Prince

Released: May 6, 1987

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Intro]
Ooh, woah
Ooh-hoo
Oh yeah
Ooh-hoo

[Verse 1]
If I was your girlfriend
Would you remember
To tell me all the things you forgot when I was your man?
Hey, hey, when I was your man
If I was your best friend
Would you let me take care of you
And do all the things that only a best friend can, oh, oh
Only best friends can (Ooh)

[Refrain]
If I was your girlfriend
Ooh, ooh
If I was your girlfriend

[Verse 2]
If I was your girlfriend
Would you let me dress you?
I mean, help you pick out your clothes
Before we go out
Not that you're helpless
But sometimes, sometimes
Those are the things that bein' in love's about
And if I was your one and only friend
Would you run to me if somebody hurt you
Even if that somebody was me?
Yeah
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be
Please

[Refrain]
If I was your girlfriend
Ooh, oh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
If I was your girlfriend

[Breakdown]
Would you let me wash your hair?
Could I make you breakfast sometime?
Or then, could we just hang out? I mean
Could we go to a movie and cry together
'Cause to me, baby, that would be so fine
Woo-hoo

[Verse 3]
(If I was your girlfriend)
Baby, can I dress you?
I mean, help you pick out your clothes before we go out
(If I was your girlfriend)
Listen girl, I ain't sayin you're helpless
But sometimes, sometimes
Those are the things that bein' in love's about (Sugar)

[Breakdown]
Sugar, do you know what I'm saying to you this evening? (Sugar)
Maybe you think I'm being a little self-centered (If I was your girlfriend)
But I, I said I want to be (Sugar)
All of the things (Sugar)
You are to me (If I was your girlfriend)
Surely, surely you can see

[Spoken Outro]
Is it really necessary for me to go out of the room
Just because you wanna undress? (If I was your girlfriend)
We don't have to make children to make love
And we don't have to make love to have an orgasm (If I was your girlfriend)
Your body's what I'm all about (If I was your girlfriend)

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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