Prince

Released: November 19, 1996

Songwriter: Allen Shamblin Mike Reid

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don't patronize
Don't patronize me

[Chorus]
'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
I can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart (My heart) and I'll feel the power
But you won't, no, you won't

[Interlude]
Because I can't make you love me if you don't
Do you?
Do you love me?
Look at me

[Verse 2]
I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
The love you don't feel, when you're holding me (Hold me)
Morning will come and I'll do what's right (Do it right, do it right)
Just give me 'til then to give up this fight
And I will, I will give up this fight
Oh, yes I will

[Chorus]
'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
I can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart (My heart) and I'll feel the power
But you won't, no, you won't
Tell me why, tell me why you don't?

[Bridge]
(I can't make you love me if you don't)
Come here, baby
(I can't make your heart feel something it won't)
Talk to me, tell me where you want to be kissed
Talk to me, tell me how you want me to do this
In this bedroom/church, you can guess the offering
I offer you (My heart)
I offer you sexual relations (But you won't)
But you won't (You won't)
Tell me what's up baby? Am I moving to fast?
Not only do I want to be the first
I want to be the last, the last, is that so bad?
I, I want to... you know
I want to, I want to
I want to make you love me (Do you love me?)
Come on, baby, you can take it (My heart)
(Come on and take it)
It's real love - I want to make it (I want to)
But you won't love me, love me (But you won't)
You won't love me, baby (You won't)
What's a man to do? What is this man gonna do?
I can't make you love me if you don't
I want you to (Love me) love me
I need you to (Kiss me, yeah)
Oh, darlin', love me
Love me, love me, love me

[Outro]
Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close between your thighs
Ooh (I can't make you love me)

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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