Prince

Released: October 27, 1982

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
You can dance if you want to
All the critics love You in New York
You don't have to keep the beat, they'll still think it's neat
In New York
You can wear what you want to, it doesn't matter
In New York
You could cut off all your hair, I don't think they'd care
In New York

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York

[Verse 2]
Why you can play what you want to
All the critics love you in New York
They won't say that you're naive if you play what you believe
In New York
Purple love-amour is all you're headed for - but don't show it
The reason that you're cool
Is because you're from the old school, and they know it

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York

[Interlude]
You can dance if you want to
All the critics love you in New York
You can dance if you want to
All the critics love you in New York

[Refrain]
All the critics love you
All the critics love you
All the critics love you in New York

[Bridge]
It's time for a new direction
It's time for jazz to die
Fourth day of November
We need a purple high
Don't give up - I'll still love you

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you
All the critics love you
All the critics love you in New York

[Breakdown]
Body don't want to quit, got to get another hit
Body don't want to quit, got to get another hit
Body don't want to quit, got to get another hit
Body don't want to quit, got to get another hit

[Refrain]
All the critics love you
All the critics love you
All the critics love you in New York

[Interlude]
Whaddayou looking at, punk?
Look out all you hippies, you ain't as sharp as me
It ain't about the tripping, but the sexuality - turn it up
You can dance if you want to

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York

[Spoken Interlude]
Yes, we're certain of it, he's definitely masturbating

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York

[Spoken]
Take a bath, hippies!

[Refrain]
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York
All the critics love you in New York

[Outro]
New York
New York
New York
New York
New York

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.

more tracks from the album

1999

From the albums

1999 (1982)
1999: Deluxe Edition (2019)

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