Prince

Released: January 29, 1998

Songwriter: Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Last night when I left you fast a sleeping
I should have contemplated suicide
For the smile upon your face that's well worth keeping
By morning smears for every tear you cry
I could manage a week or two without those kisses
It'd be hard, but something tells me I could try

[Chorus]
For that matter, whatever to make you reconsider
Is there truth when you make love to a lie?
Excuse me, but is this really goodbye?

[Verse 2]
Why did I ever let you in this morning?
Why didI let you come inside my door?
I should have known without that smile adorning your face
A kiss was not what you came for
That's when your hand reached out to touch me gently
At least that's how it happened in my mind

[Chorus]
For that matter, whatever to make you reconsider
Is there truth when you make love to a lie?
Excuse me, but is this really goodbye?

[Bridge]
You can't begin to understand how I think about you
(Everything)
Everything I want to do, I cannot do without you
However wrong you want, I'll be
Just please don't leave
(Don't leave)
If it means this life without you, baby
I swear I'll spend it on my knees
Excuse me, but is this really goodbye?

[Verse 3]
Last night when I left you I was so sure
We'd be together forever and four days
And now my shade of blue couldn't get no bluer
I don't even know what I did to make you go away
I could possibly stage a front and play the cool one
(Cool one)
Heart in my hand trying to hold back every cry
But who would applaud me when it's you, my one and only
Who ever gave me a good reason not to die

[Chorus]
Excuse me, but is this really...
(Goodbye)
Excuse me, but is this really...
(Goodbye)
Excuse me, but is this really goodbye?

[Outro]
(Goodbye)
Goodbye, goodbye
(Goodbye)
Goodbye
(Goodbye)

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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