Sheila E.

Released: August 12, 1985

Songwriter: Sheila E. Prince

Producer: Prince

[Verse 1]
Every summer in the gardens of Florence
A peasant of female persuasion
Used to cry for Michaelangelo
To save her from death's invitation
Some say this woman was crazy
Others say this woman was possessed
Just one look at her face and it's evident to her he was the best

[Chorus]
Dear Michaelangelo
Color the dreams in my head
I look at your paintings and I'm with you in your bed
Dear Michaelangelo
Save me from death's invitation
I'll make love to no one unless he's of your persuasion

[Verse 2]
By summer's end came many offers
All of which the peasant refused
She wanted Michaelangelo and no other, no other man would doNo one could speak of passion and touch her
Touch her the way that he does
No one except Michaelangelo
It was him or a life without love

[Chorus]
Dear Michaelangelo
Color the dreams in my head
I look at your paintings and I'm with you in your bed
Dear Michaelangelo
Save me from death's invitation
I'll make love to no one unless he's of your persuasion

[Interlude]
A life without love
A life without love
Don't die
Don't die without love

[Chorus]
Dear Michaelangelo
Dear Michaelangelo
Dear Michaelangelo
Color the dreams in my head
I look at your paintings and I'm with you in your bed
Dear Michaelangelo
Save me from death's invitation
I'll make love to no one unless he's of your persuasion

[Outro]
Dear Mi-chael-angel-o
Angel
Dear Michaelangelo
Color the dreams in my head
I look at your paintings and I'm with you in your bed

Sheila E., born Sheila Escovedo on December 12, 1957, is a singer, songwriter, and percussionist from Oakland, California. Her honorific title is “The Queen of Percussion”.

The daughter of a Mexican jazz percussionist and Creole/African-American factory worker, Sheila comes from a family of musical royalty – father Pete Escovedo and uncle Coke were members of the Santana band for a time. Her other uncles are Alejandro, who has had a sustained alt-punk career; Javier, who led the early punk pioneer band The Zeros; and Mario, who fronted the 90s group The Dragons and MEX, aka Mario Escovedo Xperience. Sheila’s brothers Juan and Peter Michael are also percussionists, with Peter working on The Wayne Brady Show. Sheila is the goddaughter of Tito Puente, a Latin Jazz pioneer and Spanish Harlem legend.

“Before I had language, I had rhythm,” she wrote in The Beat Of My Own Drum, a 2014 memoir. “I learned it before I learned my mother tongue.” At the age of 20, Sheila became a member of George Duke’s R&B jazz band, and worked with him from 1976 to 1980, during Duke’s early Epic/CBS years. By the age of 26, she had already worked or toured with Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, and family friend Lionel Richie.

more tracks from the album

Romance 1600

From the album

Romance 1600 (1985)

Sheila E. popular songs

Dear MichaelangeloSheila E.

Sheila E.

Romance 1600