Prince

Released: July 15, 2007

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Because I turned my eye toward you
Because I seek your hand
Every other woman envies you
And me, every other man

A massive circle of jealousy
Is coming 'round again
Those prickly fingered scalawags
That masquerade as friends

[Verse 2]
Make a promise this very night
That they will no longer pose
A threat to either one of us
Then let the chapter close

For all the midnights in the world
This one will serve us better
If you choose to be my girl

[Verse 3]
Like Zuzu's petals
A wonderful life, the two of us shall lead
The children of the future've all the
Spiritual food they need
The secrets that the ones before
With grace, they've come and shown
Together with love for one another
We shall make them known

[Verse 4]
With the love and happy days
I number the grains of sand
Writing twelve times ever more
If I could be your man
Amethyst and rubies
Crystals and black pearls
I trade them all, just to spend with you
All the midnights in the world
All the midnights in the world

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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