Prince

Released: September 25, 2020

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Over on the east side across the river
There was a band called The Cocoa Boys
The leader was a brother named Frankie, huh
He was the ladies pride and joy
Yes he was
Now Frankie had a brother named Joe
And they shared the high-part harmonies
Joe played the bass, Frankie played guitar
And people, I mean they was too funky
And every Sunday night up on the main strip
There always was a battle
(A musical battle of the bands)
And if you had the courage, if you had the style, if you had a different trip
You would have an extra hundred dollars in your hands
(One double 0, hundred dollars)

[Verse 2]
There was an argument as to who was gonna go on first
I guess you could say The Cocoa Boys won
(No!)
Yeah, 'cause they had a trombone player the size of a house
Who considered whoopin' punks like us fun
(Alright, y'all, what's it gonna be?)
The show started
The lights were turned off, "Turn 'em off"
And in the distance, the horns blared
The band was on the stage
I could sorta see Frankie smilin'
Needless to say he was, he was sorta scary
(Shit)
A single light called up three men or was it two?
(It was two)
He had a two-man horn section walkin' thru the front door
Playin' the funkiest line I'd ever heard
Frankie started laughin' and the, and the, the people roared
Cocoa Boys, pride and joy, huh
They give the people what they need
Make my ears bleed, Lord
Turn the music up, uh, Cocoa don't let me down
And if you do it right you can hear my body sound

[Chorus]
Uh, can you hear it?
Uh, can you hear it, baby?
Uh, can you hear it?
Uh, Cocoa Boys, la la la
Cocoa Boys, la la la
Cocoa Boys, la la, yeah

[Verse 3]
Dig up
They kicked for thirty minutes
But the funk so hard the crowd could hardly walk
We knew we had to jam, we knew we needed a little scam
We knew we needed to have a talk, we need to have a talk
"Turn the house lights up!"
Give me the mic
Let me start my shit
I hate a show-off but I know what you like, uh
"Turn the house lights up!"
Cousin gonna hit a lick on the drum, bang on the pump all night long
Play your chords in a loop, uh, let the horns blow
Whoo
"Yo Frankie, check it out, we brothers got somethin' for y'all, huh"
Everybody jump down on the floor and do that "Detroit Crawl"
Whoo!
Uh
That kinda worked 'cause the crowd gettin' tired
But we wanted them suckers to beg
Huh, the drummer just stomped on the rim and started to ride
We hit the "Wooden Leg"
Whoo! Get wit it
The crowd started rockin', we knew we couldn't lose
Step five, huh, jump to the side, do the "Kangaroo"
Kanga-what?! Kangaroo
Kangaroo, Kangaroo, Kangaroo, Kangaroo, Kangaroo, Kangaroo
Whoo!

[Outro]
All the boys and all the girls, you are the new kings of the world
And if you can't love somebody
If there are tears in your eyes
For every king must share his prize
And if you are there, raise your hands in the air
Show 'em that you care
Everybody share the prize

You are beautiful
It's gonna be a beautiful night
You are beautiful
It's gonna be a beautiful night
You are beautiful
It's gonna be a beautiful night
You are beautiful
It's gonna be a beautiful night

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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