Prince

Released: March 31, 1987

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Intro]
Oh, oh

[Verse 1]
I guess you know me well, I don't like winter
But I seem to get a kick out of doing you cold
Oh, what the hell, you always surrender
What's this strange relationship that we hold on to?

[Chorus]
Baby, I just can't stand to see you happy
More than that I hate to see you sad
Honey, if you left me I just might do something rash
What's this strange relationship? (ship, ship, ship)

[Verse 2]
I came and took your love, I took your body
I took all the self-respect you ever had
I took you for a ride and, baby, I'm sorry
The more you love me, sugar, the more it makes me mad

[Chorus]
'Cause, baby, I just can't stand to see you happy
More than that I hate to see you sad
Honey if you left me I just might do something rash
What's this strange relationship? (ship, ship, ship)

[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo

[Verse 3]
Isn't it a shame this ain't a movie
Then you could rewrite my every line
I'll take all the blame, yo baby, I'm sorry
But I didn't like the way you were, so I had to make you mine

[Chorus]
Baby I just can't stand to see you happy
More than that I hate to see you sad
Honey if you left me I just might do something rash
What's this strange relationship? (ship, ship, ship)

[Refrain]
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo

[Outro]
Mmmmm, my strange relationship
Can't live with you can't live without you
What it's all about?
Do you know?
(Strange relationship)
I think you and I got a strange relationship
What's this strange relationship?
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah

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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