looka here
Do yourself a favor
You know, honey, you know I ain't rich or nothin'
I ain't claimin' no miracles, but ah...
Do yourself a favor
I'm a bachelor now, baby
You know what I'm sayin'?
Do yourself a favor
Just do yourself a favor, baby, just walk on down the street, huh
Do yourself a favor
I ain't got a damn thing to say to you now, baby - look out!
Do yourself a favor
When we was together, did you try to understand me? No!
Do yourself a favor
So just do yourself a favor and get the hell down the road
Do yourself a favor
Mmmm
Do yourself a favor
Too sexy
Yes, mmmm
Somebody call up the Colonel, I hear some chicken scratchin'
Good God, yes
Too sexy
Somebody else fall in, I don't care who it is
Just come on, keep it goin', come on
Uh, yes
You like that?
Then come here, sit down
Let me talk to you
You hear that?
That's a fifty dollar bill
When's the last time you seen one of them?
That's what I thought
Let me tell you somethin'
When me and you used to be... me and you used to be together
I didn't have no money in my pocket
That's all different now, that's all different
Now you wanna play, now you wanna play crazy
You're not crazy
You're no crazier than I, don't play, don't act like that
You didn't try to understand where I was comin' from back then
Why you tryin' to now?
'Cause you know I got that money, that's why
Uh huh, yeah
Sit down, don't talk, come here, sit down!
I'll kick your ass
What, you think you bad now?
I'll kick your ass
Come here, good God
Mmmm
Oh yes
Somebody call up the Colonel, I hear some chicken scratchin'
Pow!
If you see me walkin' down the street one day, baby
Don't say nothin'
You used to do me wrong, baby
That's back when I was doin' bad
But now, baby, now, baby, I got more money than I ever had
Oh Lord, yes yes
Do yourself a favor, baby
Take it on down the road
Let that sidewalk hit you where the dog should've bit you, yes baby
Oh Lord
Oh Lord, eh
I'll kick your ass
Don't you play crazy with me, I'm...
You... you not crazy, I'm crazy
I'm the one that's crazy
You're not crazy
Come here
Don't you walk away from me
I don't care what I told you, come back here
You hear me talkin' to you, baby?
Come here, come here
I'll kick your ass

An American singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and actor that produced 22 RIAA-platinum albums during his 40-year career, Prince may be known for one of many different things – his turn as “The Kid” in the iconic film/album/8 ½ minute ballad “Purple Rain”, being the writer behind the acclaimed anthem “Kiss,” rivaling Michael Jackson at the pinnacle of his career, being the inspiration behind censorship laws, or being the artist addressed as an unpronounceable symbol throughout the 1990s—but while many know of Prince, most don’t fully understand the impact his legacy left on this world.

Going by many aliases throughout his life, Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 7, 1958 with his father’s (John L. Nelson) stage name as his own given one. Growing up, Prince suffered from serious epileptic seizures at a very young age, but he had wrote his first composition of many by age seven, and outside of his love for basketball, he wanted music to be his purpose in life. His tumultuous childhood, witnessing alcoholism and abuse, caused him to find refuge in neighbor André Cymone’s home in his teens, where the two competed in local band competitions, leading to Prince’s introduction to Morris Day alongside music with his cousin’s band 94 East, leading him to be courted by record labels and ultimately signed to Warner Bros. Records with complete creative control; at 19, his debut album, For You (1978) was released – Prince played all 19 instruments on the record.

Influenced by the likes of Miles Davis, Rick James, and James Brown, Prince desired to form a music dynasty and after the success of his next albums – the platinum-selling Prince (1979), the sexually-charged Dirty Mind (1980), and politically-motivated Controversy (1981) – he negotiated for the ability to form his own label and manage artists of his own. Prince’s trademark sexual/religious rhetoric within pop-and-dance, funk-rock sound gained him a following, but his opening slates for Rick James and The Rolling Stones were both negatively received and facing bankruptcy, the young artist began to reach for mainstream popularity. Cashing on the drug-influenced doomsday mania of the times, 1982’s 1999 easily achieved that mainstream appeal, landing him on MTV, music charts, and radio stations across the world.

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