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Gotta Stop (Messin’ About)Prince

Released: May 29, 1981

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Sittin' outside your door
About to break down
Fourth time this week
Somebody's come around
Who's it gonna be tonight?
Who's the lucky man?
Where you get the attitude
I'll never understand
Uh oh, here he comes now
So happy that he came
Hey! Was it good boy?
Thoughts so over lame

[Pre-Chorus 1]
What goes on inside your head
That makes you want to take them all to bed?

[Chorus]
Gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
You know you gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
Oh yeah

[Verse 2]
When I call you on the phone
You act so unconcerned
I wanna get you all alone
Ooh baby, to show you what I've learned
Why you won't give me the time of day
You won't give me some time
You won't give me anything
God, you think you're too fine
Can't you see?

[Pre-Chorus 2]
All I want is a little time
I've been playing with my toy so much I'm gonna go blind

[Chorus]
Gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
You gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about

Oh yeah

[Outro]
Gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
You gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
You gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
You do it too much
You gotta stop, gotta, gotta stop messin' about
Oo, stop

Prince

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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